diff --git a/core/AmConfig.cpp b/core/AmConfig.cpp
index 9504d342..0547bf47 100644
--- a/core/AmConfig.cpp
+++ b/core/AmConfig.cpp
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ int          AmConfig::LocalSIPPort            = 5060;
 string       AmConfig::LocalSIPIP              = "";
 string       AmConfig::Signature               = "";
 bool	     AmConfig::SingleCodecInOK	       = false;
+unsigned int AmConfig::DeadRtpTime             = DEAD_RTP_TIME;
 
 AmSessionTimerConfig AmConfig::defaultSessionTimerConfig;
 
@@ -129,6 +130,14 @@ int AmConfig::setMediaProcessorThreads(const string& th) {
   return 1;
 }
 
+int AmConfig::setDeadRtpTime(const string& drt)
+{
+  if(sscanf(drt.c_str(),"%u",&AmConfig::DeadRtpTime) != 1) {
+    return 0;
+  }
+  return 1;
+}
+
 int AmConfig::readConfiguration()
 {
   AmConfigReader cfg;
@@ -243,6 +252,15 @@ int AmConfig::readConfiguration()
     SingleCodecInOK = (cfg.getParameter("single_codec_in_ok") == "yes");
   }
 
+
+  // dead_rtp_time
+  if(cfg.hasParameter("dead_rtp_time")){
+    if(!setDeadRtpTime(cfg.getParameter("dead_rtp_time"))){
+      ERROR("invalid dead_rtp_time value specified");
+      return -1;
+    }
+  }
+
   return defaultSessionTimerConfig.readFromConfig(cfg);
 }	
 
diff --git a/core/AmConfig.h b/core/AmConfig.h
index 4c4a7570..0ca74cf5 100644
--- a/core/AmConfig.h
+++ b/core/AmConfig.h
@@ -88,6 +88,9 @@ struct AmConfig
   /** If 200 OK reply should be limited to preferred codec only */
   static bool SingleCodecInOK;
 
+  /** Time of no RTP after which Session is regarded as dead, 0 for no Timeout */
+   static unsigned int DeadRtpTime;
+
   /** Init function. Resolves SMTP server address. */
   static int init();
 
@@ -113,6 +116,8 @@ struct AmConfig
   static int setStderr(const string& s);
   /** Setter for parameter MediaProcessorThreads, returns 0 on invalid value */
   static int setMediaProcessorThreads(const string& th);
+  /** Setter for parameter DeadRtpTime, returns 0 on invalid value */
+  static int setDeadRtpTime(const string& drt);
 };
 
 class AmConfigReader;
diff --git a/core/AmRtpReceiver.cpp b/core/AmRtpReceiver.cpp
index 1d91becb..31947796 100644
--- a/core/AmRtpReceiver.cpp
+++ b/core/AmRtpReceiver.cpp
@@ -91,11 +91,6 @@ void AmRtpReceiver::run()
 
       if(p.recv(tmp_fds[i].fd) > 0){
 		
-	if(p.parse() == -1){
-	  DBG("error while parsing RTP packet.\n");
-	  continue;
-	}
-
 	gettimeofday(&p.recv_time,NULL);
 		
 	streams_mut.lock();
diff --git a/core/AmRtpStream.cpp b/core/AmRtpStream.cpp
index 548add2b..95fb7ccf 100644
--- a/core/AmRtpStream.cpp
+++ b/core/AmRtpStream.cpp
@@ -423,7 +423,8 @@ int AmRtpStream::nextPacket(AmRtpPacket& p)
 
   jitter_mut.lock();
   timersub(&now,&last_recv_time,&diff);
-  if(diff.tv_sec > DEAD_RTP_TIME){
+  if(AmConfig::DeadRtpTime && 
+     (diff.tv_sec > AmConfig::DeadRtpTime)){
     WARN("RTP Timeout detected. Last received packet is too old.\n");
     DBG("diff.tv_sec = %i\n",(unsigned int)diff.tv_sec);
     jitter_mut.unlock();
diff --git a/core/AmRtpStream.h b/core/AmRtpStream.h
index 094c8fc4..472b63be 100644
--- a/core/AmRtpStream.h
+++ b/core/AmRtpStream.h
@@ -44,8 +44,6 @@ using std::string;
 using std::map;
 using std::auto_ptr;
 
-#define DEAD_RTP_TIME (5*60) /* 5 minutes */
-
 // return values of AmRtpStream::receive
 #define RTP_EMPTY        0 // no rtp packet available
 #define RTP_PARSE_ERROR -1 // error while parsing rtp packet
diff --git a/core/sems.conf.sample b/core/sems.conf.sample
index 8d7ae433..3cbd1447 100644
--- a/core/sems.conf.sample
+++ b/core/sems.conf.sample
@@ -123,6 +123,20 @@ media_processor_threads=1
 #
 #sip_port=5060
 
+# optional parameter: dead_rtp_time=<unsigned int>
+#
+# - if != 0, after this time (in seconds) of no RTP
+#   a session is considered dead and stopped. If set
+#   to 0 no check is done for rtp timeout.
+#
+#   default=300 (5 minutes)
+#
+# Examples:
+#    # disable RTP timeout
+#    dead_rtp_time=0  
+#    # RTP timeout after 10 seconds
+#    dead_rtp_time=10  
+
 # optional parameter: use_default_signature={yes|no}
 #
 # - use a Server/User-Agent header with the SEMS server 
diff --git a/core/sems.h b/core/sems.h
index cf02601b..357bed25 100644
--- a/core/sems.h
+++ b/core/sems.h
@@ -49,6 +49,8 @@
 #define DEFAULT_SIGNATURE "Sip Express Media Server " \
 		"(" VERSION " (" ARCH "/" OS"))"
 
+// session considered dead after 5 minutes no RTP
+#define DEAD_RTP_TIME       5*60  
 
 /* Session Timer defaul configuration: */
 #define DEFAULT_ENABLE_SESSION_TIMER 1