Telecommunications Fundamentals

Discover the intricacies of a new era in telecommunications.

Price: £495 (ex. VAT)

Today's telecommunications networks transport voice, data, and image traffic over a multitude of legacy and emerging technologies. This comprehensive course provides you with information on the structure, architecture, components, standards, and design of modern voice/telephony networks. You will learn how to evaluate existing technology options to determine which will best meet your organization's data and telephony requirements, from mature digital transport/access services to emerging voice and data services using voice over packet technologies (VoIP, VoFR, VoATM, etc.).

This course will also provide you with an in-depth understanding of the world of carrier data services: types, architectures, and capabilities tied to current advancements of service offerings. Learn why packet-switched networks are more efficient than circuit-switched networks and applications and hosting services common in today's enterprise networks. See how legacy technologies and services (e.g., frame relay and ATM) integrate with newer technologies to provide backward compatibility for existing services. Understand how Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) provide data security and offer convenient options for enterprise networks, and how Metro Ethernet services are changing the way customers cost effectively access carrier networks.

The technology, marketplace, and regulatory structure of telecommunications are in a continuous state of transition. This powerful course will ensure that you fully understand the service options available to your organization and how voice technologies integrate into your existing data networks.

What You'll Learn

Course Outline

1. Legacy Telephone Service

• Electrical Communication over Distance
• Components of the Telephone
• Central Office Connection
• End-to-End Local Connection
• End-to-End Long Distance Connection

2. The Public-Switched Network

• The AT&T Monopoly
• Breaking Up the Equipment Monopoly
• The Emergence of Long-Distance Competition
• The Divestiture (Breakup) of AT&T
• Defining Local and Long-Distance Calling
• The Local Phone Service Monopoly
• Interstate Regulation by the FCC
• Changes in the Telecommunications Industry
• LNP: Freedom of Choice for the Customer

3. The Telephone Network Architecture

• Problems and Limitations with POTS
• Digitizing the Local Loop: Digital Loop Carriers
• Connecting the Customer to Fiber Networks
• Intelligent Network Call Routing
• Custom Calling Features
• Seamless Support for Wireline and Wireless Services
• ITU Organization

4. Telecommunications Terms and Technology

• Bandwidth: Analog Capacity
• Communication Medium Types
• Communication Medium Descriptions

5. Digital Transport Systems

• Digital Trunking between COs
• Early Digitization of Telephone Trunking
• Using a DACS to Connect Leased Lines to Central Office Equipment
• The Backbone Transitions to SONET
• Metro Ethernet (Packet Switching)
• Virtual Concatenation
• Ethernet Over SONET (EOS)

6. Digital Access Systems

• Integrated Services Digital Network
• DSL Service
• Data over Cable Modem Service
• Internet-Based Telephony Service

7. Circuit-Switched Enterprise Equipment and Services

• Categories of Enterprise Voice Systems
• Types of Leased-Line (Circuit) Connections
• Comparing ISDN PRI with QSIG
• Using ACD Systems in Call Centers
• Traffic Engineering

8. Voice over Packet Technology

• VoIP Terminology
• Packet-Switched Data Networks
• VoIP Trunking
• Separate VLANs for Voice and Data Traffic
• Power over Ethernet
• H.323 Components
• Session Initiation Protocol
• Voice over Frame Relay
• Voice over ATM

9. Mobile Wireless Communications

• Components of a Cellular Network
• Frequency Reuse
• Handoff (Handover) between Adjacent Cells
• The Mobile Network
• Air Interfaces: Radio-Frequency Standards
• Radio-Frequency Spectrum for GSM
• Terms Used for Service Provisioning
• Short Message Service
• Moving Toward Third-Generation Services
• Mobile Wireless Service Providers

10. Overview of Packet-Switched Networks

• Network Architecture Comparison
• Different Types of Interconnected Networks
• Virtual Circuit Service

11. Applications and Hosted Services for Enterprise Networks

• Supporting Network Applications
• In-House Hosted Services
• Off-Site Web Hosting Services

12. Data Communication Fundamentals

• Defining Protocols and Standards
• Modular Design Approach
• TCP/IP Protocol Suite
• Data-Link Layer Addressing for LAN Interfaces
• Transporting Data between Networks
• Routing an IP Packet between Networks
• Comparison of Ethernet Hubs and Switches
• Switching Frames through the Network
• Label Switching

13. Frame Relay and ATM

• Evolution of Networking
• Defining Frame Relay
• Introduction to ATM

14. Introduction to VPNs

• Comparing Private Networks to VPNs
• Defining VPN
• Criteria for Selecting a VPN Solution
• VPN Hierarchy
• Types of VPNs

15. Metro Ethernet Technologies and Services

• Benefits of Metro Ethernet Services
• Metro Ethernet Service Definition
• Ethernet Service Definition Framework
• Other Service Attributes

16. Broadband Networks

• Broadband Service Offerings for Enterprise Solutions
• Fixed-Point Broadband Technologies
• Global Wireless Standards
• Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access
• Classification of Wireless Technology

Appendix: International Digital Hierarchy

• Digital Trunking Between COs
• Using a DACS to Connect Leased Lines to Central Office Equipment
• The Backbone Transitions to SDH
• Metro Ethernet (Packet Switching)
• Virtual Concatenation
• Ethernet Over SDH