Taking Charge of Your VoIP Project (Paperback)

~ John R. Walker (Author), Jeffrey T. Hicks (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Strategies and solutions for successful VoIP deployments

Network Business Series
Justify your network investment

• The step-by-step approach to VoIP deployment and management enables you to plan early and properly for successful VoIP integration with your existing systems, networks, and applications.

• The detailed introduction offers a common grounding for members of both the telephony and data networking communities.

• IT managers and project leaders are armed with details on building a business case for VoIP, including details of return-on-investment (ROI) analysis and justification.
• A VoIP deployment is presented as a major IT project, enabling you to understand the steps involved and the required resources.
• The comprehensive look at quality of service and tuning describes when and where to use them in a VoIP deployment. These are often the most complex topics in VoIP; you'll get smart recommendations on which techniques to use in various circumstances.
• You learn how to plan for VoIP security, including prevention, detection, and reaction.

Voice over IP (VoIP) is the telephone system of the future. Problem is, VoIP is not yet widely deployed, so there are few skilled practitioners today. As you make your move to VoIP, how will you know how to make VoIP work and keep it working well? What changes will you need to make without disrupting your business? How can you show your return on this investment?

Many books contain technical details about VoIP, but few explain in plain language how to make it run successfully in an enterprise. Taking Charge of Your VoIP Project provides the detailed plans you need to be successful in your organization's deployment of VoIP. Through their years of work in the field, authors John Q. Walker and Jeffrey T. Hicks bring a project-oriented approach to VoIP, with much-needed clarity on getting VoIP to work well.

Taking Charge of Your VoIP Project starts with simple concepts, each chapter building on the knowledge from the last. Although not a technical manual, you learn about the standards, such as H.323, G.711, and Real-Time Transport Protocol (RTP), and the implications they have on your VoIP system. Most importantly, you'll gain expert advice and a systematic guide on how to make VoIP work for your organization.

This volume is in the Network Business Series offered by Cisco Press. Books in this series provide IT executives, decision makers, and networking professionals with pertinent information on today's most important technologies and business strategies.

About the Author

John Q. Walker, Ph.D, was a founder of Ganymede Software, heading the software development team there before it joined NetIQ Corporation in spring 2000. Currently, he is the president of Zenph Studios, Inc., makers of multimedia software. In earlier positions, he managed teams responsible for designing and developing high-speed networking at IBM. Dr. Walker holds a Ph.D. in software engineering; his master's degree focused on system testing.

 

Jeffrey T. Hicks is a Software Architect at NetQoS, Inc., the industry's fastest growing network performance management company.  For the last 8 years, he has been architecting and designing software products to help enterprises and managed service providers deploy, secure, and manage Voice over IP (VoIP) solutions. Jeffrey is a VoIP technology expert and has published numerous articles about VoIP. In past jobs, Jeffrey led the development of Ganymede Software's award-winning Chariot product and developed innovative network communications technology at IBM. Mr. Hicks holds a bachelor of science degree in computer engineering from Auburn University and a master of engineering degree from North Carolina State University.

 

 

Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: Cisco Press (March 4, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1587200929
• ISBN-13: 978-1587200922
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #80,470 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Taking Charege Of Your Voip Project, March 23, 2004

By	Neal Cooksey "nealcooksey2" (Cedar Rapids, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews

I currently work at a Global communications company that is on the cutting edge of worldwide VoIP communications. We are a VoIP provider to several of the Fortune 1000 company's. I am a Data Network Administrator with a background in in voice communications. I also assist in the Internal VoIP projects for the 6 sites I am in charge of. Having said this I have to say that this is one of the best technical reference books I have read concerning the components and software involved in VoIP.

John Walker and Jeffery Hicks more than provide entry-level information regarding several very important aspects of VoIP Implementation. It is easy to see that both have a great deal of knowledge not only regarding VoIP but communications in general.
It was very refreshing to see that two data guys would know so much about voice and the PSTN. I found that the majority of recommended/more information references that are listed at the end of the chapters are either on my desk or on my wish list. This is an excellent bridge for both data and voice technicians.

This book is divided into eight extremely easy to follow well-organized chapters that are written in plain language. While I have read a lot of other technical manuals out of necessity I admit this one I read out of a desire to learn more. This book did not feel like a technical manual. While technical aspects are very well covered this book is less dry than most I have read.

Chapter One Voice basics is a great introduction to either the Data or Telephony networking communities. Regardless of which community you come from you will be engaged. This was a great easy way to start this book. The concepts are built upon from here.

Chapter Two Building a Business Case for VoIP does a fantastic job of outlining the advantages and disadvantages to deploying VoIP. This chapter also covers ROI and other business obstacles that may effect your deployment. I have never personally had to fiure an ROI so I was not informed as to everything involved with processing the information and this book defiantly helped me in that aspect.

Chapter Three Planning for VoIP excellent outline of what needs to be considered before implementation is almost a checklist of what you need to consider and what research needs to be done to your network before you begin.

Chapter Four Do It Yourself, or Outsource is a little more business oriented than other chapters but if you are the decision maker this is an excellent source of questions you need to ask yourself or the provider you chose.

