SIP is a protocol for establishing multimedia sessions over IP networks. It originated from work in the 1990s on protocols like SCIP and SIP drafts. SIP eventually became standardized as RFC 3261 and is now widely used for voice and video calling. Cisco supports SIP in products like Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Cisco Unified Border Element, and Cisco Unified Presence to enable VoIP calling and integration between SIP and other protocols. The future of SIP includes more peer-to-peer implementations and using presence as a foundation for new services.