RFC 3804
Voice Profile for Internet Mail (VPIM) Addressing
RFC 3804: Voice Profile for Internet Mail (VPIM) Addressing 🎀
Okay bestie, let's talk about RFC 3804 💖 It's a Standards Track document by G. Parsons at Nortel Networks, dated June 2004. Its title block doesn't list anything it obsoletes or updates, so it's standing on its own. ✨
Status of this Memo 📜
This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the Internet community, and it asks for discussion and suggestions for improvements 🦋 For the standardization state and status of this protocol, check the current edition of the "Internet Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1). Distribution of this memo is unlimited 🌈
Copyright Notice ©️
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2004).
Abstract 🌸
This doc lists the VPIM email address formats that people are actually using right now, and it defines a few new address formats for special-case situations 💅 It also sets requirements on the formats of addresses used in VPIM submission mode. Main character energy 👑
Table of Contents 🧚
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. Conventions used in this Document. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3. VPIM v2 Addressing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
4. VPIM Addressing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
4.1. VPIM Gateways. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
4.2. VPIM Submission LHS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
4.3. VPIM Submission Addresses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
5. Security Considerations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
6. IANA Considerations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
6.1. IANA Registration form for new value of GSTN address
service-selector "VPIM". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
6.2. IANA Registration form for new value of GSTN address
service-selector "VOICE" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
6.3. IANA Registration form for new value of GSTN address
service-selector "AMIS". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
6.4. IANA Registration form for new value of GSTN address
qualif-type1 keyword and value "SYSNUM". . . . . . . . . 10
6.5. IANA Registration form for new value of GSTN address
qualif-type1 keyword and value "EXT" . . . . . . . . . . 11
6.6. IANA Registration form for new value of GSTN address
qualif-type1 keyword and value "DL". . . . . . . . . . . 12
7 . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
7.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
7.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
8. Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
9. Full Copyright Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151. Introduction 🌷
This doc lists the various VPIM email address formats that are currently in common use, and it defines several new address formats for special-case usage 🍓 Requirements are imposed on the formats of addresses used in VPIM submission mode.
[VPIM2] doesn't put any restrictions on the email address format. It does recommend a numeric LHS, though, because lots of legacy voice mail systems only use digits to identify mailboxes 🔢 It also recommends a structure that handles private, international, and extensions. The private format is deployed in most existing VPIM v2 systems, and some systems will only accept messages from addresses with a numeric LHS 💀
[IVM] doesn't describe addressing at all. The LHS format is left up to the mailbox owner 🙈 Still, it's useful in some cases (like submission or tunneling) to specify an LHS format, so a format based on GSTN addressing [GSTN] is presented here ✨
This document defines the various recipient (i.e., TO) addresses for VPIM and IVM messages 💜
2. Conventions used in this Document 🦋
The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119 [RFC2119].
"LHS" means the left side of the "@" in an email address. It's defined as "local-part" in RFC-2822 💅
"RHS" means the right side of the "@" in an email address. It's defined as "domain" in RFC-2822 💖
3. VPIM v2 Addressing 🎀
This is defined in section 4.1.1 of [VPIM2] and [VPIMV2R2]. Of the four groups of addresses defined, the mailbox number format is the most commonly used in VPIM v2 systems 👑
Example:
6137637582@nortelnetworks.com4. VPIM Addressing ✨
VPIM doesn't restrict the form of the Internet address 🌈 VPIM systems must be able to receive an arbitrary email address and generate a reply to that address. No inferences about the structure of the local part (LHS) should be necessary 🫶
Recipient email addresses must be created in a form that's compatible with the recipient's system and consistent with the address entry capabilities of a telephone user interface 📞
