Mediation-based communications

IP telephony has evolved following a structure inherited from traditional telephony, that is, a relay-based, station to station model. This philosophy has deeply influenced the evolution of the traditional support protocols, SIP/SDP. However, with the emergence of an embedded form of voice and video communications, supported by new platforms such as WebRTC, other models for user communications become possible. In this paper, we consider that communications are no longer established from station to station, but mediated by an independent entity at the request of a party. This approach leads to simplifications in call management and the underlying protocols, as well as opening the door to new forms of call models and features.