Cisco Packetized Voice & Data Integration [Paperback]

Robert Caputo (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Everyone with a dedicated WAN connection is implementing on it some kind of Voice over IP solution these days. The setup process is too easy, the cost too low, and the quality of service too high to ignore this application of your data channels. Cisco Packetized Voice & Data Integration might be the best practically oriented Voice over IP (VoIP) book around, if you want to do some reading on the topic. If you're looking for a more academic treatment of the standards and concepts that underlie VoIP, you'll want to supplement it probably with Uyless Black's Voice Over IP or another mostly conceptual text. But engineers with a job to do will appreciate author Robert Caputo's willingness to share stories and lessons from his life's work.

Caputo has earned praise for helping to blur the distinction between "voice people" and "data people," a schism that continues to rule many organizations and should be eliminated as voice-over-data solutions become more popular. This book explains voice concepts (PBXs, telephone signaling, and so on) in "data people" terms. It also discusses thoroughly IP concepts such as Quality of Service (QoS). Focusing mainly on the Cisco 3600 family of routers and their voice cards, Caputo gives detailed configuration instructions that include dial-plan design, connectivity with analog phone equipment, and interconnection of geographically separated PBXs (PBX trunking). You'll find plenty of fully listed configuration files here.

Bear in mind that this book focuses on VoIP exclusively, without much more than a nod to the specifics of VoIP implementation under Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM). There's just one chapter on Frame Relay; this isn't a problem, just a characteristic. Turn to Oliver Chukwudi Ibe's Essentials of ATM Networks and Services for details on ATM, and Jeff Buckwalter's Frame Relay: Technology and Practice for more information on Frame Relay. --David Wall

Topics covered: Implementation of a corporate voice infrastructure on an IP network, particularly one that's based on Cisco Systems routers. There's an overview of VoIP technologies here and an introduction to telephony concepts for data-network engineers. Quality of Service (QoS) gets plenty of attention, and there's a detailed explanation of how to develop a system of phone numbers and network addresses (a dial plan). A series of sample configurations, in addition to one that includes an IP voice trunk between two geographically separated PBXs, concludes this volume.

Product Description

Integrate voice and data traffic on your Cisco network. If you're ready for the economy and versatility of combining voice and data on your Cisco-based network, Cisco Packetized Voice & Data Integration, by Robert Caputo, packs all the know-how you need to plan, design and implement an all-in- one solution. From packetized voice fundamentals to delivering quality of service (QOS) for Voice-over IP and Frame Relay, you're shown how to develop a dial plan, deploy advanced voice functions, and roll it all up into a single dependable system. Detailed configuration examples take you inside the Cisco network, and case studies show you successful voice and data integration in real-world organizations. You also get a quick-reference Cisco IOS Voice Command Reference plus guides to industry standards,controlling bodies and voice communications terms.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies (September 27, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071347771
• ISBN-13: 978-0071347778
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,877,990 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

  #82 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Software > Business > Speech Processing
  #59 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Software > Voice Recognition

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent reference for VoIP, January 25, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Cisco Packetized Voice & Data Integration (Paperback)

This book is very compact, concise and contains a wealth of information that I could not find in any other single reference. It provides a very good introduction to voice technologies for the data engineer and more specific information about the voice capabilities of Cisco routers (although there is no coverage of 800, 1750 or MC3810) with numerous example configurations.

Contents, 1.Intro, 2. Packetized Voice Overview, 3. Voice Concepts for Data engineers, 4. QoS for IP, 5.Qos for Frame Relay, 6. Understanding Voice Ports and Dial Peers, 7. Developing a Dial Plan, 8. Integrating It All, 9. Sample Configurations, 10. VoIP Case Study, Appendix. Webliography.

The only disappointment is that the book is very IP-centric, VoFR is from an IP over Frame perspective and VoATM gets no coverage. The book is barely over 300 pages, so I don't think this would have been asking too much.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent VoIP Intro and Reference, February 10, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Cisco Packetized Voice & Data Integration (Paperback)

Caputo maximizes detail without including the often extraneous content found in similar texts. This book accommodates the fledgling beginner with a brief but thorough intro into the technologies and protocols referenced in the first few chapters. With the reader "up and running", the author then gives a wonderfully detailed tutorial into the commonly misunderstood subject matter of "Voice over Data" delivery methods. The title includes a multitude of "real-world" examples in the form of client configs the author has worked on. I personally find this far more useful than the more commonly found "lab-configs" which are far too sterile to be of any use in actual day to day operations. The level of detail is second to none with Caputo's "No such thing as a stupid question" approach. This book is a MUST for any network technologists' desk. Although there is a conspicuous absence of any reference to other voice over data delivery methods such as Voice over Frame and Voice over ATM, I believe the omission was a good decision as Voice over IP is itself sufficient subject matter to fill more than an entire text on the subject.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cisco Packetized Voice & Data Integration, April 11, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Cisco Packetized Voice & Data Integration (Paperback)

Caputo provides an excellent balance between theoretical background and Cisco specific information. Chapter 3, "voice concepts for data engineers" provides just the right level of information needed to understand voice technology, and the challenges of packetized delivery.

Another nice featue is the clearly tabulated facts and figures, which make this book an excellent reference for even the experienced reader.

Overall, Caputo has provided a text that contains everything required to understand and implement successful voice and data integrated networks with Cisco technology.