Some questions about the LAB and background.

AlexMR

I just got my CCNA last week and I started inmediately with the CCNP, BSCI. I did it mostly because of the suggestion of a dual CCIE and a friend who's working for Nortel and who has a CCNP and a CCSP. Apparently, since I dont have a background in networking and because I want to start working as soon as possible, they say the best path to take is the CCNP. They both think it would be a little uncomfortable for most managers to leave the responsibilities of a CCVP to somebody who hasnt actually configured/designed/troubleshoot routing/switching in a production network, let alone VoIP stuff.

I am following the expert advice but wanted to know what you guys have to say about it.

Another reason was that after reading most of the FAQ, I dont see dynamips as an option. Is it possible to practice all the way to the CCVP without using any routers, only the simulation with dynamips?

The fact that the CCVP is changing is another reason to go another route, even when I have plans to study for more than 20hours/week and get things done as fast as possible, without sacrificing quality of course.

CCVP are really scarce here, and VoIP is hot as hell...I guess that is a worldwide trend.

AlanJames

well i'm studying CCVP and don't have a NP. Stick to what you enjoy I think.

CCNA level for networking is sufficient to be proficient in the VP level.

But your friend is right in some respects, the CCNP is more marketable in the I.T market. Most VP's generally have networking experience.

mikej412

Dynamips is only good for part of your CCVP studies, but not all of it.

We can't get enough CCVPs -- most of the CCVPs we do call in for an interview can't get past a simple hands-on test -- so we don't care if they have the CCNP or not. Plus we've already got enough CCNPs laying around to deal with any "CCNP issues."

empc4000xl

mikej412 wrote:

Dynamips is only good for part of your CCVP studies, but not all of it.

We can't get enough CCVPs -- most of the CCVPs we do call in for an interview can't get past a simple hands-on test -- so we don't care if they have the CCNP or not. Plus we've already got enough CCNPs laying around to deal with any "CCNP issues."

what type of things are you looking for in a CCVP interview. My company doesn't hire too many CCVP's unless its for senior rolls even though we are a voip provider. They have usually hired CCNA's with that knowledge then grow them the rest of the way. I've always wondered what I would be asked if I had to do a voip interview.

mikej412

empc4000xl wrote:

what type of things are you looking for in a CCVP interview.

Knowledge indicating that they didn't **** their certification. We usually just ask simple CVOICE questions still based on the old exam blueprint.

I wasn't kidding when I posted this before

mikej412 wrote:

We wasted a lot of time interviewing CCVPs who couldn't place a call even if we gave them a pay phone and a pocket full of change.

Since we can't find enough CCVPs we are training some of our existing CCNAs and CCNPs -- but we've hit the same issue, some of them are dumping the exams trying to get the coveted CCVP spots.

I've suggested in the past that someone with an A+ could break into Voice by getting a job with a Business Partner installing the phones at desks -- and then study and move up from there. And I think that's still good advice.

But we've found people who have the Certifications (CCNA/CCNP and CCVP) and great VoIP experience on their resume, who seem to never done more that place phones on peoples desks It usually turns out that their company hired a Business Partner (or 3rd party provider) and while they may have gotten some training on the system, they usually don't get to touch it to make any changes -- and it seems they have less actual knowledge and skills than what we've trained our existing CCNA and CCNPs to do.

gorebrush

How long do we think the CCVP will remain coveted?

I recently took charge of a full CallManager environment and I am loving learning about it.

Done loads with it already, and got my hands really dirty with Unity (created my companies Complete Auto-Attended main menu on my own )

Decided that I want the CCVP and specialise in that for a few years, but would like the CCNP first to back it up....

Just wonder if i'd miss the boat....

empc4000xl

I know what you are talking about on the people who have voip experience, but all they do is install phones. Where I work, they usually call me once the phone is plugged in, and I add it to the call manger, set up messaging, make sure the phone is registered and add or disable features according to there company policy. They don't even get to touch the voice router when its broken. We do all of that, all they can do is plug it into the switch.

gorebrush

empc4000xl wrote:

I know what you are talking about on the people who have voip experience, but all they do is install phones. Where I work, they usually call me once the phone is plugged in, and I add it to the call manger, set up messaging, make sure the phone is registered and add or disable features according to there company policy. They don't even get to touch the voice router when its broken. We do all of that, all they can do is plug it into the switch.

Gah I do all these things!!

Had a failure on our ISDN line which feeds the Gateway a week or so ago, had to go in there and do isdn bchan-order-number descending (as channel 1 was frozen)

(admittedly this was after picking up the phone and getting support, but hey, I learned it for next time)