Java has taken the computing world by storm – now it arms itself to conquer telecommunications! What links today′s hottest programming language to telecommunications? The same characteristics that brought about Java′s remarkable success on the Internet: its platform independence and mobility. Recent developments such as JAIN (Java APIs for Integrated Networks), JAIN Parlay and the Java Telephony API equip Java for the next generation of telecommunications systems and networks. The authors, all practitioners at companies such as Sun Microsystems and Telcordia, provide the first comprehensive overview of how Java will be employed in areas such as call control, intelligent networking, STN/Internet convergence, and integrated network management. As well as providing a high–level survey of architectures and protocols, Java in Telecommunications also gives detailed guidance on implementation strategies for the brand new, still evolving, technologies: ∗ call and multimedia processing; ∗ Voice Over IP (VOIP) Telephony; ∗ eXtensible Markup Language (XML); ∗ Enterprise Java Beans (EJB). Java in Telecommunications is aimed at experienced telecommunications network practitioners who need to plan strategically for the future as well as all those who want to stay ahead of the game and embark upon Third Generation networks and services.