Essential Guide to Telecommunications, The (4th Edition) (Essential Guide Series) | 
 enlarge | Author: Annabel Z. Dodd
Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR
Category: Book
List Price: $49.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  54 reviews
Sales Rank: 242424
Media: Paperback
Edition: 4
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 624
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.9
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 7 x 1.3
ISBN: 0131487256
Dewey Decimal Number: 384
EAN: 9780131487253
ASIN: 0131487256
Publication Date: July 9, 2005
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Amazon.com Review
The telecommunications industry encompasses hundreds of different technologies, which in turn have spawned many trade names, jargon terms, and legal definitions. Those looking for a comprehensive introduction to the technologies, laws, and marketing programs that govern telecommunications need to read The Essential Guide to Telecommunications. Author Annabel Z. Dodd begins by pointing out that telecommunications technologies have everything to do with signals moving over media. She then goes on to catalog some of the various kinds of signals and media, covering traditional switched telephone service, dedicated lines, public branch exchanges (PBXs), and automatic call distributors (ACDs) along the way. After that foray into technology, she gets into the U.S. telecommunications business environment, focusing heavily on the federal breakup of AT&T in 1984 and the Telecommunications Act of 1996. She then explains additional technologies; data communications and the Internet-ISDN, Frame Relay, and analog modems all get attention. The author also pays plenty of attention to wireless solutions, including satellite communications. Unlike Newton's Telecom Dictionary (which remains an excellent resource), this book can be successfully read from start to finish by a reader with practically no telecommunications knowledge at the outset. Read and understand--that's what good technical books, like this one, enable you to do. --David Wall
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| Customer Reviews: Read 49 more reviews...
 Good book, easy to read September 15, 2008
I'm pleasantly surprised by this book. It is very easy to read, and flows quite nicely for someone who is just being introduced to telecomm.
 Horrible August 20, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is the worst book I have ever had to read. There are no chapter sumaries. The logic flow within chapters seems random. Complicated terms or concepts are referenced but not explained until much later, sometimes in another chapter. Much of the information is wrong. In certain sections of the book, spaces have been omitted. Thisisveryhardtoread. This book confusses more than it clarifies. Run away, take another class. Don't buy this book
Baaad to the Binding October 23, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book may seem like a great intro book to those well-versed in Telecommunications. However, the book does a terrible job of explaining terms and jargon. A word, for example, will be used for several pages before being defined. There are very few practical examples and metaphors to illustrate concepts and add interest to the book. There are no photographs here either, only basic illustrations which do not clarify concepts, but instead require explaination.
All of my classmates are disgusted that we are required to use this text. Plans are being set for a post-semester Essential-Guide-to-Telecommunications bonfire!
 Telecom with great industry overview March 18, 2005
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
This third edition was basically written by mid-2001, in the shakeout of the dotcoms. In spite of the intervening period of almost 4 years, the book feels relatively up-to-date on the technical side although the recent mergers in the telecom industry might need to be addressed by the author.
The book, as stated by the author, is intended to clarify technologies, trends, and history in the telecom industry. Although it provides an overview of tech, that is not is its strength; placing the terminology in the context of the structure and the history of the telecom industry is. The book is not meant for IT specialists but people like myself that need to know enough about hardware, protocols, and systems to ensure clear communication about the telecom needs of the enterprise.
Although the book is not as technical as some might like, I felt the author did a thorough job covering the structure of telecom industry and the impact of the regulatory environment, not just in the developed countries but the emerging markets of the global marketplace also. The international background, histories, mergers and aquisitions help provide a context.
Interestingly, Dodds foresaw the importance of VoIP internationally as well as the fixed wireless leap for emerging markets. Those topics remain on the front burner. All in all, this is great book to start with. It explains all the key technologies with adequate detail while exploring options for SMBs with significant trends placed in a historical and regulatory context. I recommend it for the "new kids on the block".
Good Intro/Overview of the Telecom world February 17, 2004
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
I just finished reading this book and overall found it to be very informative. It covers a general overview of everything from the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to telecommunications around the world. Landline, wireless, and internet are all covered along with the technologies that make them work. With that being said, this book will NOT make you an expert in telephony or any specific area of telecommunications. It is however, a great start.The one problem I had with the book was numerous grammatical errors. I found that in some cases I had to mentally disassemble and rebuild a sentence to understand what was trying to be said. I would (and have) recommend this book to a coworker and/or friend getting started with telecommunications.
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