any good cbts besides INE to learn ccnp voice

drkat

Everyone does implementations differently, sometimes you get into it and find the previous guy did some weird sh** to get stuff working.

shodown

As a example my current client when they had a problem with a user not being able to dial numbers, they would just add partitions to the CSS until it worked, or created a new CSS to make it work and have several versions off it. Over the course of a few years this turned into a big mess.


Using the 9@ route pattern and not knowing where calls exit the system if you are multiple site company


Using MGCP cause its easier, but not setting up SRST correctly so you don't know if its going to work and when it does crash you lost your link so you can't use it.



Those are a few examples.

skinsFan202

shodown wrote: »

As a example my current client when they had a problem with a user not being able to dial numbers, they would just add partitions to the CSS until it worked, or created a new CSS to make it work and have several versions off it. Over the course of a few years this turned into a big mess.


Using the 9@ route pattern and not knowing where calls exit the system if you are multiple site company


Using MGCP cause its easier, but not setting up SRST correctly so you don't know if its going to work and when it does crash you lost your link so you can't use it.



Those are a few examples.

Haven't seen many people who are fans of using 9.@. Have there been any implementations you've done that called for using the wildcard over typical route patterns?

shodown

no. when the 9@ is used its a lack of skill and or laziness. If its 1 site you can get away with it, but when you expand you are in for some hurting.

drkat

All i have to say is.. VoD for voice is boring as **********@!!!!!! - tried Mark cant do it, took this global knowledge class and the guy just skims over slides.. I think honestly the only way to do it is to just get in there and read whitepapers and stuff off ciscos site, because I must have ADHD bad.. I cant stay focused on this stuff.

shodown

Maybe Voice is not for you. Most of the people who I see get into Voice become "collaboration specialist" and most of there energy is spent doing VOIP/VIDEO/Contact Center and so on. I'm not telling you to leave voice alone, but what I am saying is that this is the hardest track to learn and if your heart not in it, this can make you miserable.

skinsFan202

Watching videos can get boring if you sit there for the entire hour plus non-stop. I typically watch ten minutes, pause it, write down some notes, go do something else then come back and continue for another ten minutes, rinse, wash, repeat until the video;s over. After watching a video, I fire up the home lab and execute what I just learned. Supplement that with some reading from SRNDs or Cisco Press books. Also if it's a tough topic (e.g. CUBE,QoS, etc.) I'll just google search using those terms and look at blog posts that other people have written on that same topic. a lot of times those people will explain the topic much btter than the dry material you find in Cisco docs. same with youtube videos. an example: like many before me I used to struggle with understanding some of the concepts in QoS, especially when it came to congestion management (queueing). queue sets, srr, ugh Cisco docs were dry as hell as well as INE videos. Some things just did not click until I watched kevin wallace's 'QoS simplified' free video on youtube. Again, I didn't watch it in its entirety in one sitting. I split it up, a couple minutes at a time and it was easily bearable regardless of his southern redneck voice.

Another thing is not to automatically discount books that may be considered old. One book I love is 'Cisco Voice Gateways & Gatekeepers'. Could really help you out on the CVOICE as a lot of the material is still relevant even though it's from 2006.

Overall, I've found that if you truly have the desire/passion to learn something you will find a way. While not as much as R&S track, I think there are tons of resources out there to help you get through if you want to learn it bad enough.

shodown

that sucks that companies treat employees like that. Trust and believe me and a few other guys on this site who do voice have had to clean up after companies that decide to get into "VOICE" cause its the hot thing. Good luck and do what you have to do to tough it out. We'll help as much as we can.

shodown

You must work for a MSP?

Legacy User

If you don't want to do the job maybe it's time to look for another one. I mean he's giving you 18 months to get np voice, paid training, exams and will provide a raise with it that sounds more then reasonable to me. Figure out what you want to do before you say the wrong thing you don't want to get sh*t canned without a plan b.

shodown

I don't think its reasonable if that's not what your interested in. Things like this turn a enjoyable job into hell. I do agree with it maybe time to look, but when companies add on extra duties that aren't your interest it can turn your world upside down.

drkat

Yeah, I work for an MSP/VAR - Gold Partner .. go figure right

@dmarcisco: Welp, move on up here and I'll give you the position in 18 months to me being told to work on voice is like being told to go clean the bathrooms...

shodown

drkat wrote: »

Yeah, I work for an MSP/VAR - Gold Partner .. go figure right

@dmarcisco: Welp, move on up here and I'll give you the position in 18 months to me being told to work on voice is like being told to go clean the bathrooms...

