Customer Reviews

Secrets of Windows Telephony

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is the worst book I have ever bought. The author tries to cover many topics, but he does so so pitfully that the reader is really left clueless. The organization of the book is very loose, and he scratches every topic only on the surface. Don't be fooled by the microsoft windows logo on the cover, save the thirty bucks and buy yourself some game CDs.

The previous reviewer is absolutely correct. I should have made my purchase @ Amazon so that I could have been warned. "must read", maybe for employees of the publishing company.

I can't even say that its too technical. What I can say is that it lacks structure.

This book is good for program managers, product managers and team leaders interested in the Windows Telephony API (TAPI). It's really outdated now and out of print, but I keep lending my copy to friends. There are many examples of approaches to TAPI applications and even some stuff Microsoft never published early on. The glossary alone is massive and I refer to it often even though the content of the book is now dated. If you can get it used, it's a good history lesson of "early adopters" and how TAPI got started in the mid-to-late nineties. So much has changed, it's not for programmers at this point, but OK for newcomers to the telecom industry who want to learn some background.

Although this book is dated (written in '96 and published in '97) it is the only one of it's kind six years ago. I searched *everywhere* in 96 and 97 for a book on TAPI and not one publisher had tackled the subject. Microsoft had *nothing* of any real use besides the TAPI spec itself. This book, although not formatted very well, was obviously carefully researched. It is clear that the author interviewed dozens of TAPI early adopters and published their tips and ideas. Today, at best this book is kind of a historical retrospective. But six years ago it was an essential read for me.

I bought this book back in 1997 and found it to be a valuable resource. In 1996 and 1997 not one person, let alone Microsoft had published anything on TAPI. This is the only book at the time that addresses all the "bleeding edge' TAPI developers, their tips, and the inside scoop from Microsoft. It is clear that the author researched the topic better than anyone else had at the time and provided insights not otherwise available. ... It's been SIX YEARS since the book was published and now there are mainstream sources for this info.

This book should be given off free by Microsoft. All it seems to do is advertise the NT operating system, and presents a bunch of case studies eulogising the NT operating system, again.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention the typographic errors on almost every page. Sometimes you don't know when one sentence ends and the other begins.