Telecom Convergence, 2/e: How to Bridge the Gap Between Technologies and Services - Softcover

Shepard, Steven

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0071387854 ISBN 13: 9780071387859

Publisher: McGraw-Hill Professional, 2002

Synopsis

Here is a profit-making blueprint for advancement in the convergence marketplace and the first book to address all of the issues that telecom providers-and customers-must confront to meet customer challenges. The book covers all aspects of telecommunications convergence, including not only the technologies themselves but the management, marketing, and business aspects of the telecommunications industry.

This new edition, featuring nearly 200 pages of revised material, details the toll convergence has taken on the industry, how the fleetest companies are responding to it, and presents a best practices guide to staying afloat. Delivering the right service, at the right time, regardless of the underlying technology has never been easier!

* Top Ten industry bestseller
* Provides a blueprint for surviving in the difficult, converged market
* Shows how smart companies are thriving
* Website provides monthly updates

About this title

Review:

A trend is underway in which voice and data communications are merging. The irresistible logic is that digitized voice is just another kind of data, after all; so, why not carry it on the same data links that handle all of our other ones and zeros? The economies of convergence can be considerable: there's no need to build and support separate voice and data infrastructures when you can have just one. That combination of infrastructures presents the problem that Telecommunications Convergence aims to solve: data people, who haven't worried about voice in the past, have to worry about it now. Similarly, people who used to specialize exclusively in switched voice circuits must adapt to the new environment.

In this book, Steven Shepard points out that there's more to telecommunications convergence than just moving everything across IP (or ATM or Frame Relay) networks. He sees convergence of voice and data transport technologies accelerating, yes; but he also points to a blurring of traditional business roles (witness AOL, formerly just an ISP, buying Time-Warner, a content and distribution company). He also sees the convergence of services--meaning that the consumer doesn't care which network delivers his on-demand movies or her faxes--playing a big role in the future of telecommunications. Shepard bases well-reasoned arguments on a year's worth of research, including many interviews with experts in a variety of relevant fields. Read this book for pleasure (it's written that well), and profit from the lessons that it contains. --David Wall

Topics covered: The convergence of voice and data communications as technical, commercial, and social phenomena. Technical issues like voice over IP, voice over ATM, and Quality of Service (QoS) get attention, but the more important lesson here comes from research into the convergence of services and the companies that provide them. There's an excellent glossary, plus scads of references to paper and online resources.

From the Back Cover:

HOW TO BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN TECHNOLOGY AND SERVICES

FEATURING ITS OWN REGULARLY UPDATED WEBSITE, TELECOM CONVERGENCE IS THE ONLY SURVIVAL MANUAL YOU NEED FOR THE BRAVE NEW WORLD OF TELECOM

In this new edition of Telecommunications Convergence, globally recognized telecom guru Steven Shepard gives you a life raft for the whirlpool of today's tech market. With the keen analytical skills and deep knowledge of the industry that have earned him marquee status at telecom conferences around the world, Shepard breaks down the key questions you must answer for your own company and career.

Steven Shepard predicted the current overcapacity, convergence shakeout, and downturn in telecom. Now, in this second edition, he gives you nearly 300 new pages of solutions that work--an almost entirely new book. With this information you and your company can survive--and even thrive--in the challenging environment he forecast.

If you're serious about telecom, you need Shepard's technology, service, and management answers to the most critical questions you face:

* What survival strategies will work for my company?
* How do I build a company-sparing blueprint?
* Can management and network hierarchy changes improve the outcome?
* Capability: build or buy?
* What are the smart companies doing right now?
* And most important of all--what's next?

About this edition

• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Professional
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0071387854
• ISBN 13: 9780071387859
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 400