• VoIP and softswitching: technical challenges, proven solutions
• State-of-the-art testing techniques for ensuring superior QoS
• Key design approaches for MPLS and differentiated services
• Covers protocols, topologies, and call flows
• By the author of the best-selling IP Telephony

The in-depth, up-to-the-minute technical guide to developing and deploying IP-based telephony.

This is a complete, in-depth technical guide to the challenges associated with building and deploying Voice over IP (VoIP) networks using softswitch technologies—and today's best solutions. Bill Douskalis, author of the best-selling IP Telephony, reviews the entire current state of the art in protocols for signaling, media transport, and network engineering—and presents expert guidance on designing telephony solutions that meet the needs of both carriers and customers. Coverage includes:

• New scenarios for design of VoIP networks based on Class 4 and Class 5 softswitch network technology
• Designing for performance and interoperability: challenges, examples, and comparisons of potential solutions
• Protocols of the new converged networks and design requirements for seamless integration of softswitch applications with the PSTN
• Call flows for SIP, H.323, MGCP, and Megaco
• Testing tips to ensure consistently high QoS in voiceband applications
• MPLS and IP differentiated services in VoIP networks: key roles and integration issues

Nobody has more experience implementing VoIP in large-scale networks than Bill Douskalis—and no book offers morreal-world VoIP design, construction, and deployment.

"The book is very well written and provides the practical information on all aspects of a VoIP network in the ever-changing field of communication technologies."

—Dr. Tushar Bhattacharjee, AT&T, Polytechnic University of New York

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