Review: CO Magazine

Reviewed by Dan Murphy

CO Magazine Published monthly by Telecom Library, Inc. 12 West 21st Street New York, NY 10010 212-691-8215 Subject matter: switching, transmission, and network service. Cost: CO Magazine is sent free to "qualified" subscribers in the U.S. and Canada. If you're not in the industry, U.S. subscriptions are $36 per year.

Running approximately 60 pages each month, CO Magazine is one of the better telecommunications magazines available.  It's geared for the telecom industry personnel and is broken into theme sections, each containing an article or two.

One section common to each issue is "News" featuring topics such as what companies are using what new equipment and recently passed laws affecting the telecommunications world.  The news often has an analysis which is an editor's note on how something will affect things, written from the perspective of an individual or a small business.  "New Services" tells of the latest services and features offered by local and long-distance companies with an occasional piece on how.new technology will affect the telecom market.

"New Products" previews and reviews the latest in telecom gadgets, gizmos, and equipment.  This is one of my favorite features - it deals with everything from ISDN dataline monitors to mini-responders for testing lines and trunks to US West's MPOW multi-purpose operator workstation.

The "Services" section which appears almost every month has a diverse collection of articles getting down to the nitty-gritty of how the telephone companies do what they do best.  For instance, in the May 1987 issue an article entitled "Advancing Advanced 800" explains in detail how AT&T's Advanced 800 services function.  The April 1987 issue describes New York Telephone's Network Service Center operations quite interestingly in "New York Telephone's War Room."

Some of the themes that CO Magazine has presented are enhanced 911 service, ISDN, and fiber optics.  In each instance there were several articles describing available services and techniques in use in the field.

CO Magazine provides an up to the minute look at the telecom world.  I think it's one of the best magazines around and, you have to admit, it's hard to beat the price.