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VOIP career

Hi

  I am a MCSE and CCNA qualified guy working as systems administratoar (Managing all microsoft servers). I have done my CCNA recently and would like to switch to a career in VOIP. I am planning to do CCVP in the nearby future. I am in UK now and i have inquired some providers and they are all very expensive (almost 2500 dollars)??  What is the best way to prepare for CCVP with strong fundamentals?? is there any good online training you suggest with optimal price?? What is the best way to get hands on training ??
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Reid Palmeira
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I haven't done much work in the UK, but it's been my experience in the US that practical experience is far more useful than certs, especially in a world chaning as much as VoIP is right now. It's one thing to hold a piece of paper that says you know how the system is supposed to work and another thing entirely to get a softswitch to talk properly to an IAD via SIP trunks through an SBC with the right QoS settings on the network, etc.

A fundamental understanding of networks is good. get to know the telco side too since many of the VoIP providers have background in telco. One good book, I've been looking at lately is from Syngress. Practical VoIP security. http://www.syngress.com/catalog/?pid=3720

if you've got the Cisco in mind, get a firm background with Call Manamger and CM Express.

but in my opinion, the certs look good and may justify a pay grade increase, but they don't necessarily make you ready for a really working with voip. apologies if that sort of bursts your bubble. at this point VoIP is still in the stage between research and real. There haven't been any major voip attacks globally, but enterprises are begining to pick it up and market share will grow. For the time being, get some hands on experience with software like Asterisk and see what projects you can get rolling in your company that can be voip related.
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Hi

    Thanks for your comments. I have seen the book on the website and chcked the table of contents and it all seems to be good. I will buy and start reading that. But i dont know how to get hands on experience with Cisco call Manager and CM express because iam working in a microsoft environment and there is no chance to check all these. Could you please let me know how can i get hands on experince on the above cisco products with my existing environment (I mean do you want to buy any device or emulators or somethingl like that, I am ready to spend some dollars (200 or 300) dollars to get hands on experience... Instead of spending thousands of dollars i reckon this as an effective way...

 Please advice me on how to proceed

Matheen
It's hard to get the hands on Cisco training when it's not in your environment because the Cisco equiptment is so expensive. But the Boot Camps are REALLY good. I'm sure you're already looking at those and outside of getting and using the hardware itself they're you're best bet for quick hands-on training. http://www.certificationcity.com/html/boot_camps_by_region.html or other web sites can direct you to those. They can be pretty pricey too though. Sometimes employers are willing to help you cover the costs of the training if it will add to your skill set and can be useful. With the boot camps there's opportunity there because it's working with the routers and other network hardware as well as the voip software solutions like CM and CME.

One other good thing to look at is local colleges and universities. Many offer semester long training courses. In the US the community colleges and I would presume the equivalent in the UK are pretty good for that sort of thing. They're often evening classes and they'll be a good bet for hands on training as most of them tie in somehow to the Cisco Academy with the intent of eventually getting you certified.
Hi
 
  Thanks for your reply. I am saving money for to do the boot camps. In the mean time can i get any simulation or online training (visual) atleast to let me know how call manager looks like and other VOIP stuffs. I searched on the internet and there is one site from US offering some CD rom based learinig (http://www.mytrainingbroker.com/AFF/AFFSpecloffr6.htm). Can i go ahead with this learning site atleast for the timebeing. Plz advice
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Reid Palmeira
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