I've worked for a few partners in my time. Some of the best experience you can get, but as a gold partner they should have some voice experts on staff. It sounds like they don't wanna pay and they want to build there own so they can get certified to do higher level voice projects.

drkat

They have 2 CCVP's who handle the high level stuff and want to groom me into one to 'assist'

btw, I'm good for the cvoice exam, IOS based voice gateways - cisco/adtran are cool..(plenty of experience) CUCM is where I'm having my doubts... and the other apps like prescence etc

Legacy User

Well I do already work in mahwah, nj that's at the border of ny state so I'm not that far to migrate in 18 months . But in all seriousness start looking for positions in the next few months and try sending your resume to other places even if they're aren't hiring someone will bite as long you write a kick ass cover letter.

Legacy User

It really depends on the level of exposure to the network you already have. Idk what your day to day looks like but if you are working with multiple sites creating/troubleshooting routes and such. Then I say it will only look right to have a ccnp.

pitviper

drkat wrote: »

to me being told to work on voice is like being told to go clean the bathrooms...

Yeah, you may be barking up the wrong tree with the CCNP Voice then!

pitviper

skinsFan202 wrote: »

Another thing is not to automatically discount books that may be considered old.

Great point the Gateways and Gatekeepers book is ancient, but I use it all of the time. The same can be said for the Cisco Press Troubleshooting IP Telephony book.

I still like the CBT Nuggets videos. They are slightly dated, and not 100% complete but they are easy to follow and fun to watch. Heck, when I wrapped up the CCVP, there were NO video series on the market for CIP2 or TUC.

Legacy User

I have access to the cbt nugget videos do the older videos they have any relevance on th e new track.

azaghul

There is a lot of cross over between v6 and v8.

CVOICEv8 = CVOICEv6 with QoS, and CME from IIUC (CCNA-Voice v1)
CIPTv8 = CIPTv6 with globalization/localization, SAF and some others I cannot think of
CAPPSv8 = All new, but includes Unity/Unity Connection from CIPT1v6, CUE from IIUC(CCNA-Voice v1)
TVOICEv8 = TUC with the v8 content additions

So a lot of the CBT Nuggets series is still current.

JZegers

for the record, shodown is the MAN and has helped me with my own lab

shodown

pitviper wrote: »

Yeah, you may be barking up the wrong tree with the CCNP Voice then!

Pitviper where are you at on your journey? I know you were taking on the IE beast?

pitviper

shodown wrote: »

Pitviper where are you at on your journey? I know you were taking on the IE beast?

I’m in a bit of a holding pattern of late. Been up to my ears in CUCM/CUC/CUP and that god awful “business” edition attendant console at work – haven’t been in much of a lab mood at nights/weekends. Once things die down a tad I need to finish ROUTE/TSHOOT and then I’ll be back in the saddle for winter IE Voice studies. I have been building some pretty good IE Voice notes (in OneNote) at work which will help later.

My experience of late kind of looks like IE Voice studies actually – big PBX upgrade to Cisco Unified platform (25 year old PBX, 300 DIDs, overlapping blocks, not a SINGLE piece of documentation – basically reverse engineered the entire system by pulling CSR records and starting from scratch – which included getting someone to call every singe number and document), SiP migration, and upcoming items include a stack of 2951 for branch sites (SRST/and CUE on SREs), and so on.

You still hitting the books these days?

pitviper

dmarcisco wrote: »

I have access to the cbt nugget videos do the older videos they have any relevance on th e new track.

Yes, lots of relevant material in the old videos – Just pay attention to the blueprint and you should be able to get a good amount out of them.

shodown

I'm hitting the books a little bit. Kinda in the same situation as you. I have a old PBX with little documentation left. It has around 200 phones still left on it. I'm building out a Euro Cluster and a Asia cluster soon. UCCX scripting and deciding on either building out our CUPS server or using webex connect. I barley get a chance to study. I'm hoping in the next few weeks to knock out a +E164 dial plan so we can have it down in time for the rest of the Euro cluster.