Passed CCNA Voice!

I see very few postings for those passing CCNA Voice and I hope this will be a positive read. I found the test to be quite difficult and I actually just barely managed a pass. My advice would be to study and study well; that the material needs to be mastered in order to succeed. The concrete examples I can give are to take notes on the INE videos which are free and take notes on the Cisco Press book extensively.

Last bit of advice don't get bogged down by details, you need a simple lab at most to get this done. There is no need for a PSTN simulator and other gimmicks, worry about the key study materials and no extras.

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Comments

Trifidw

Congrats.

How much experience have you had with Voice prior to studying?

Dakinggamer87

Congrats on pass!!

gorebrush

Nice! good job.

SharkDiver

Congratulations!
Nice job.

draught

Thanks everyone, this has been a lot of work, and I even got so discouraged once that I stopped for a month. Of all my certifications this is one I'm most proud of.

Besides prior CCNA R&S fundamentals I had no experience with voice. That does make it harder as you are going to spend lots of time learning the GUIs for CUCM and everything else; which is a major barrier. I think having a good lab was important for me and I'd think it would also be true for anyone going for Voice without the prior experience.

JeanM

Congrats! I also don't have any voice background, and looking forward to scheduling/taking this exam in near future.

ehnde

Congratulations draught! I remember you saying awhile back you were scheduling your exam for the end of February and it's great to see you passed.

I think Jean will be next. I'm taking the exam this month, but I haven't scheduled it yet.

advanex1

Congratulations.

ehnde

Hey draught how did you process all of your notes while prepping for the exam? Did you just read them over and over? Make any flash cards? I'm trying to assimilate all of the material but there is *so much* content!! I have about 35 pages of notes.

One thing I've tried to do is to read my notes and record them onto my phone into .mp3 and then listen to them. That's helping a little bit. Any ideas at all are much appreciated.

danny069

Congrats! I wouldn't even imagine taking the CCNA Voice, I don't know anything about that realm.

late_collision

draught wrote: »

Thanks everyone, this has been a lot of work, and I even got so discouraged once that I stopped for a month. Of all my certifications this is one I'm most proud of.

Besides prior CCNA R&S fundamentals I had no experience with voice. That does make it harder as you are going to spend lots of time learning the GUIs for CUCM and everything else; which is a major barrier. I think having a good lab was important for me and I'd think it would also be true for anyone going for Voice without the prior experience.

Congrats Draught!

I've highlighted to above line, because it seems if you ask 100 different people, you get 100 different answers. CCNA Voice is on my list, and having similar experience to you, I'd be interested to know how you describe a good lab. If I had no equipment, what you recommend to complete CCNA Voice?

draught

A good lab would consist of a PC with VMware workstation that could handle CUCM,CUC, and CUPS. Next would be a basic 3550 switch and a decent router. That setup would let you get through a huge portion of labs in the main lab book just ignore the PSTN simulator part which is a CCNP level topic really.

I think having no equipment would make it much harder to compete Voice as there would be nothing to help conceptualize what you are learning. In that situation I'd watch the INE videos repeatedly and try to memorize the GUI. It's not being able to do the most basic things would hurt I think. I have heard of people passing without buying equipment but if you can get hold of just get a copy of CUCM and Vmware workstation you'll at least be able to do the basics. I'd also follow along with labs even if you can't compete them.

What I did for notes is basically rewrite the book in my own words paying special attention to anything with the key topic icon by it.
hint: anything with that key topic icon is fair game to be on the test. This method also worked for the standard CCNA as well. I'd upload my notes but I always written them out on paper as I've heard that is the best way to learn vs typing.

PCHoldmann

Congrats!

ehnde

Thanks for the study tips Draught!

wgroom

Congratulations on the pass, inspiration for the rest of us!

sendalot

How did you find/afford CUCM? Did you get a business edition?

Thanks.