So, passed today with quite a respectable score
To be honest, I was quite surprised by this exam, I was expecting it to be a lot more difficult. Or I should say i expected the areas tested and spread of question formats to be different. I can't expand any more without breaking NDA. Perhaps the Route and Switch exams have scarred me for life and i always expect the worst!
Having said that, the basic understanding of gateways and dial-plans is thoroughly tested, which is the real guts and purpose of this module of the CCNP Voice. I'm glad I spent the hours hammering out the various dial-peer and digit manipulation methods in the labs
One study method that really paid off for me this time was my reliance on the Cisco website. Every time i finished a topic I would go to Cisco and download the relevant configuration guides and technology overviews for that topic. This exposed me to a lot of terminology, definitions and graphics that are in 'cisco-speak' and maybe allowed me to view the questions from the same perspective as the exam author. One thing I've struggled with on previous Cisco exams is determining what the hell the question is asking.
I did have a few frustrations at times on this exam; these were vented very eloquently in the comments - Cisco, we don't all live in North America!
My resources for this exam:
Experience!
Cisco Press Foundation Learning Guide - Kevin Wallace (a bit wordy at times and a bit dry)
CVoice 8 Quick Reference Guide - Really good for dipping into for revision
CBT nuggets - as always, Jeremy breathes life into topics that should send you to sleep. Great for grasping concepts - lacking on detail in areas. Particularly lacking in detail around CUBE and some of the more miscellaneous topics like Fax Relay I think.
My CCNA Voice notes (IIUC) Especially for CUCME
The Cisco website, as mentioned above
Some reasonably cheap routers and VICs/VWICs (1760s and 1st Generation cards)
A final shout out has to go out to Microsoft One Note 2013 - my new favourite thing; love it. I used Evernote for a long time but One Note is far better.
Anyway, on to CIPT 1. The book is ordered, the nuggets await and my ESX server is virgin fresh and waiting to be deflowered by CUCM 8. I'm looking forward to this one as teh content really is my daily bread and butter. i am going to go through every bit of the course material though as it never hurts to go back to basics. For all I know, everything I've learnt on the job could be anti best practice.
Chris