Chapter Five Quality of Service and Tuning is a great introduction to several key concepts. Several important protocols and queueing techniques are covered with enough detail to get you more involved in performance tuning of your network. This book does an excellent job of introducing MPLS and RSVP. This is a great primer and will lead to a desire to read additional books on these concepts as well as the RFCs listed.

Chapter Six Ongoing VoIP Management highlights several tasks that you might want to ensure that your staff can perform/be trained to perform during and after the deployment project. This chapter has several key performance measuring concepts that must be considered. This is one of the more technical chapters but maintains a decent level readability.

Chapter Seven Establishing VoIP SLAs is a step-by-step approach to establishing service levels. The metrics involved in service levels are covered in detail after reading this you will be able to negotiate with your provider or will be able to defend your networks reliability as we all know it is always the network is to slow.

Chapter Eight VoIP Security is veritable list of security concerns as well as concepts for tightening a VoIP network. These techniques are not completely new and can to a certain extent be applied to your data network. Even if you are not currently considering VoIP this is a must read.

All in all this is an excellent book. This is a fantastically written primer to VoIP deployment as well as just an excellent learning tool. I would recommend this book to anyone working in either Telephony or Data networking as converged networks are

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars VoIP From a Business Perspective, January 27, 2005

By	S. Chang - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

John Walker and Jeffrey Hicks's "Taking Charge of Your VoIP Project" (ISBN: 1587200929, Cisco Press) is an installment in Cisco's Network Business Series line of books and covers the topic of voice over IP (VoIP) from a business strategy perspective. Although the book does cover some technical aspects of VoIP, its main purpose is to guide the reader in understanding the steps from beginning to end on how to develop a business case all the way to deploying a successful and secure VoIP deployment. The book covers eight major areas:

* VoIP Basics
* Building a Business Case for VoIP
* Planning for VoIP
* Do It Yourself or Outsource?
* Quality of Service & Tuning
* Ongoing VoIP Management
* Establishing VoIP SLAs
* VoIP Security

This book's primary audience is meant to be at the managerial and above levels, although it does have value for senior technical staff, albeit from a different angle. For the management level, the book's value is in how it covers enough technical detail to make the reader aware of the complexities of VoIP, yet at the same time it presents both a business rationalization and realistic implementation steps so as not to scare the reader away (from the technology). For the senior technical staff or technical manager, the details of the technology will seem rudimentary, but the business framework may be less familiar territory, and therefore more valuable. For the technical audience, it addresses the often asked question of, "Where's the business need for VoIP?"

The eight categories can really be summed up into three major headings: VoIP Technology Summary, Business Justification, and Deployment Considerations. The "VoIP Basics" or technology summary provides the necessary background information on the PSTN and legacy PBX's in order to present the context for understanding how VoIP is a change in voice technology. This section is brief, and Walker and Hicks end with a general overview of data technology and how you converge old voice technology into it, discussing signaling, transport protocols, codecs, and the hardware necessary to make everything work. In terms of the business case for VoIP, the authors present three major cost savings opportunities: toll cost savings, simple network savings, and productivity savings. These areas are commonly talked about and should not be a surprise to the reader; the value here is that the book enables the reader to talk intelligently about the cost savings areas to a business audience. From here, Walker and Hicks cover how to project the ROI, how to make sure you have the data to back up your projections, and what associated costs should be considered before starting the project (e.g., is it cheaper to outsource?). Lastly, the authors spend time discussing both the pre and post implementation requirements and implications of running VoIP, spending less time on the technical details and more time on the big picture of implementing such a technology: Considering the quality requirements (i.e., QoS), integrating VoIP into a network management structure, establishing SLAs with the customer, and securing the technology.

Overall, the book provides a good, but broad treatment of how to present a case for VoIP and then deploy it. The irony of the book is that the readers who can best utilize the information will probably be the ones that find the book a little boring. For example, experienced managers will take away the unique points of implementing VoIP and recognize how it can fit in a realistic way for their particular environment. On the flip side, the knowledgeable network technician will similarly be able to see the nuances of VoIP that the book presents and understand the implications for the existing network. To both audiences, the pre-existing experience and knowledge may cause them to find the book too basic, although the lessons learned will most likely be valuable to them. To the less experienced readers (technical or managerial), the book is a great starting point and will most likely engage them more, but without additional references or resources (e.g., basic project management skills, understanding business budgeting cycles, etc.), the information learned may be just enough to make them dangerous.

"Taking Charge of Your VoIP Project" is a great resource for its intended audience of decision makers and project managers. It is not necessarily meant for the technical person doing the implementing, although the information is beneficial as it ties the technical to the practical.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must have if you are moving to VoIP, March 19, 2004

By A Customer

Switching from a PBX system to VoIP involves numerous planning and implementation decisions, both business and technical. There are many new concepts you have to understand well enough to make the right trade-offs. This book is great for stepping you through all the issues, in order, and gives a clear understanding of how the technology really works. Easier to read cover to cover than most technical books. Well written! The authors clearly know their stuff.