The SIP Forum has elected Vijey Jenkal, director of Product Development Engineering at Comcast Cable, to the SIP Forum Board of Directors. The Forum also re-elected Chairman Richard Shockey and Dr. Alan Johnston (News - Alert), distinguished engineer in Avaya’s Applications and Emerging Technology division, to new terms on the SIP Forum Board of Directors.

An IP communications industry association, the SIP Forum promotes SIP-based technology, using industry recommendations development, the SIPit (News - Alert) interoperability and testing events, interoperability workshops, and educational seminars.

“I look forward to continuing to build on the positive momentum of the SIP Forum developed over the past year through various initiatives, including SIPconnect and the upcoming SIPNOC US 2012,” said Jenkal in a statement. “This is a very important organization within the international communications technology industry and I am excited by the opportunity to work with my fellow board members to drive SIP adoption both broader and deeper into new communications technologies and applications.”

As director of Product Development Engineering at Comcast (News - Alert) Cable, Jenkal is responsible for the company’s design of business voice and messaging services. Shockey, who was named chairman of the SIP Forum in 2010, is a telecommunications industry veteran with a history in shaping technical standards that have become the foundation for today’s SIP-based next generation network infrastructure. Shockey is the principal of Shockey Consulting, a firm advising telecommunications companies and the investment community on issues related to Next Generation Networks (News - Alert), Voice over IP, Communications Provisioning, Peering, Numbering and Signaling.

"The CSRIC plays a crucial role in the development and security of America's communications systems and finds itself at a particularly interesting intersection as the country fully transitions to a pure IP-based infrastructure, opening a slew of opportunities, as well as challenges,” said Shockey.

Dr. Alan Johnston has been involved with SIP and VoIP since the mid-1990s, helping to spearhead the development and adoption of SIP and VoIP in both the service provider and enterprise markets. Johnston has been re-elected to his second term as member of the SIP Forum Board of Directors. He served as an architect on the first enterprise SIP VoIP product in the U.S. as a Distinguished Technical Member at MCI.

“I look forward to my continued participation in the SIP Forum Board of Directors, and in supporting the vital mission of the organization,” said Dr. Johnston. “The SIP Forum’s role as a champion of technical interoperability for the IP communication industry is more important today than ever before, and I am very excited to stand on the front lines bringing the charge forward!”

Aside from the election of Jenkal and re-election of Shockey and Johnston, the SIP Forum’s Board of Directors includes Chris Gatch, CTO of Cbeyond; Steven Johnson, CEO of Ingate Systems (News - Alert); Glenn Russell, director of Business Services at Cable Television Laboratories Inc. (CableLabs); Mary Barnes, principal engineer of the CTO organization at Polycom; Hadriel Kaplan, vice president of Technology at Acme Packet; and Marc Robins, SIP Forum president and managing director.The elections were held during the SIP Forum’s Annual General Meeting in Boston on Dec. 12, 2011. Each member of the Board of Directors serves a two-year term.