IP Telephony with H.323: Architectures for Unified Networks and Integrated Services

Internet Protocol (IP) telephony is changing the way business gets done, allowing multimedia messages such as voice, data, and video to be transmitted over standard routers, telephone switches, and lines. This authoritative book will help you gain a practical understanding of how IP telephony works by looking at the various protocols and architectural components using ITU-Ts H.323 standard. Written by the chief architects of H.323, it clearly describes the protocols that enable users to collaborate in a multimedia call as well as the H.323 protocols that permit supplementary services to be executed. The authors also explain the architecture and deployment scenarios of various types of gateways including network access gateways, trunking gateways, and residential gateways. In addition, they show you how security, QoS, and mobility can be integrated in H.323-based signaling protocols and the media streams.