On January 31, 2005, Cisco announced the latest member of its professional certification family (which also includes certs on networking: CCNP, security: CCSP, internetwork: CCIP
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, and network design: CCDP). Earning a CCVP requires earning the entry-level Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA), then passing five additional exams:
Exam ID Abbrev Course Info 642-642 QOS Quality of Service (QOS) 642-432 CVOICE Cisco Voice Over IP (CVOICE) 642-425 IPTT IP Telephony Troubleshooting (IPTT) 642-444 CIPT Cisco IP Telephony Part 1 (CIPT1) Cisco IP Telephony Part 2 (CIPT2) 642-452 GWGK Gateway/Gatekeeper (GW/GK; Available Summer 2005)
The program announcement emphasizes what the roster of exams attests—namely, that this new credential identifies individuals who can install, configure, operate and support various and complex IP telephony and voice over IP (VoIP) networks and applications. Elements of the CCVP curriculum ensure that qualified individuals are up to speed on Cisco CallManager, quality of service (QoS) topics, gateways, gatekeepers, IP phones, and voice applications and utilities that run on Cisco routers and Cisco Catalyst switches.
As it turns out, those individuals who've already earned a Cisco Qualified Specialist credential for IP Telephony will quickly observe that they've also already met several of the requirements for the CCVP as well. Likewise, those who pursue and earn the CCVP will find themselves well on their way to pursuing the CCIE Voice credential as well.
The apparent impetus for this credential is that Cisco has now shipped more than 4 million IP phones, and also reports that 60-plus percent of the Fortune 500 now use one kind of Cisco IP communications solution or another. In an overall IP telephony/VoIP market that's growing like gangbusters, this comes as no surprise.
Individuals who work with and around Cisco telephony systems will quickly observe that the company's cert offerings are well-designed, -researched, and -implemented, and that their courses are also well worth attending (for those who can't get into a classroom, keep your eyes peeled for related titles from Cisco Press, which also does a great job of covering Cisco certifications and exams).
Ed Tittel is a regular contributor to numerous TechTarget Web sites, and the author of over 100 books on a wide range of computing subjects from markup languages to information security. He's also a contributing editor for Certification Magazine, and edits Que Publishing's Exam Cram 2 and Training Guide series of cert prep books. E-mail Ed at etittel@techtarget.com.
This was first published in February 2005