What is a common feature provided by SIP?

SIP, or Session Initiation Protocol, is primarily designed for initiating, maintaining, and terminating real-time communication sessions over the Internet. One of its key features is the ability to facilitate real-time audio and video communication. This is fundamental to SIP's operation, as it enables users to engage in voice calls, video conferencing, and other multimedia interactions.

The use of SIP allows different devices and software to communicate effectively, providing a standardized protocol for establishing sessions that can transmit both voice and video data. This feature is essential for applications like VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), where audio streams are transmitted in real-time over IP networks, as well as for video calls where synchronization between audio and video streams is crucial.

While the other options might relate to various aspects of networking or communication technologies, they do not encapsulate the core purpose of SIP in the way real-time audio and video communication does. For instance, network load balancing relates more to distributing traffic across multiple servers; data compression pertains to reducing file sizes, and text-based programming interfaces refer to how software applications interact programmatically, none of which are intrinsic to SIP's functionality.