[.uk] Cisco IP Telephony: Planning, Design, Implementation, ...

sweet spot between technical details and broad overview:
This book was exactly was I was looking for. I'm a CCSP, CCNA, CCDA, CWLSS/LDS integrating Cisco voice into a Cisco WAN/LAN environment. I needed a great overview of technology but with enough technical data to drill down into where desired. Kudos to Cisco Press and Kaza for doing this perfectly. My other IPT references were starting to age, so I wanted a newer resource. This one, published in 05, covers all the changes, standards, and advancements in the last couple years. It starts with 50 pages of protocols, specs, technologies and equipment. So you learn the basics of how a Call Manager based system works and some good Telco and signaling fundamentals. The authors then embark on a design-phase analysis of different scenarios. It's a little slanted towards clean slate installs and a consultants perspective, but I was able to glean plenty of info. Lots of default values, guidelines, and RFCs sprinkled throughout. Not much in the way of IOS/configs. Good and copious templates for planning and designing. Hope Cisco continues these types of guides.

Practical Advice for Converting to IP Telephony:
Switching to IP Telephony is one of those decisions that the CEO finds easy to make. Costs decline quite a lot and quality of performance is promised to be acceptable. Then the problem of implementation is turned over to those who will need to plan, design, implement, operate and troubleshoot the system. That lucky engineer will find that the Cisco solution is still a fairly limited one technically that requires you to make the right decisions . . . or you can end up with a system that doesn't live up to the promise that was made to the CEO. And you can guess who will get the blame for that. I read a fair number of the Cisco networking books, and I found this one to be more candid, detailed and helpful than anyone one I have seen. The authors wrote this book to explain what their clients had been having trouble with in implementing the first Cisco IP telephony solutions. That perspective allows you to avoid mistakes others have made. Those mistakes can come in two areas: the system working or not; and the system's solution fitting the company's needs well or not. I'm not an engineer, but I found the book to be easy to understand and interesting to read. For an engineer, much of the technical parts of this book will seem like old hat, I'm sure. But the tables are sure to save lots of time and mistakes by simply summarizing what needs to be done in elegant detail. For example, table 6-42 on page 233 tells you which restrictions you should place on calling (from highly restricted for lobby phones to unrestricted for the executive phones). While that's not strictly engineering (more like administration), it's something the engineers need to do properly. If not done correctly, you end up with a situation where employees waste lots of time calling their friends and family in far away countries. People are much more sensitive to their telephone system than to their computer network. So all the details of satisfying users will be new to many engineers. For example, customizing your solution to account for the right voice-mail service is very important. Do that wrong, and you have everyone in the company angry with you. Chapter 7 is a great help in designing the right solution for your company. No one will ever get fired for buying and using this book to put in a Cisco IP telephone system. In fact, this book may even help you earn a promotion. Here is a list of the chapter titles to give you a sense of the book's coverage in its 648 pages: Chapter 1 Cisco IP Telephony Solution Overview (explains the limits of Cisco technology well) Chapter 2 Planning, Implementation, Operation and Optimization Overview (a process to get you from here to there) Chapter 3 Large-Scale Enterprise Requirements for IP Telephony (helps you anticipate problems in the beginning) Chapter 4 Planning Phase (marrying your IT networks to a telecom application) Chapter 5 Design Phase (network infrastructure design) Chapter 6 Design of Call-Processing Infrastructure and Applications (lots of details on choices) Chapter 7 Voice-Mail System Design Chapter 8 Implementation (a step-by-step process description) Chapter 9 Operations and Optimization (software and hardware upgrades, CallManager operation and monitoring tools, optimization tips from time synchronization to IPT network management tools) Good luck with your system!

This will separate the successful from the failures!:
Many of us have decided to put away our legacy PBX systems and install a VoIP based communication platform, and with all of the benefits clearly visible, we often jump into action without fully realizing the scope of what we are about to undertake. In a VoIP deployment, so many factors must be considered in the design, that often things are left out. In the deployments where QoS, switching infrastructure, and overall network design are ignored, you see problems with reliability and an overall bad taste left in the mouth of the end user. With proper planning, the problems experienced by these design flaws (or often lack of design) can be overcome, and the true glory of the VoIP system will be seen. Cisco has designed an awesome assortment of VoIP enabling technologies, that when used together can, and will, change the way we do business for the better, but only if you have a solid foundation of planning. The authors of this title, Cisco IP Telephony: Planning, Design, Implementation, Operation, and Optimization , have taken the steps to building a solid VoIP system and set them up in an organized structure, that if followed, will provide a solid and stable installation and deployment. This isn't just another guide to walk you through the CallManager platform, but addresses design constraints of the entire VoIP system including infrastructure analysis, call processing, voice mail, QoS considerations, call flow planning, information on deployment of a pilot system, and acceptance testing processes. Once the platform is deployed, this guide will give you the insight needed to properly tune and maintain you system for many years to come. The many example forms in the back of the book will even walk you through the carrier circuit ordering process, voice mail system design, and even implementation readiness evaluation questionnaires. I would highly recommend this title to anybody who has decided to install a VoIP system, even if you think you already have your bases covered. You can never be too-organized or have too much planning when undertaking a project of this scope. If you follow the guidelines in this book, you will have a much greater understanding of what's necessary for a successful deployment, and you won't be one of those customers wishing they would have planned things better (as they fix their installation). If asked to rate the book on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the best, I would rate this a 5, and essential to the library of any VoIP engineer.

A very good book for design engineers.:
If you design networks or just want to get a better understanding of Cisco IP Telephony technology pick up this book. Its a great reference and a daily problem solver for your job.

A good process book with enough technology:
Cisco IP Telephony: Planning, Design, Implementation, Operation, and Optimization is an average book with useful information. Please be aware of the subtitle - "Planning, Design, Implementation, Operation, and Optimization". This book is less of a technology book and more of a process and best practices book. It uses examples and best practices on how to deploy technologies and focuses less on technology. It would be a good book for technically strong IPT engineers who want to expand their knowledge on IPT design. I did like Chapter 2 - Planning, Design, Implementation, Operation, and Optimization Overview. This chapter could be used for any large scale IT deployment. The process described is relevant to different technologies, not just IPT. Also, Chapter 6 - Design of Call-Processing Infrastructure and Applications - is a long, but detailed read on dial plans, which are the core of any telephony system. The authors did a good job of going through all the aspects of a dial plan including, but not limited to, gateways, numbering plans, route patterns and calling search space.