Convergent services are just beginning to become available (some examples of services are: Internet services delivered to TV sets via systems like Web TV, e-mail and World Wide Web access via digital TV decoders and mobile telephones; webcasting of radio and TV programming on the Internet; using the Internet for voice telephony, etc.) and are projected to really take off soon. There are currently no books out on telecom management that have this focus on convergence -- and books currently available are horribly dated.Telecommunications, media and IT companies are using the flexibility of technologies to offer services outside their traditional business sectors, increasingly on an international or global scale. The goal of Heatherly's book is to provide coverage of the fundamentals of telecommunications and discuss how to manage these converged systems, giving managers a how-to manual for many of the day-to-day responsibilities they will encounter. The book will provide detailed discussions on systems, network configurations, traffic engineering, integrated voice and data communications, and global communications. It will also provide insight into systems design, specification and implementation, contract development and negotiation, management procedures, and the future of telecommunications.