The following sections use formal syntax compliant with RFC 2234, "Augmented BNF for Syntax Specifications: ABNF" 🧚
4.1. VPIM Gateways 🌉
A gateway translates between dissimilar environments. For VPIM, a gateway connects the VPIM profile of Internet mail to other voice mail networking protocols (including voice call answer and delivery). These may be proprietary or standard (like AMIS [AMIS-A]). VPIM gateways typically serve multiple voice mail users or, in the case of call answer, serve only one. In the former case they act as a classic "mail transfer agent" (MTA), and in the latter they act as a classic "mail user agent" (UA) 💫
An onramp is a gateway that connects from another voice mail networking protocol to VPIM. An offramp is a gateway that connects from VPIM to another voice mail networking protocol. Behavior of onramps and offramps is out of scope for this specification 🚧
This specification describes the VPIM service portion of onramp and offramp addressing 🌸
4.2. VPIM Submission LHS 📮
Limited capability voice mail machines may send messages by default to an external message submission gateway. These gateways convert the unresolved telephone number of the recipient into a legitimate email address. Messages requiring address resolution must be sent to a submission system, which converts the submitted address into the route-able email address 🔁
Additionally, limited capability email systems may send messages to a VPIM onramp system indicated on the RHS. The LHS indicates that the message is to be sent as a VPIM message to the telephone number given. In this case, the gateway performs the address and message translation 🤖
Telephone numbers sent in a VPIM submission mode MUST be sent in one of the following forms. That's a must, no cap 🚨
This is based on the format defined in [GSTN-ADDR] and the extensions in [GSTN] 💜
4.2.1. The VPIM address 💌
For voice messages that are meant to be sent as VPIM messages, the service-selector element is defined to be:
vpim-service-selector = "VPIM"The resulting vpim-address and vpim-mbox are formally:
vpim-address = vpim-mbox
[ pstn-recipient ]
vpim-mbox = [ "VPIM=" ] ( global-phone / local-phone )
[ sub-addr-spec ext-addr-spec dl-addr-spec]
dl-addr-spec = "/DL=" sub-addr
;note that "/DL=" is case INSENSITIVE
ext-addr-spec = [ ext-sep sub-addr ]
ext-sep = ( "/EXT=" / "+" )
; note that "/EXT=" is case INSENSITIVE
; "+" is used for compatibility with current
; VPIM v2 addressingFor clarity, here's an example of a very simple vpim-mbox:
VPIM=6137637582The extension syntax, which is a phone number followed by "/EXT=" defining the extension, is used where the mailbox doesn't have a direct dial number associated with it (e.g., typically behind a non-ISDN PBX). For example:
VPIM=7035255550/EXT=227The distribution list syntax, which is a phone number followed by "/DL=" defining the list, is used to refer to a distribution list associated with the phone number (with or without an extension). For example:
VPIM=+14165977230/DL=934.2.2. The Voice address 🎙️
For voice messages that are meant to be sent as a voice outdial at the destination system, the service-selector element is defined to be:
voice-service-selector = "VOICE"The resulting voice-address and voice-mbox are formally:
voice-address = voice-mbox
[ pstn-recipient ]
voice-mbox = "VOICE=" ( global-phone / local-phone )
[ sub-addr-spec ] [post-sep post-dial]For more clarity, here's an example of a very simple voice-mbox:
VOICE=+39402263384.2.3. The AMIS address 🦄
For voice messages that are meant to be sent as AMIS (Audio Messaging Interchange Specification) voice mail messages (as defined in [AMIS-A] and [AMIS-D]), the service-selector element is defined to be:
amis-service-selector = "AMIS"The resulting amis-address and amis-mbox are formally:
amis-address = amis-mbox
amis-mbox = "AMIS=" amis-mailbox
[ "/SYSNUM=" amis-sysnum ]
; note that "/SYSNUM=" is case INSENSITIVE
amis-mailbox = ( amis-a / amis-d )
amis-a = amis-a-number
amis-d = [ amis-mailbox-numberplan ][ "+" ] amis-mailbox-id
[ "+" ] [ amis-mailbox-extension ]
; The "+" separators are used to be compatible
; the X.400 AMIS-D mailbox definition --
; if more than one element is present, both
; "+" must appear. Note also that the total
; length of this field is restricted to 32
; characters by AMIS-D.
amis-mailbox-numberplan = 1*VCHAR
amis-mailbox-id = 1*16(VCHAR)
amis-mailbox-extension = 1*VCHAR
amis-sysnum = amis-a-number
amis-a-number = ( amis-PSTN-number / amis-private-number )
amis-PSTN-number = int-country-code "+"
area-code "+"
local-number "+"
; This is in agreement with ITU [E.164]
; specification and per [AMIS-A] - the
; maximum length is 15 numeric digits.
