Deploying Cisco Voice over IP Solutions
Reviewer Name: Mark G. Reyero, Presales Internetworking Engineer
Reviewer Certification: CCIE
Of late, one cannot read the Wall Street Journal or watch CNBC in the morning without hearing some reference to Voice over Internet Protocol. It is the latest buzz in the business world, with companies such as AT&T and Comcast beginning to pilot Voice over IP (VoIP) products and services to its customers. The detailed technical aspects of VoIP are the basis of the Cisco Press book, Deploying Cisco Voice over IP Solutions.
As announced in the first line of the Introduction, Deploying Cisco Voice over IP Solutions is the sequel of sorts to the Cisco Press book, Voice over IP Fundamentals. Rather than jumping right to a discussion of contents and merits of this book, first a word about what the book isn't. This book is not for the businessperson interested in learning more about the excitement and buzz around VoIP. It is not intended to be an introduction to VoIP, nor is it meant to address basic Cisco VoIP configurations for small and medium businesses (although there are many great configuration examples). Finally, this book is not meant to help you pass any specific certification exam, (although it likely should be on the list of any aspiring CCIE-Voice, such as myself). Deploying Cisco Voice over IP Solutions is targeted to engineers in large enterprises and/or service providers who are already comfortable with both the theoretical knowledge and practical experience of Cisco VoIP.
The book opens with a detailed explanation of voice traffic analysis, and specifically the Erlanger Traffic Models. Have your calculator handy and brush up on the algebra! It was nice to finally see a detailed discussion on the "mysterious" Erlanger Models that I’ve read some much about. This detailed discussion is indicative of the great detail the authors and editors delve into when they discuss other weighty topics such as Echo, CAC, QoS, Fax Services, and Prepaid Phone Services.
My only (nominal) complaint about Deploying Cisco Voice over IP Solutions was that it only briefly discusses CallManager. However, I'll let Cisco Press off the hook because they've published other more detailed books on the topic (and hey, CCM is really "just" an application on the VoIP network). There is also a chapter about the theory behind Unified Messaging. Although informative, it references Cisco's older product, uOne, which has been replaced by the more robust Cisco Unity. Perhaps the kind folks at Cisco Press will produce a book relating to that topic in 2004?