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Telecom Crash Course

Telecom Crash Course

by StevenShepard (Author)

  • Used

    Paperback 2005

    $3.42
Synopsis

This unique book serves as a readable, holistic introduction to telecommunications. Far more than an acronym-studded quick fix, "Telecom Crash Course" is a true tutorial that offers context, connections - and humor - to teach the importance of key technologies. Author Steven Shepard, an accomplished writer and teachers, uses lively stories that deliver important points about the markets that drive the technologies. He provides not only rigorous technical accuracy, with explanations of each technology's economic importance, but a market and customer-focused analysis of the use and business significance of each technology - and how they relate to each other.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
 Pages: 528
 Edition: 2
 Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education
Published: 01 Jul 2005
ISBN 10: 0071451439
ISBN 13: 9780071451437

Media Reviews
If I were starting out in the telecom field this would be the first book that I'd recommend that anyone read. It gives you a high level look at: what protocols do and are used for; what the primary access technologies are; a great description of the telephony system that provides the main infrastructure of the Internet; and, the primary transport technologies that are being used today. Because this is a crash course book don't look for great detail in every topic, however, if you are looking for a compendium that covers the telecomm field all in one book then this is the book you need. My networking background has been mostly in the copper and fiber optic technologies, so I found the sections about the new 802.11 wireless technologies the most interesting. But some of things that I found unique for a book like this and most fascinating are the pictures of scenes and equipment taken inside of actual telephone central offices and the anecdotes about real life happenings in the telecom world. So if you have anything to do with telecom, be it as a user, CTO, IT manager, technology student, technology teacher, marketing or sales person of telecom or buyer of telecom, then this book should have a place on your desk. The author of Telecom Crash Course, Stephen Shepard, is one of the most interesting, knowledgeable writers in the field today. He manages to turn what could be a dreadfully dull subject into a scintillating story of science, history and data communication hardware. The content is up-to-date and well organized, the illustrations very appropriate and the index very thorough. Personally, however, I find Mr. Shepherd's sense of humor in the face of such weighty topics to be the best part of my reading experience. Who else could work Vinton Cerf and Douglas Adams into the same narrative? Mr. Shepherd uses ingenious metaphors to clarify difficult concepts, as he does in the excerpt below regarding conflicting world standards. Many countries play football, for example, but the rules are all slightly different. In the United States, players are required to weigh more than a car, yet be able to run faster than one. In Australian Rules football, the game is declared forfeit if it fails to produce at least one body part amputation on the field... They are both football, however. In data communications, the problem is similar; there are many protocols out there that accomplish the same thing. Mr. Shepherd manages to infuse what could be a terribly dry catalog of facts with cheerful, sometimes almost whimsical language that keeps the reader's interest throughout the most convoluted jungle of acronyms, jargon and obscure technical terminology. I found the information in this text to be clear, logical and very helpful in leading me to a better understanding of the highly important field of 21st century telecommunications. Buy this book, you won't regret it.
Author Bio
Steven Shepard is the president of the Shepard Communications Group in Williston, Vermont. A professional author and educator with 22 years of varied experience in the telecommunications industry, he has written books and magazine articles on a wide variety of topics. He is the author of Telecommunications Convergence: How to Profit from the Convergence of Technologies, Services, and Companies (McGraw-Hill: New York, 2000); A Spanish-English Telecommunications Dictionary (Shepard Communications Group: Williston, Vermont, 2001); Managing Cross-Cultural Transition: A Handbook for Corporations, Employees and Their Families (Aletheia Publications: New York, 1997); An Optical Networking Crash Course (McGraw-Hill: New York, February 2001); SONET and SDH Demystified (McGraw-Hill: New York, 2001); Telecomm Crash Course (McGraw-Hill: New York, October, 2001); Telecommunications Convergence, Second Edition (McGraw-Hill: New York, February 2002); Video-conferencing Demystified (McGraw-Hill: New York, April 2002); Metro Networking Demystified (McGraw-Hill: New York, October 2002); The Shepard Report: Charting a Path in Uncertain Times (SCG: March 2004); and RFID (McGraw-Hill: New York, July 2004). VoIP Crash Course will be released in mid-2005. Steve is also the Series Editor of the McGraw-Hill Portable Consultant book series. Mr. Shepard received his undergraduate degree in Spanish and Romance Philology from the University of California at Berkeley and his masters degree in International Business from St. Mary's College. He spent 11 years with Pacific Bell in San Francisco in a variety of capacities including network analysis, computer operations, systems standards development, and advanced technical training, followed by 9 years with Hill Associates, a world-renowned telecommunications education company, before forming the Shepard Communications Group. He is a Fellow of the Da Vinci Institute for Technology Management of South Africa, a member of the Board of Directors of the Regional Educational Television Network, and a member of the Board of Trustees of Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont. He is also the resident director of the University of Southern California's Executive Leadership and Advanced Management Programs in Telecommunications and adjunct faculty member at the University of Southern California, the Garvin School of International Management (Thunderbird University), the University of Vermont, Champlain College, and St. Michael's College. He is married and has two children. Mr. Shepard specializes in international issues in telecommunications with an emphasis on strategic technical sales, convergence and optical networking, the social implications of technical change, the development of multilingual educational materials, and the effective use of multiple delivery media. He has written and directed more than 40 videos and films, and written technical presentations on a broad range of topics for more than 70 companies and organizations worldwide. He is fluent in Spanish and routinely publishes and delivers presentations in that language. Global clients include major telecommunications manufacturers, service providers, software development firms, multinational corporations, universities, advertising firms, and regulatory bodies.