Ccna:v

Bl8ckr0uter

Is the CCNA:V a good survey of VOIP (like the CCNA is a good survey of R/S) or are the skills acquired more vendor specific? What I mean is if someone did the CCNA:V (the right way) would they have a decent understanding of VOIP as a whole?

veritas_libertas

I don't know but I'm really wanting to take this soon after my CCNA/CCNA Security. VoIP really intrigues me

Those of you that have taken the CCNA:Voice, what did you learn?

Bl8ckr0uter

veritas_libertas wrote: »

I don't know but I'm really wanting to take this soon after my CCNA/CCNA Security. VoIP really intrigues me

I have a professional interest in it as well. I feel like I need to round out my Associate level knowledge before I step towards the pro levels.

Jollycork

go buy this book on Amazon.... Cisco IP Communications Express by Danelle Au....you will find it invaluable as you configure Call Manager Express. I also recommend Configuring CallManager and Unity by David Bateman.... helps if you get CallManager & Unity on VM.

Must haves: Cisco IP Communicator, 2 routers that'll support Call Manager Express and both have serial ports [WAN ports]. ...and if you can afford it, an FXO port so you can hook that up to your wired home phone line and place calls to the outside and have calls come in from the outside....I used my cell to call the home phone to test the inbound dial peers to IP Communicator running on the PC, and called the cell phone from IP Communicator to test the outbound dial peers.

Setup and test your config on the routers but don't save to run config, once it all works, reboot and do it again [that's what I do to learn, but hey that's me].

I didn't get any 7940s IP phones because their damn expensive but recently have come down in price.... but at $100.00 a shot including shipping IP Communicator is a money saver...

Read the books, lab, read, lab, post questions here [hoping pitviper and others will answer], lab, read, lab... you get the drill...

and know the protocols and routing because that's what IP phones are all about...routing calls....

and most of all know the basic concepts of IP communications.. just like knowing the basic concepts of switching and routing for CCNA...

veritas_libertas

Sadly, half of what interests me is installing IP Phones in the home.

Bl8ckr0uter

Jollycork wrote: »

go buy this book on Amazon.... Cisco IP Communications Express by Danelle Au....you will find it invaluable as you configure Call Manager Express. I also recommend Configuring CallManager and Unity by David Bateman.... helps if you get CallManager & Unity on VM.

Must haves: Cisco IP Communicator, 2 routers that'll support Call Manager Express and both have serial ports [WAN ports]. ...and if you can afford it, an FXO port so you can hook that up to your wired home phone line and place calls to the outside and have calls come in from the outside....I used my cell to call the home phone to test the inbound dial peers to IP Communicator running on the PC, and called the cell phone from IP Communicator to test the outbound dial peers.

Setup and test your config on the routers but don't save to run config, once it all works, reboot and do it again [that's what I do to learn, but hey that's me].

I didn't get any 7940s IP phones because their damn expensive but recently have come down in price.... but at $100.00 a shot including shipping IP Communicator is a money saver...

Read the books, lab, read, lab, post questions here [hoping pitviper and others will answer], lab, read, lab... you get the drill...

and know the protocols and routing because that's what IP phones are all about...routing calls....

Thanks for the input. Do you think the CCNA:Voice is a good survey for VOIP as a whole or do you think something like a CTP (now CTP+) is a better fit?

hermeszdata

Bl8ckr0uter wrote: »

Thanks for the input. Do you think the CCNA:Voice is a good survey for VOIP as a whole or do you think something like a CTP (now CTP+) is a better fit?

Consider CCNA:Voice as a foundation from which to build VoIP skills. This is a good starting place for those with limited or no previous Telephony experience.

The study material begins by presenting analog telephony and take the reader through the steps necessary to configure site-to-site communications where VoIP communications are controlled by the router at each end (Call Manager Express). in the end, you will understand how to configure the different types of voice interfaces as well as dial plans and digit manipulation.

As far as being a good survey ... probably because it does give an good overview as to the potentials of VoIP communications. However, it is only the beginning.

tha_dub

I'm about ready to write the existing ccna V and I'd say no it's too vendor specific to be a good all around voip primer. I'd recommend the COMPTIA CTP+ as a foundation. I did the older convergence + cert. There is some overlap to the CCNA V but not a ton.

btowntech

I just got done looking at the exam objectives for the CompTIA CTP+ exam and I would recommend CCNA Voice (IIUC). I'll be taking the CCNA Voice exam in two weeks so I have an idea what the book covers. If you do go for the CTP+ you'll get some review for things you learned studying for CCNA. I think you'll pick up plenty of information studying for the CCNA Voice and it will look pretty good on the resume. If you want the knowledge of CTP+ then read the book, no where does it say you have to take the exam.

Daniel333

I thought CCNA Voice really helped me. But then again, we deploy and support CME, a lot.

Sadly, I still feel like a donkey under Asterisk/CCM and Avaya. But at least I get sorta get what those people are talking about.

Bl8ckr0uter

btowntech wrote: »

I just got done looking at the exam objectives for the CompTIA CTP+ exam and I would recommend CCNA Voice (IIUC). I'll be taking the CCNA Voice exam in two weeks so I have an idea what the book covers. If you do go for the CTP+ you'll get some review for things you learned studying for CCNA. I think you'll pick up plenty of information studying for the CCNA Voice and it will look pretty good on the resume. If you want the knowledge of CTP+ then read the book, no where does it say you have to take the exam.

I don't really want the CTP+ I am mainly interested in learning voip from a security perspective. Of course I want to learn voip to put another feather in my hat but I don't think I would do CCNP:Voice or anything (the same thing goes with wireless although I think the CWNA will be more "worth while" for me instead of the CCNA:W since the CWNA is better known than the CTP+).

shednik

Unless you want to learn CME I've been told it's not worth doing.

tha_dub

I guess a better question here is does anybody know of a really good all around non vendor specific VOIP book?

The COMPTIA sybex guide I read was okay but if I hadn't been going for the cert as well I think I'd have looked for something else.

Jollycork

tha_dub wrote: »

I guess a better question here is does anybody know of a really good all around non vendor specific VOIP book?

The COMPTIA sybex guide I read was okay but if I hadn't been going for the cert as well I think I'd have looked for something else.

well the concepts of Voice over IP are the same...routing voice calls is routing voice calls.... H323 or SIP or the other protocols for Voice are the same concept. How Cisco does it with CME and dial peers is not all that different than how Avaya or Shoretel does it. The equipment still has to handle the calls according to what protocol standards are used.

I like this comparison between H323 and SIP that gives an overall view of these 2 protocols for VoIP

H.323 versus SIP: A Comparison

In looking at terms like gateways and gatekeepers, here's a Cisco paper on H323 gatekeepers and what they do...

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk1077/technologies_tech_note09186a00800c5e0d.shtml

This I think is where some want to go to get an overview .such as the "H" standards like H323 or H245 H225 is how calls are handled...

btowntech

tha_dub wrote: »

I guess a better question here is does anybody know of a really good all around non vendor specific VOIP book?

The COMPTIA sybex guide I read was okay but if I hadn't been going for the cert as well I think I'd have looked for something else.

You should try Voice over IP Fundamentals. Yes it is by CiscoPress but it covers a lot of good material. I read through it before I started on CCNA Voice just to have a better foundation. If you'll click on Sample Content you can see what each chapter is about.