Computer Telephony Encyclopedia

Rating:
Summary: Much better than Newton's Dictionary
Review: Don't get me wrong, I've been buying Newton's tome since the 3rd edition. Its very useful. But if you really want to get the lowdown on technology today then Grigonis' book is the one I'd chose. Mr. Grigonis know's his stuff and he writes in plain english too. Grigonis once worked for Newton. In a strange twist the student is now better than the master. (Read the intro for a hilarous rundown of what it was like working for zany Mr. Newton. Worth the price of admission alone.) Plus bonus section of Who's Who with nice writeups on industry notables such as Jon Shapiro and Barry Sher....Only complaint: the title is too narrow-- should be called "Technology Encyclopedia"

Rating:
Summary: Not for the Uninitiated
Review: I suspect that it may have been intended, based on the title; the _Computer Telephony Encyclopedia_ is a great companion to _Newton's Telecom Dictionary_. Whereas the dictionary has a paragraph or two on thousands of topics, the encyclopedia, as expected, has on average of a few pages on a few hundred topics -- literally ranging from "A & B (Robbed) Bit Signaling" and "A/D Converter" to "Zulu Time" and "Zzzzzzz". While I feel that Newton's is a better and more useful book (a must-own for everyone in the industry), I think this is an excellent second book to buy if you've ever wanted more detail than Newton's provides.

Rating:
Summary: Nice companion to Newton's Telecom Dictionary.
Review: I suspect that it may have been intended, based on the title; the _Computer Telephony Encyclopedia_ is a great companion to _Newton's Telecom Dictionary_. Whereas the dictionary has a paragraph or two on thousands of topics, the encyclopedia, as expected, has on average of a few pages on a few hundred topics -- literally ranging from "A & B (Robbed) Bit Signaling" and "A/D Converter" to "Zulu Time" and "Zzzzzzz". While I feel that Newton's is a better and more useful book (a must-own for everyone in the industry), I think this is an excellent second book to buy if you've ever wanted more detail than Newton's provides.

Rating:
Summary: Not for the Uninitiated
Review: I was looking for a good introduction to the field of Computer Telephony and bought this book. Unfortunatly, I found it to be more confusing than helpful. Almost every section reads like a puzzle that you have to assemble. An example in the "Cable Telephony" section:

"The NCS profile of MGCP, which is known as the Network-based Call Signaling Protocol, NCS 1.x, the NCS profile, or simply NCS, has been modified from the CableLabs / PacketCable MGCP 0.1 draft in several ways - for example, the NCS protocol contains some extensions and modifications to MGCP, and the NCS protocol contains some minor simplifications from MGCP. Still, although MGCP is not NCS, and NCS is not MGCP, the names MGCP and NCS are generally used interchangeably, and MGCP in terms of cable telephony is taken to mean the NCS profile of MCGP".

I understand that to take this paragraph out of its context is unfair and makes it look even more confusing but my point is that if you are not initiated and already comfortable with several concepts in the field of Computer Telephony, I think you will not really benefit from this book.

Whereas if you have been working in the field for many years, you might appreciate this book as a good reference but then, I do agree with a previous reviewer that wrote: "(the book) is poorly organized for researching information, e.g., its index is essentially a word occurance listing".

Rating:
Summary: The Best CT Book I've Found So Far
Review: I'm in the Telecom field and bought The Computer Telephony Encyclopedia to help me in my daily attempts to understand the many new technologies that are foisted upon me every day. I found the book to be the best concentration of information in this area. Aside from a few entries (such as Quality of Service and T1) it is not an overly technical tome and is accessible by the average telecom manager, sales person or executive.

According to the acknowledgements, the author has pulled in data from various sources such as the full range of CMP magazines and he also commissioned some industry authors to contribute new material. This plus 80 some pages of product tables make the CT Encyclopedia a volume that I must keep close at hand.

Rating:
Summary: Zippy?s book looks really great
Review: It would cost you hundreds of thousands dollars to a consultant for a tiny part of the incredible wealth of information in this book. That is, of course, if you could find such a person. The breadth of what Zippy has included is remarkable. Highly recommended. It makes the perfect companion to my best-selling "Newton's Telecom Dictionary" -- Harry Newton, author, Newton's Telecom Dictionary.

Rating:
Summary: Best resource in the industry!
Review: Richard Grigonis has made some very complicated technology much more accessible, much more useful with this fabulous piece of work. He's got everything covered, which is quite an accomplishment in a field where things change so rapidly. This is one of those books that's going to get a lot of wear and dog-eared pages from constant use. Computer telephony has been one of those fields that's been filled with a lot of cheerleading and hype and not a lot of good, solid, thoughtful analysis and reporting -- except for Grigonis' work. His work really stands out, because he thinks hard about the issues, understands the tech, and has a really strong grasp of how the tech is used in real life. Not too many people would tackle something so enormous as an encyclopedia devoted to one of the most complex -- but critical -- technologies of our day. He's done amazing work, highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: The Best CT Book I've Found So Far
Review: This book is heavy on jargon and vendor provided information - it is essentially a collection of articles from Computer Telephony magazine, without much editing or organization. It lacks technical depth and is poorly organized for researching information, e.g., its index is essentially a word occurance listing.