The increasing demands for advanced communication applications and information connectivity on a global scale have brought a revolution in the development of technologies that can handle these needs. One such technology is the intelligent network (IN), which provides the foundation for network and vendor independent provisioning of advanced communication services and allows dramatic reductions in lead times in the introduction of new telecommunications services. This book is the first to provide a concise overview of intelligent networks (INs). It defines INs, taking into account their relationship with emerging technologies such as broadband ISDN (B-ISDN), telecommunications network management (TMN) and mobile communications. It also provides a global picture of IN developments as well as pointers to standards and additional reading for further study.