; The "+" separators are used to be
; compatible with the X.400 AMIS-D
; mailbox definition and replace the '#'
; separators of AMIS-A
amis-private-number = "0++" local-number "+"
; [AMIS-A] indicates that maximum permitted
; length of the private number is 14
; digits
int-country-code = 1*4(DIGIT)
area-code = 1*(DIGIT)
local-number = 1*(DIGIT)For more clarity, here's an example of a simple AMIS-A amis-mbox:
AMIS=+1/401+3278144+/SYSNUM=1+401+3279542+4.2.4. The fax address 📠
Fax addresses used in VPIM are formatted as defined in [FAX-ADDR], section 2 🌷
4.3. VPIM Submission Addresses 💫
Based on [GSTN-ADDR], these are the resulting email addresses for the LHS presented above. VPIM and IVM systems that support submission MUST accept, translate (if necessary), and forward messages sent to these addresses. That's the whole vibe 🌈✨
4.3.1. The vpim-email 💖
okay so the vpim-email is a specific version of pstn-email for VPIM over the Internet e-mail transport system 🌐, and its service-selector is set to "VPIM" 🎀
vpim-email = ["/"] vpim-address ["/"] "@" mta-I-pstnngl the mta-I-pstn is usually going to point at a VPIM-capable messaging system, which is how the attached message actually gets delivered properly 🫶
4.3.2. The voice-email 📞
the voice-email is the pstn-email version for voice outdialing over the Internet e-mail transport system, and the service-selector is set to "VOICE" 🦋
voice-email = ["/"] voice-address ["/"] "@" mta-I-pstnhere the mta-I-pstn usually points at a device that does the outdial. so, like, it calls the number you gave it and plays your voice attachment 🎧✨
4.3.3. The amis-email 🌸
the amis-email is the pstn-email version for AMIS over the Internet e-mail transport system, with the service-selector set to "AMIS" 💅
amis-email = ["/"] amis-address ["/"] "@" mta-I-pstnin this case the mta-I-pstn usually points at a device that acts as a gateway to an AMIS network, so the attached voice message can be delivered properly there 🌈
4.3.4. The fax-email 📠
fax email addresses used in VPIM are formatted exactly as defined in [FAX-ADDR], section 4 🍓
5. Security Considerations 🔐
most of the security stuff is already identified in [VPIM2] and [IVM], so go read those, bestie 💜
there's one extra worry tho. the sender has to trust, and also be aware of the policies of, the submission MTA they send the message to. that's because the submission MTA is the one that decides where the final destination is and how the message gets delivered, all based on the VPIM submission LHS 👀
submission MTAs should take care to not blindly place outdial calls to any number that gets submitted (think international numbers or "1-900" numbers 💀). ideally, senders should be authenticated so we can confirm they actually have outdialing privileges. no cap, this one is serious 😭
6. IANA Considerations 📋
the IANA section is paperwork, but it's the cute kind 📝 it's a set of registration forms for new values, and every single one is handled by the same contact, Glenn W. Parsons 💌
6.1. IANA Registration form for new value of GSTN address service-selector "VPIM" 💖
To: IANA@iana.org
Subject: Registration of new values for the GSTN address
service-selector specifier "VPIM"
service-selector name:
VPIMDescription of Use: this one is for "VPIM", which means the GSTN address refers to a voice mailbox that's meant to accept a VPIM message 📬
For a complete description refer to "Voice Profile for Internet Mail (VPIM) Addressing", RFC 3804.
Security Considerations: see the Security Consideration section of "Voice Profile for Internet Mail (VPIM) Addressing", RFC 3804. 🔒
Person & email address to contact for further information:
Glenn W. Parsons
Nortel Networks
P.0. Box 3511 Station C
Ottawa, On K1Y 4H7
Canada
Phone: +1-613-763-7582
Fax : +1-613-763-2697
Email: gparsons@nortelnetworks.com6.2. IANA Registration form for new value of GSTN address service-selector "VOICE" 🎙️
To: IANA@iana.org
Subject: Registration of new values for the GSTN address
service-selector specifier "VOICE"
service-selector name:
VOICEDescription of Use: "VOICE" means the GSTN address refers to a voice device that's meant to be sent a voice message through an 'outdialing' 📞
For a complete description refer to "Voice Profile for Internet Mail (VPIM) Addressing", RFC 3804.
