The Essential Guide to Telecommunications - Softcover

Dodd, Annabel Z.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0130142956 ISBN 13: 9780130142955

Publisher: Prentice Hall, 1999

Synopsis

In today's "wired" world, practically everyone needs to understand telecommunications. With The Essential Guide to Telecommunications, Second Edition you can -- even if you have no technical background at all. Leading consultant Annabel Z. Dodd covers all the fundamental concepts you need to know to understand the industry -- and make smarter buying decisions. This new Second Edition has been updated with up to the minute coverage of today's most critical issues, including the technologies and leading-edge applications associated with digital convergence. Dodd covers the powerful new roles played by IP networking in telephony, streaming media, call centers, PBXs, and beyond. She introduces cable modems, xDSL, and other high-speed Internet access alternatives; reviews frame relay, ATM, and ISDN; and offers up-to-the-minute insight into the telecom industry's new competitive landscape. Along the way, you'll master all the basics of telecommunications, including: the differences between analog and digital signals; what bandwidth is; why protocols and architectures matter; what multiplexing and compression are; the role of the public network; the evolution of the Internet; and much more.

About this title

About the Author

ANNABEL Z. DODD is a faculty member at Northeastern University's State-of-the-Art Program, where she teaches telecommunications for the non-technical. Formerly a marketing manager at Bell Atlantic and Telecommunications Manager at a Fortune 500 company, she is a top telecom consultant and publishes the newsletter Dodd on the Line.

From the Back Cover

Your complete, up-to-the-minute telecom/Internet briefing!

Whatever your role in telecom or Internet services, you'll be more effective if you understand the basics of telecommunications technology and the realities of the fast-changing telecom business. With The Essential Guide to Telecommunications, Second Edition, you will get this understanding-even if you have no technical background at all. In this book, leading consultant Annabel Z. Dodd teaches you everything you must know to understand the telecommunications industry. You'll find up-to-the-minute coverage of today's hottest technologies, including:

Convergence: what it means, what to expect, and how to see through the hype Revolutionary new IP networking applications: telephony, virtual private networks, streaming media, call centers, PBXs, and beyond High-speed Internet access alternatives: cable modems, DSL, and more Frame relay, ATM, ISDN, wireless and other business communications alternatives Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM): the new revolution in fiber optics Dodd presents crystal-clear explanations of the fundamentals everyone in the business assumes you know: what bandwidth is, types of digital cellular services, what multiplexing and compression are, the differences between analog and digital, the role of the public network, the evolution of the Internet, and much more.

Most important, she offers crucial insights into the fast-changing competitive landscape, including local competition, Internet access and the impact of new technologies. The Essential Guide to Telecommunications, Second Edition provides an easy to read, comprehensive understanding of what's hot in the telecommunications industry.

From the Inside Flap

PrefaceIn the twenty-two months between writing the first and second editions of this book, enormous changes occurred in telecommunications. The growing importance of the Internet and the rise of convergence are the most notable of these. Technology in the form of higher capacity fiber optic networks and faster processors hastened these developments and lowered the cost of building new networks.The Internet and the lure of competition for local services have attracted large sums of money from investors. This money has been used to form new companies and promote mergers between network providers. Moreover, the world has become smaller. Network providers are expanding beyond their traditional territories. Local telephone companies are no longer strictly local-cable TV and utility companies are expanding into telecommunications and long distance providers are becoming local providers. In addition, many companies are attempting to establish a worldwide presence. The Essential Guide to Telecommunications, Second Edition presents profiles of industry segments and vendor types to provide readers with an understanding of the industry. The increase in the number of network providers, the growing role of resellers and the fast pace of mergers has created new layers of complexity. The roles of Internet Service Providers, backbone Internet providers, competitive local exchange carriers and cable TV companies are explained. In addition, regulatory rulings and the Telecommunications Act of 1996 are examined in light of their impact on consumers, commercial organizations, and carriers. The language and significance of important telecommunications technologies is explored. The Essential Guide to Telecommunications, Second Edition is not intended to be a deeply technical book. Rather, it is an overview of technologies and an explanation of the structure of the telecommunications industry. Technologies important in competition for local calling, high-capacity communications and Internet access are clarified. Intertwined with high-level technical explanations are examples of how the various vendors interconnect their networks.This book is intended for non-technical people working in the field of telecommunications, laymen interested in learning more about the field, and for people responsible for the administration of telecommunications services for their organizations. They include regulatory staff, salespeople, law firms, research organizations, marketing personnel, human resources professionals, project managers, telecommunications managers, and high-level administrators.The Essential Guide to Telecommunications, Second Edition starts out with interpretations of fundamental concepts so that readers will have a basis for understanding more complex, new telecommunications services. It explores the structure of the industry, local competition, regulatory proceedings, the Internet, convergence, and wireless services.Along with explanations of technology are examples of applications and historical highlights. How the industry evolved and how the technology changed is also explored. The stories and descriptions that accompany the technical

Edition details

• Publisher: Prentice Hall
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0130142956
• ISBN 13: 9780130142955
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 365