sundance-communications.com/forum Forums VOIP Phones & IP PBX VoIP & Cloud Phones, Hosted PBX, General IP Phones Where to start?

Don't shoot guys, but I am interested in learning about the Cisco phones and becoming certified. I know just enough about networking to be dangerous so, I would need to start at the beginning. What would be step one in the process? I've looked over the Cisco website and so far all I'm seeing is an onslaught of acronyms. I guess what I'm looking for is an order to do the training/certifications. When I try to decipher the website and look at the prerequisites, I seem to be going in circles trying to figure out where to start.

I've read through all the opinions on whether to VOIP or not, but I'm not quite as salty as some of you guys and have quite a few more years before I can hang up my tool belt. I can see the writing on the wall, like it or not, it's coming. I'm already seeing quite a bit of it around here even in our small market. Most of it is by bigger companies flying in people to install it with the customer left needing someone local who who can bail them out when/if things go wrong. They are going to have to pay somebody for help, I see no reason that guy could not be me. Even if I have to tell them "Yep it sucks alright", at least that would be a "Certified" opinion. I can't see myself selling a pure VOIP system any time in the near future, but I do see the need to start the learning process.

I'm not a VoIP guy, but you may want to start with the Cisco CCNA exam(s). There's an option to take 2 exams or one integrated exam. The material would give you some fundementals in routing/IP addressing and cisco routing technology in general. I'm not sure how much of this is relevant to VoIP, though I would imagine you'd need at least some routing knowledge to trouble-shoot routing issues if necessary.

An overview of the Cisco exams can be found here:

https://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le3/learning_certification_overview.html

The do offer a voice-related certification path which is probably what you'd look at.

I am in the same boat, I have a lot of years ahead of me before I get to call it quits, as much as I tried to avoid it I am seeing more and more of call mangers popping up, so as much as I hate to face it I will need to learn thsi as well. I have thought about looking into the CCNA exam, but am curious if Cisco offers a certification just on their voip systems.

Our employees have found it easier to take the two courses and tests(Intro and ICND), rather than the one exam to aquire their CCNA.

The website shows they have specialist programs, which may be a good place to start.

https://www.cisco.com/web/learning/...certification_type_home_extra_level.html

https://www.cisco.com/web/learning/...certification_type_home_extra_level.html

I'll second Steve's suggestion. Once you've written your CCNA, you'll have an account for www.certmanager.net With this account you can view all the career and certification paths, and see exactly which exams you have written and still need to write to get your certs.

If you start with CCNA, that will be the first of 6 exams you will need to write for the CCVP cert. No matter which certs you decide to go for, it all starts with CCNA.

my experience with voip says: if you're gonna do voip, you absolutely have to know networking really well. vast majority (99%?) of our "voip problems" have been network issues. fix the network, problem goes away.

it's worth knowing.

Johnyreb, if you'd like, I can send you the CCNA study notes I wrote when I originally took the CCNA exam. This will give you a good idea about the basics the exam will cover.

I took the exam over 5 years ago, so by no means are the notes up-to-date, but I'm sure most of the concepts still apply.

I have been considering taking the integrated exam again, as my original certification has expired some time ago.

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the information. I'm checking into these guys for pricing on the CCNA training/test and the eventually the CCVP. Anyone have any experience with them?

{added} Steve we must have been typing at the same time, thanks for the offer, it is very generous of you, but let me look into things a little further and I may take you up on that. At least I have a direction to start looking now. My biggest thing is I want to get the most training for the buck, I don't want to spend this much money and have them talking over my head all week long. I feel confident I can learn the material, but just wanted to make sure the courses start at the novice level. Also, will they issue me the pocket protector or do I need to provide that?

No pocket protector required. Of course if you get to the CCIE level you can probably afford one in solid gold.

You can always just read the books and do practice exams to prep for the tests, though this takes a considerable amount of time. I did it that way, but I had already done the same for the MCSE exams, so I was used to it by then. It is an inexpensive way to go, however.

There are plenty of certification web sites, including: https://www.brainbuzz.com/. Might be worth a look.

I wouldn't bother paying for training at the CCNA level. Buy "CCNA for Dummies", create a Cisco account and check out their CCNA study materials and daily questions, get the cramsession.com question of the day and study guide. There was an online lab offered in another topic, or you could buy a cheap set of Cisco routers off Ebay. Lots of people have CCNA study bundles with a couple of routers, a switch, and the cables you would need. Shouldn't run you more than about $300.

Bottom line, I don't think someone who already has a good technical background needs to pay money for CCNA training. Save your money for all the training above the CCNA level.

Thanks, Clinton. I've already been looking at the cramsession site and downloaded the free study guides. I think you're right about the CCNA training route. The money factor is one thing, but it would be hard to peel away a week for the CCNA and 14 days for the CCVP. Hell, I'm almost halfway there, I did'nt even know what CCNA and CCVP were until this morning . Now all I need is for someone to suffer along with me......Anthony?

Hey Ron,

I have to agree with Clinton on this too. I know people that spent the money for a week long CCNA session and still failed the exam. I bought two books for the CCNA, "CCNA for Dummies" and the Sybex "CCNA Study Guide" by Todd Lammel. I can't recommend the latter highly enough. I read the two books cover-to-cover and had no problem with the exam. As Clinton has already mentioned, all Cisco certifications build upon the CCNA. Its a good first step.

21 days would be real hard to free up. I am with you I already know more then I did this mourning.. I am willing to suffer, I will download the free guides tonight. Things are always a little easier when you know someone else is suffering with you.

When I did my CCNA I had the mindset that I wanted to learn the material. Once I felt like I had a mastery of the material then I studied for the test. In my humble opinion I feel to many times people put the horse before the cart. I HATE bootcamps, I HATE Test King even worse. I am not implying anyone here used them but I spent years getting my certs and these people go in and take what I trained for and do it in a week. Is that fair?

Greg

gcave, I don't think it is about fair or not fair. For me it's not about the certification, but the quest for knowledge. In the long run, I'm sure going the route you did will be the most beneficial in terms of understanding, and competence with the material. I'm in a position where I may have the chance to take the boot camps on somebody else's nickel, so I would be crazy to pass it up if I get the chance. Even if I can, I may pass on the CCNA portion and take the time to really study the basics in the books and resources mentioned above. I would rather go into a class type environment with at the very least a basic understanding of what is going to be covered. Regardless of the route, it's a journey I'm determined to take and should have done a long time ago.

Knowledge is something nobody can take away from you, and I'm very thankful for the members here who so freely share their knowledge with others. I appreciate you all getting me pointed in the right direction.

Ron