Communication technologies behind this revolution continues to grow - faster, cheaper, and more productive. That was the question answered by this amazing tome, Ray Horak's Communications & Network Systems. Horak explains communication technology in 15 chapters, using the growing convergence of voice, data and video as a narrative thread that holds the book together. This feature makes this book an ideal place to start when researching the topic of communication. One good thing about this book is a pragmatic approach to communication. Horak combines high-level view of the subject to issues of implementation and deployment, as well as the relative costs of different technologies. This book is valuable for engineers and managers. This is the perfect resource for experienced engineers want to know about one area of communication and want to explore the entire world of communications. For a manager who wants the technical description of a given subject, the depth of perfect - just enough knowledge to be dangerous. Conversational style of this book is a welcome touch. Unlike the technical books that require a can jolt to stay awake, Horak brief presents complex material. Topics such as the Telecommunications Act of 1996 is described in the context of technological change, and gives the reader a comprehensive overview of virtually all communications technologies.