With a potential 90 percent reduction in phone costs, voice over data networks could offer your business substantial benefits. But how do you know if telephone over IP (Internet Protocol) suits your needs and setup? And if it does, what will it take to make it work? If you want straightforward answers to these questions, you've come to the right place. Lighting the way to IP telephony is Ken Camp's specialty, and in IP Telephony Demystified he offers the best set of tools out there for making basic get-going decisions.

This chapter explores some of the standards being used and developed specifically for IP telephony. It covers H.323, SIP, SDP, Mecago/H.248 and includes a comparison of H.323 and SIP. Further, it provides insight into which protocol is needed, and which is best for your needs. (This excerpt of IP Telephony Demystified by Ken Camp, is reprinted with permission by The McGraw-Hill Companies, copyright 2003. All rights reserved.)

If you're investigating the possibility of voice over IP in your organization, then you need to read this! We're pleased to offer you this chapter from "Online! The Book." By John Dvorak. It details the history of VoIP, describes how it works, the requirements, goals and benefits of VoIP in the enterprise. Further, this insightful chapter describes the challenges, standards and the future of VoIP. It's a must read! (This chapter is posted with permission from Prentice Hall PTR. Copyright 2004. All rights reserved.)

Cisco Voice over IP solutions: Chapter 1

Networks, whether voice or data, are designed around many different variables. Two of the most important factors that you need to consider in network design are service and cost. Service is essential for maintaining customer satisfaction. Cost is always a factor in maintaining profitability. One way you can maintain quality service and rein in cost in network design is to optimize circuit utilization.

This excerpt from Cisco Voice over IP Solutions describes the different techniques you can use to engineer and properly size traffic-sensitive voice networks. You'll see several different traffic models and explanations of how to use traffic probability tables to help you engineer robust and efficient voice networks. (This excerpt is reprinted with permission by Cisco Press, copyright 2003.)

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Voice-Enabling the Data Network - Chapter 4

This is an excerpt from the book "Voice-Enabling the Data Network" by James Durkin. The book provides a step-by-step approach to designing a VoIP network and outlines each VoIP technology component with detailed descriptions of possible applications. This chapter focuses on how carriers are using VoIP to bundle voice and data services over a single access link to the customer. For example, traditional T1 circuits that are offered to customers to interconnect their private branch exchange PBX to interexchange carriers can now be used instead for integrated voice and data traffic, eliminating the need for multiple access links between the customer and the service provider. (This excerpt is reprinted with permission by Cisco Press, copyright 2003.)