General information on TSB

• Coordination of the work of the ITU-T Sector
• Study Group management
  The management team of the study groups is composed of the Chairman, Vice-Chairmen of the study group, Chairmen of the working parties and the TSB Counsellor/Engineer.
• Secretarial support and meeting organization
  TSB provides secretariat services for ITU-T assemblies and study group meetings. TSB Counsellors and Engineers coordinate the work of their study group meeting and their assistants ensure the flow of meeting document production.
  TSB ensures logistics services such as meeting room allocation, registration of participants, document distribution and facilities for meeting participants.
• Approval of Recommendations and other texts
  TSB organizes and coordinates the approval process of recommendations.
• Access to ITU-T documents for ITU-T Members
  The TSB organizes and controls the dispatch of documents in paper form to participants in ITU-T work and provides Electronic Document Handling services (EDH) which allow easy and rapid exchange of documents, information and ideas among ITU-T participants in order to facilitate the work of standards development. The ITU-T participants can have electronic access, via TIES, to study group documents such as reports, contributions, delayed contributions, temporary and liaison documents, etc.
• International telecommunications services and diffusion of information

The Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB)

• maintains the ITU-T Website, diffuses and provides information on the activities of the Sector including the schedule of meetings, TSB Circulars, Collective Letters, and all working documents
• provides and updates the List of ITU-T Recommendations, the ITU-T Work Programme Database, the ITU-T Patent Statements Database, and the ITU-T Terms and Definitions Database (SANCHO)
• provides and updates any other database as requested by the various study groups
• centralizes and provides information on Alternative Calling Procedures - Call back
• provides country code number assignment for telephone, data and other services
• acts as Registrar for Universal International Freephone Numbers (UIFN)
• provides technical information on international telecommunications and collaborates closely with the ITU Radiocommunication Sector and with the ITU Telecommunication Development Sector for matters of interest to developing countries
• provides administrative and operational information through the ITU Operational Bulletin
• ensures the editing of Recommendations and other texts approved by ITU-T, coordinates the editing publication and posting of the Recommendations
• ITU-T Publications

The TSB ensures the publication of various texts :

• ITU-T Recommendations

  The List of ITU-T Recommendations is free of charge and available on the ITU-T Website and also in paper form.
  
  Recommendations in force are available for purchase and published in different forms - individual paper fascicles, individual electronic files, collection on CD-ROM or through yearly on-line subscription to recommendations in force.
  
  Superseded Recommendations are available both as individual electronic files or as archive copies.
  
  Prepublished Recommendations are available in electronic form in the original language only. These are approved recommendations which have not gone through the final phase of editorial processing and translation therefore they can be subject to editorial changes before the final published version.

• ITU-T Software
  Various test sequences, software and data intended to test different communication equipment. Each software generally forms an integral part of a recommendation and is published as an enclosure to it.
• ITU Operational Bulletin
  A fortnightly publication containing administrative and operational information exchanged between Administrations and recognized operating agencies (ROAs) and other service providers, entities and organizations, in respect to international telecommunication services.
  Various lists containing codes, numbers or indicators allocated to countries or operators are published as Annexes to the Operational Bulletin.
• Handbooks and guides
  Various handbooks, guides, directives and informative texts are published on different subjects such as operation, network planning, outside plant, measurement methods and formal languages as requested by the study groups and the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly.
• International Partnership

ITU-T has established agreements with many International Standards Development Organizations in order to minimize the risk of divergent and competitive approaches to standardization, avoid duplication efforts and avoid confusion among users. Such agreements reinforce the roles of ITU as the intergovernmental and universal organization responsible for world-wide standardization of telecommunications.

• Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs)