Voice over IP

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

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.

Table of contents
1. Introduction.
2. Characteristics of the Internet and IP.
3. Digital Signal Processors (DSPs).
4. Voice Coders.
5. Connecting to Service Providers through the Local Loop.
6. Modems, LAPM, PPP, and the V.100 Series.
7. Putting the Pieces Together.
8. Performance Considerations.
9. VoIP Gateways and Gatekeepers.
10. Internetworking SS7 with IP and H.
11. Other VoIP Supporting Protocols.
12. Other Packet Voice Alternatives.
Appendix A: Telephony Signaling.
Appendix B: ISDN and SS.
Appendix C: Tutorial on the V.34 and V.90 Modems.
Index.