Loving CCNA Voice!

I'm around 4 weeks in and I'm loving the voice world! 2 weeks of the 4 was pretty much trial and error setting up buying the right bits. All I need now is a super long cable to plug into my FXO port and I think thats it. I've got an inline power switch coming in 2 days to replace my other switch, just to tidy up some cables really.

I have found the studying to be very rewarding so far. Nothing like getting your first phones registered and ringing, then setting up the IP communicators on different PC's and getting them going. I'm using a R2691 as my voice gateway and DHCP sever and the R2811 as my CME at the moment. Just tonight I have been studying dial peers and got my analog phone plugged into the 2691's FXS to call the 2811's IP phones and call back. Its all pretty exciting stuff! I have scheduled my exam for late June so hopefully I can get the book done in the next few weeks with the CBT nuggets and get troubleshooting labs going towards the end. I also have CUCM up and running on VMWare but that is waiting for next weekend. Anyway thought I'd say hi and post a pic of my lab.

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azaghul

Love the network diagram stuck to the wall

wallpaper_01

azaghul wrote: »

Love the network diagram stuck to the wall

Haha yeah, I drew that before I started. Might do a new one as ive changed a few bits on it. You should see my bedroom, wall covered in study notes!

JeanM

Nice job! It's addicting isn't it ?!

I am also learning the voice track and also signed up for VMware VCP5 at a local college starting in about a month after work. Will be fun!

sacredboy

wallpaper_01, dude which equipment and study material are you using?

wallpaper_01

Hey I'm using:

Routers -

Cisco 2691 256/128 (DRAM/FLASH) - IOS 12.4T - CME 4.1 (Voice Gateway)
Cisco 2811 256/128 - IOS 12.4T - CME 7.1 (Call Manager Express Router)

Switch -

Cisco Catalyst 3550 PWR - Inline Power Switch. If you get an Inline Power or POE switch, you do not need plugs for IP Phones, check phone models for support though.

Modules -

NM-2V
VIC-2FXS (To the Analog Phone/Fax)
VIC-2FXO (To the PSTN)

Note - These modules only work with my 2691 router not the 2811, which is fine for this setup, but if you want the 2811 to use them, you need to buy newer NM-HD-2V. In the US its easy to find but not the uk by the looks of it. Not Sure about Australia.

Phones -

2 x Cisco IP Phone 7940 running on P00308000500 firmware (CME 7.1)
1 x Analog Phone
Standard PC Mic

Software

IOS 12.4T on both routers
CME 4.1 and 7.1
CUCM 8
Cisco IP Communication
CCP

For study I'm using CBT Nuggets and the Official Cert Guide. Really enjoying it so far, the book is pretty good and goes along with the nuggets as its the same guy!

Mason83

REMOVED UNNECESSARY QUOTE

I used this post to jump on eBay and buy a 2691, 2811, the modules, 2 7940 phones and a 3550 Inline Power switch. I can't thank you enough for sharing this! Quick question, as a VoIP noob, how did you connect all of this together to get it up and running?

Jollycork

Just a suggestion...the 7970s are pretty cheap these days and they allow you to change the phones wallpaper, along with having more buttons for configuration than the 7940s/7960s. Ephone button configuration for line and extensions for call center stuff is interesting to learn using UCCX.

and for another $125.00 you can get your hands on CUCM 8.5/9/10 ... for another $125.00 to $175.00 USD you can get a couple of cheap Supermicro intel servers to run the VMware images of CUCM/Unity/UCCX/CUPS....

Then you can hook up your CME sites to CUCM are remote sites over frame/or VWIC MFT -T1/E1, hook up phones to CUCM as a remote site without CME, call back and forth between sites via extension number only.

with SIP trunk out of CUCM to POTS you can simulate an enterprise voice network with just what you have being able to call out of the system via POTS and call in Via POTS.... and for not very much money...

The problem with voice is...as with anything.... spend life's savings on all the nifty stuff.. Cisco continues to add more and different functionality with each CME/CUCM version including Video conference, and using Jabber....

azaghul

For those looking at servers to run the Voice product suite on, I've moved away from my Dell PowerEdge 2950 server and over to a Dell T5400 workstation. Similar specs, 2 x Quad core & up to 32GB RAM, though less HDD bays...however the big plus...its near silent!

bobfromfpl

Good advice azaghul..

The Dell PowerEdge servers are too large & too loud!

The_Expert

Thanks for sharing! Looks like you are having a lot of fun... I'm still working on ICND2, before going for the Voice track. That's ultimately where I want to be... I've done Telecom stuff in the past and so want to get back into it.

JeanM

azaghul wrote: »

For those looking at servers to run the Voice product suite on, I've moved away from my Dell PowerEdge 2950 server and over to a Dell T5400 workstation. Similar specs, 2 x Quad core & up to 32GB RAM, though less HDD bays...however the big plus...its near silent!

Yep, you can even easily run it in your workstation/PC if you have enough RAM and let's say an I5 quad core. Dell 2950s are huge and loud, you can easily build something or upgrade the PC to handle vmware workstation for example.

Mason83

I received my CCNA Voice Lab Manual yesterday and I was able to successfully configure my lab and place calls between my 2 7940 phones! It's truly an awesome feeling! wallpaper_01, I can't thank you enough for this thread!

blatini

hey OP, about how much did that set up cost you?