Publisher Summary Network convergence involves the integration of different technologies and applications, which, when combined, create powerful new entities and products. One area of convergence that receives much emphasis is the merging of data, voice, and video on the network. It is a powerful concept and buzzword in networking circles. . It involves the melding of dissimilar network media, protocols, and applications to provide a network environment that is dramatically different that the previous one.. In the context of networking, convergence represents combining different technologies and applications. Currently, a major networking convergence issue receiving much attention is Internet Protocol (IP) telephony, which involves integrating voice and data. In IP telephony, digitized voice signals are converted to IP packets, which are then transmitted over the Internet. In this scenario, packet technology and the Internet are uniting voice and data such that traditional voice communication services are being delivered over an IP data network.