Note: Many topics at this site are reduced versions of the text in "The Encyclopedia of Networking and Telecommunications." Search results will not be as extensive as a search of the book's CD-ROM.

Convergence is a term usually applied to the merging of voice onto enterprise networks and across the Internet. Convergence of voice and data networks is seen as the first step to supporting even more multimedia types, such as streaming video and videoconferencing. For enterprise networks, the idea is to build one network instead of having two separate cabling systems, one for voice and one for data. There are many other advantages to bringing voice (and other multimedia) to IP networks and the Internet. The most important is that voice services can be combined with unique computer-related applications. In contrast, the traditional telephone system severely limits the number of add-on services. Call-waiting, caller-ID, call forwarding, and other telephone services pale in comparison to the types of voice-related applications that can be designed on data networks such as intranets and the Internet.

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