Security Considerations: see the Security Consideration section of "Voice Profile for Internet Mail (VPIM) Addressing", RFC 3804. 🔐
Person & email address to contact for further information:
Glenn W. Parsons
Nortel Networks
P.0. Box 3511 Station C
Ottawa, On K1Y 4H7
Canada
Phone: +1-613-763-7582
Fax : +1-613-763-2697
Email: gparsons@nortelnetworks.com6.3. IANA Registration form for new value of GSTN address service-selector "AMIS" 🌷
To: IANA@iana.org
Subject: Registration of new values for the GSTN address
service-selector specifier "AMIS"
service-selector name:
AMISDescription of Use: "AMIS" means the GSTN address refers to a voice mailbox that's meant to be sent an AMIS (Audio Messaging Interchange Specification) voice mail message 🧚
For a complete description refer to "Voice Profile for Internet Mail (VPIM) Addressing", RFC 3804.
Security Considerations: see the Security Consideration section of "Voice Profile for Internet Mail (VPIM) Addressing", RFC 3804. 🔒
Person & email address to contact for further information:
Glenn W. Parsons
Nortel Networks
P.0. Box 3511 Station C
Ottawa, On K1Y 4H7
Canada
Phone: +1-613-763-7582
Fax : +1-613-763-2697
Email: gparsons@nortelnetworks.com6.4. IANA Registration form for new value of GSTN address qualif-type1 keyword and value "SYSNUM" 🔢
To: IANA@iana.org
Subject: Registration of new values for the GSTN address
qualif-type1 element "sysnum"
qualif-type1 "keyword" name:
sysnum
qualif-type1 "value" ABNF definition:
sysnum = 1*(DIGIT / "+")Description of Use: sysnum is used to specify the numeric optional AMIS sub-address element, as described in "Voice Profile for Internet Mail (VPIM) Addressing", RFC 3804. ✨
Use Restriction: "SYSNUM" is restricted to the "AMIS" service-selector, because it has no meaning outside the AMIS service 🚫
Security Considerations: see the Security Consideration section of "Voice Profile for Internet Mail (VPIM) Addressing", RFC 3804. 🔐
Person & email address to contact for further information:
Glenn W. Parsons
Nortel Networks
P.0. Box 3511 Station C
Ottawa, On K1Y 4H7
Canada
Phone: +1-613-763-7582
Fax : +1-613-763-2697
Email: gparsons@nortelnetworks.com6.5. IANA Registration form for new value of GSTN address qualif-type1 keyword and value "EXT" 🦋
To: IANA@iana.org
Subject: Registration of new values for the GSTN address
qualif-type1 element "EXT"
qualif-type1 "keyword" name:
ext
qualif-type1 "value" ABNF definition:
ext = 1*(DIGIT)Description of Use: EXT is used to specify the numeric optional extension that identifies a particular VPIM mailbox, as described in "Voice Profile for Internet Mail (VPIM) Addressing", RFC 3804. 📮
Use Restriction: "EXT" is intended for the "VPIM" service-selector, but it may have meaning and be used outside the VPIM service 🌍
Security Considerations: see the Security Consideration section of "Voice Profile for Internet Mail (VPIM) Addressing", RFC 3804. 🔐
Person & email address to contact for further information:
Glenn W. Parsons
Nortel Networks
P.0. Box 3511 Station C
Ottawa, On K1Y 4H7
Canada
Phone: +1-613-763-7582
Fax : +1-613-763-2697
Email: gparsons@nortelnetworks.com6.6. IANA Registration form for new value of GSTN address qualif-type1 keyword and value "DL" 🍓
To: IANA@iana.org
Subject: Registration of new values for the GSTN address
qualif-type1 element "DL"
qualif-type1 "keyword" name:
dl
qualif-type1 "value" ABNF definition:
dl = 1*(DIGIT)Description of Use: DL is used to specify the numeric optional personal Distribution list for a particular VPIM mailbox, as described in "Voice Profile for Internet Mail (VPIM) Addressing", RFC 3804. 📋
Use Restriction: "DL" is intended for the "VPIM" service-selector, but it may have meaning and be used outside the VPIM service 🌈
Security Considerations: see the Security Consideration section of "Voice Profile for Internet Mail (VPIM) Addressing", RFC 3804. 🔐
Person & email address to contact for further information:
Glenn W. Parsons
Nortel Networks
P.0. Box 3511 Station C
Ottawa, On K1Y 4H7
Canada
Phone: +1-613-763-7582
Fax : +1-613-763-2697
Email: gparsons@nortelnetworks.com7. References 📚
7.1. Normative References 🔗
[GSTN] Allocchio, C., "GSTN Address Element Extensions in e-mail
Services", RFC 2846, June 2000.
[RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
[RFC2822] Resinick, P., "Internet Message Format", RFC 2822, April
2001.
[VPIM2] Vaudreuil, G. and G. Parsons, "Voice Profile for Internet
Mail, Version 2", RFC 2421, September 1998.
[VPIMV2R2] Vaudreuil, G. and G. Parsons,"Voice Profile for Internet
Mail - version 2 (VPIMv2)", RFC 3801, June 2004.
[FAX-ADDR] Allocchio, C., "Minimal FAX address format in Internet
Mail", RFC 3192, October 2001.
[GSTN-ADDR] Allocchio, C., "Minimal GSTN address format in Internet
Mail", RFC 3191, October 2001.7.2. Informative References 🌟
[AMIS-A] Audio Messaging Interchange Specifications (AMIS) -
Analog Protocol Version 1, Issue 2, February 1992.
[AMIS-D] Audio Messaging Interchange Specifications (AMIS) -
Digital Protocol Version 1, Issue 3, August 1993.
[E.164] CCITT Recommendation E.164 (1991), Telephone Network and
ISDN Operation, Numbering, Routing and Mobile Service -
Numbering Plan for the ISDN Era.
[IVM] McRae, S. and G. Parsons, "Internet Voice Mail", Work in
Progress.8. Author's Address 🖊️
Glenn W. Parsons
Nortel Networks
Ottawa, ON K1Y 4H7
Phone: +1-613-763-7582
Fax : +1-613-967-5060
EMail: gparsons@nortelnetworks.com9. Full Copyright Statement ©️
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2004). this document is subject to the rights, licenses and restrictions contained in BCP 78, and except as set forth therein, the authors retain all their rights. 💜
this document and the information contained herein are provided on an "AS IS" basis and THE CONTRIBUTOR, THE ORGANIZATION HE/SHE REPRESENTS OR IS SPONSORED BY (IF ANY), THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. ✨
Intellectual Property ✨
okay so the IETF is like "we are NOT saying whether any of this tech is patented or who owns what, and we haven't checked for you" 💅 it's giving neutral referee energy. not making any promises about whether you can get a license for the tech in this doc, and they definitely didn't go hunting for anybody's IP rights 🙈 if you want the rules on how IP works for RFCs, go read BCP 78 and BCP 79 (those are the bibles for this, bestie 📖✨)
the IETF keeps a record of IPR disclosures that were sent to the IETF Secretariat, plus any promises to license stuff, and the stuff people tried to get, like a general license or permission to use proprietary tech if you're implementing or using this spec. you can check all of that on the online IPR repository at http://www.ietf.org/ipr 💜
and if you know about a copyright, patent, patent application, or other proprietary right that might cover tech you'd need to build this standard? tell the IETF!! 🫶 send it to ietf-ipr@ietf.org and they'll take it from there. main character energy for helping out the whole community 🦋
Acknowledgement
and lastly, the funding for the RFC Editor function is currently coming from the Internet Society 🌈 so shoutout to them for keeping the RFC machine running. 🎀✨
📦 where this page comes from
- ietf: rfc3804 2004-06
- 💖 girlified by claude-haiku-5-5 on : a language model's rewrite of the original, under its terms