Voice Over IP [Textbook Binding]

Uyless D. Black (Author), Uyless Black (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0130224634 | ISBN-13: 978-0130224637 | Publication Date: August 4, 1999 | Edition: 1

2246C-4 The authoritative guide to Internet telephony *Managing and optimizing the performance of IP voice networks *Configuring IP-based call centers *Internetworking IP with SS7 Uyless Black has written the essential guide for telecommunications professionals who must understand voice-over-IP (VoIP)-or deploy it. Clearheaded and free of hype, Voice Over IP carefully evaluates both VoIP's challenges and its compelling advantages, and then reviews each technical standard and critical issue associated with successful deployment. Start by reviewing the key Internet and IP characteristics that make VoIP difficult, including packet loss and variable delay. Next, understand the role of digital signal processors (DSPs) and voice coders in VoIP. Learn how to establish paths to service providers through the local loop via ISDN, xDSL, HFC, or other approaches; review modem technology for VoIP applications; and understand today's key Internet telephony protocols. Coverage includes: *Integrating total VoIP solutions: DSPs, voice coders, high-speed modems, gateways, local loop connectivity, and more *The role of VoIP gateways and gatekeepers *Internetworking SS7 with IP and H.3 23 *VoIP supporting protocols for multicasting (IGMP and MBONE), bandwidth reservation (RSVP, RTP, RTCP), and security services Black describes today's best approaches for managing performance in both private and public IP networks, compares VoIP with packet voice alternatives such as Voice over Frame Relay (VoFR) and Voice over ATM (VoATM), and more. You'll also find convenient references to telephony signaling, ISDN and SS7, and V.90 modems. Every telecommunications professional will be impacted by the VoIP revolution. Whether you're evaluating or deploying VoIP, this book places a world-class telecom consultant at your side, delivering all the objective information and insight you need to succeed.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In his most recent book, Voice Over IP, author Uyless Black proves himself a brave man by tackling the daunting subject of Internet telephony. This is the world of private branch exchanges (PBXs), local exchange carriers (LECs), plain old telephone service (POTS), and a slew of other acronyms that are enough to unnerve even the most tech-savvy among us.

However, Black's long-winded explanations often make it tough to digest the information he presents. For example, he approaches voice coders like so: "The principle function of a voice coder is to encode pulse code modulation or PCM user speech samples into a small number of bits in such a manner that the speech is robust in the presence of link errors, jittery networks, and bursty transmissions." And though there is an appendix that lists all the acronyms used in the text and what they stand for, this book would have benefited mightily from a full-blown glossary.

On the positive side, Voice Over IP is chock-full of terrific tables and charts that illustrate network topologies and the different elements of protocols involved in transmitting voice traffic over an IP network. In addition, an extremely useful chapter titled "Performance Considerations" provides the results of three voice over IP studies conducted in various networking environments as well as comparative product information on such market leaders as Cisco and Lucent. So if you're not put off by high-voltage technology and its murky vocabulary, this book is a good selection. However, it may be a little much for those who are unfamiliar or only vaguely acquainted with IP telephony. --Sarah L. Roberts-Witt

From the Back Cover

The authoritative guide to Internet telephony

• Managing and optimizing the performance of IP voice networks
• Configuring IP-based call centers
• Internetworking IP with SS7

Uyless Black has written the essential guide for telecommunications professionals who must understand voice-over-IP (VoIP)-or deploy it. Clearheaded and free of hype, Voice Over IP carefully evaluates both VoIP's challenges and its compelling advantages, and then reviews each technical standard and critical issue associated with successful deployment.

Start by reviewing the key Internet and IP characteristics that make VoIP difficult, including packet loss and variable delay. Next, understand the role of digital signal processors (DSPs) and voice coders in VoIP. Learn how to establish paths to service providers through the local loop via ISDN, xDSL, HFC, or other approaches; review modem technology for VoIP applications; and understand today's key Internet telephony protocols. Coverage includes:

• Integrating total VoIP solutions: DSPs, voice coders, high-speed modems, gateways, local loop connectivity, and more
• The role of VoIP gateways and gatekeepers
• Internetworking SS7 with IP and H.323
• VoIP supporting protocols for multicasting (IGMP and MBONE), bandwidth reservation (RSVP, RTP, RTCP), and security services

Black describes today's best approaches for managing performance in both private and public IP networks, compares VoIP with packet voice alternatives such as Voice over Frame Relay (VoFR) and Voice over ATM (VoATM), and more. You'll also find convenient references to telephony signaling, ISDN and SS7, and V.90 modems.

Every telecommunications professional will be impacted by the VoIP revolution. Whether you're evaluating or deploying VoIP, this book places a world-class telecom consultant at your side, delivering all the objective information and insight you need to succeed.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Textbook Binding: 328 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 1 edition (August 4, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0130224634
• ISBN-13: 978-0130224637
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,617,966 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars This book is not about voice over IP, August 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Voice Over IP (Textbook Binding)

I am unhappy. Each time I get a book about voice over IP I feel cheated. This book is about all sorts of things but it is not about voice over IP. The author exercises his knowledge on many interesting topics. Some of them are related to voice over IP but most of them are padding. This book fills most of it's chapters with related subjects like SS7, PPP, telephony etc... The author missed the mark with this book. This is the fourth voice over IP book I have read and if you took all four together you may get a half decent. What is covered is H.323 and MGCP both are not badly covered but they zoom down to the bit level far too quickly without really giving the reader a grasp about their real meaning. The book does state that some sections are needed for completeness, but they ramble on without a good general direction. Again I shall continue seeking knowledge, but this whole topic area is quite badly covered. My advice is to read the ITU recommendations for H323, T.120, Q931 etc...

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not worth reading, September 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Voice Over IP (Textbook Binding)

I am not new to VoIP, and I know it fairly well already (attend the standards bodies, etc.), but I needed to find a good book for other employees. This was not it. Uyless left many errors, many open topics, and frankly the book is not really about Voice over IP in detail. There are much better books out there: Olivier Hersent's "IP Telephony" and Duskalis's "IP Telephony" are much more thorough on VoIP (despite their titles), although they are somewhat out of date already. (anything over 6 months old will be)

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Where was the editor?, July 29, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Voice Over IP (Textbook Binding)

The typographical errors in this book make it useless. I had some knowledge of this subject prior to reading it. The parts I was familiar with were so full of errors, that I could not trust any of the rest of it. Based on the price I paid, I think the publisher should pay me to send back the corrections! I am sure there is some useful stuff in here, but weeding through the junk is not worth it. In the section on MGCP, the acronym "MGCP" is spelled at least 3 different ways. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS ONE!