Telecommunications

Video

H.323 is a standard communication protocol approved by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to promote compatibility in videoconference transmissions over IP networks. The H.323 standard facilitates how multimedia communications occur between terminals, network equipment and services, and is part of a larger group of ITU recommendations for multi-media interoperability called H.3x. H.323 was originally promoted as a way to provide consistency in audio, video and data packet transmissions in the event that a local area network (LAN) did not provide guaranteed quality of service (QoS). It is now considered to be the standard for interoperability in audio, video and data transmissions as well as Internet phone and voice-over-IP (VoIP) applications because it addresses call control and management for both point-to-point and multipoint conferences as well as gateway administration of media traffic, bandwidth and user participation.