In this book, Steven Shepard points out that there's more to telecommunications convergence than just moving everything across IP (or ATM or Frame Relay) networks. He sees convergence of voice and data transport technologies accelerating, yes; but he also points to a blurring of traditional business roles (witness AOL, formerly just an ISP, buying Time-Warner, a content and distribution company). He also sees the convergence of services--meaning that the consumer doesn't care which network delivers his on-demand movies or her faxes--playing a big role in the future of telecommunications. Shepard bases well-reasoned arguments on a year's worth of research, including many interviews with experts in a variety of relevant fields. Read this book for pleasure (it's written that well), and profit from the lessons that it contains. --David Wall

Topics covered: The convergence of voice and data communications as technical, commercial, and social phenomena. Technical issues like voice over IP, voice over ATM, and Quality of Service (QoS) get attention, but the more important lesson here comes from research into the convergence of services and the companies that provide them. There's an excellent glossary, plus scads of references to paper and online resources.