Our Comments:
Please see ISBN 0072263350 for 5th Edition.

Summary:

Telecommunications is one of the world's fastest-growing industries, absorbing many inexperienced, nontechnical personnel into a highly technical field. That's why industry veterans Regis J. "Bud" Bates and Donald Gregory offer this revised edition of the most comprehensive, up-to-date, jargon-free guide available, the Voice & Data Communications Handbook. Beginning with voice communications, the book guides you through the basics of voice characteristics and processing, telephone equipment and networks, analog vs. digital transmission, lines vs. trunks, service carriers, traffic engineering.

Data communications topics include:

• The T1 and T carrier system and ISDN,
• The OSI model, packet switching technologies,
• Local Area Networks, Ethernet, and Token Ring LANs,
• Broadband vs. Baseband,
• Fiber-Distributed Data Interface (FDDI),
• Switched Multi-Megabit Data Services (SMDS),
• Cellular and PCS, Radio, Light, and Cabling Systems.

You'll also find revised sections on switched and virtual LANs, Gigabit Ethernet, networked videoconferencing, and the latest on ATM, SONET, and DSL. Also included are a summary of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, plus new sections on the Internet, Intranets and Extranets, computer-telephony integration, and much more.

Table of Contents:

Introduction
Chapter 1: The History of Telecommunications
Chapter 2: Voice Characteristics
Chapter 3: The Telephone Network
Chapter 4: The Telephone Set
Chapter 5: Analog versus Digital Transmission
Chapter 6: Carriers
Chapter 7: Lines versus Trunks
Chapter 8: Traffic Engineering
Chapter 9: Equipment: Private Branch Exchanges
Chapter 10: Key Telephone Systems
Chapter 11: Voice Processing
Chapter 12: Computer-to-Telephony Integration (CTI)
Chapter 13: Data Communications
Chapter 14: T1 and the T-Carrier System
Chapter 15: The Open Systems Interconnect Model (OSI)
Chapter 16: Internet
Chapter 17: Intranet
Chapter 18: Packet Switching Technologies (X.25)
Chapter 19: Local Area Networks (LANs)
Chapter 20: Ethernet
Chapter 21: Token Ring LANs
Chapter 22: Baseband versus Broadband
Chapter 23: Fiber Distributed Data Interface
Chapter 24: Switched Multimegabit Data Services
Chapter 25: Frame Relay
Chapter 26: Integrated Services Digital Network
Chapter 27: Asynchronous Transfer Mode
Chapter 28: Cellular and Personal Communications Systems
Chapter 29: Radio Systems
Chapter 30: Light Systems
Chapter 31: Video Conferencing
Chapter 32: Finances for Telecommunications
Chapter 33: Facsimile
Chapter 34: Cabling Systems
Appendix
Index