The New Telephony: Technology Convergence, Industry Collision

By Stephen M. Walters

In The New Telephony , one of the industry's most respected experts presents a comprehensive framework for understanding where telecom has come from, where it stands, and where it's headed. Telcordia... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0130358142
• ISBN13: 9780130358141
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Prentice Hall
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 1.53 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 7.2" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

The business of telephony. Best introduction.

Voice telephony remains the 900 pound gorilla of the networking business. The Internetand other data services may exceed voice by volume but they are way back in the packwhen it comes to revenue. Voice telephony represents a $800 Billion business worldwidewhile all of the Internet and other data communications represents only about $200 Billion.This is the golden goose that cisco, Juniper and all of the proponents of Voice over IP havetheir sights set on. It is also the cash cow that ATT, Lucent, Nortel and the Baby Bellsare entrenched to defend. This book gives a very readable introduction to the business andpolicy issues involved in this network convergence. Anyone who would like to understand the telephony business in both its classical TDM guiseand int eh new clothes of voice over IP would do well to read this timely book. There is justenough technology background here to prepare non-engineers to understand the businessand policy issues surronding VoIP. Traditional telephony is presented along with the Internetand it's associated protocols. The author then introduces the technologies of voice over IPand releated technologies intended to enable the Internet to deliver a quality of serviceadequate to carry voice. The complex puzzle of Diffserv and MPLS, RSVP, RTP and RTCPare all laid out in their proper place and relation along with H.323, MEGACO and SIP. After giving us a thorough introduction to the technology Walters gets down to the businessissues of building the new telephony including an exploration of six scenarios of possible futures for the industry. The final chapter looks at the effects of the economic downturn thathas been plaguing the entire industry for the past two years as well as the repurcussions of the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington. If you want to study the bits and bytes of VoIP protocols then this is not the book for you. (For that read Carrier Grade Voice over IP) but if you want to understand the upheaval convulsing the communications industry the there is no better or more timely book.

Fundamental Design Philosophy of Telephony and Computer Netw

Having read this book, I find myself much less mystified by the sometimes-nonsensical operation of computer-like networks over telephone-system infrastructure. Dr. Walters does a superb job of explaining the fundamental thinking behind the 100-year-old telephone-technology evolution and how it contoured itself to meet the required level of service in an optimum fashion. He further explains the quality and type of service required for computer networking and how it significantly differs from that of telephony.Steve laces the book with sufficient simple examples, humor, and genuine technical detail to make the book an enjoyable learning experience for just about anyone with an interest either telephony or global computer networking. This book is valuable for engineers and a must-read for investors.

Insights in the state of the art in the telephony industry

Having read The New Telephony in great detail I conclude that this book is a useful, timely and comprehensive guide to the state of the art in the telephony industry. The author has a rare ability to translate complex problems and concepts into easy to understand descriptions that highlight the essence of the issues. He walks the reader through the key elements and developments of both traditional telephone networks and the Internet and builds on this to contrast the emerging "new" telephony with that of traditional "old" telephone networks and their operators. Refreshingly, this is not just a book about technical communication protocols and standards. The book also highlights the importance of operational issues, wiring, billing, regulatory, reliability, economics, inertia and competitive drivers. It provides the reader not only with an understanding of the key technologies but also with an appreciation of the drivers that motivate service providers to apply these technologies in their networks. The book then contrasts different views and scenarios on how the New Telephony may take shape in the market place. As the Foreword by Lucky concludes "It is rare that these [different] views come together in one book, but here they do, for all of us to ponder and appreciate".

Get to Know What Constitutes Current Telephony, and the Why

I am prompted by Pete's review of The New Telephony to respond. This is not a novel nor is it meant to be exciting. It is a thoughtful technical book. I am happy to hear the 6th grade students in NSW Australia might find the ideas presented in this book as fitting to their level of education. If this were truly so it would shame our graduate students for they might have to struggle with some of the ideas and concepts included in this book. Dr. Walters does take pains to try and make these complex transmission concepts, standards and methods clear and understandable. He blends both the science and the engineering showing not only the how but the why it must be so. To summarize the current state of telephony is a difficult task because of the broad range of topics entering into every consideration. Dr. Walters develops the ideas and thoughts so that the current state of telephony makes sense...at least as to its reasons for being so. This book, in my estimation is a must read for anyone currently concerned with almost any aspect of telephony.David L. Favin