Air handlers and furnaces aren't often found side by side in Shreveport. If you have a furnace, you likely don't need to consider an air handler.
Air handlers are usually linked with heat pumps and manage airflow throughout your house. Some systems also provide backup heating and cooling components to assist the heat pump.
A furnace works in a different manner by pushing hot air into your vents, which send it across your residence. As furnaces depend on combustion chambers to produce hot air, they don't need some of the pieces you'll see in a standard air handler.