It has finally been announced! Cisco has retired the CCNA Voice and CCNA Video certifications in favor of a new, all-encompassing CCNA Collaboration certification. It will be comprised of two separate exams—one with a focus on Unified Communications solutions and one emphasizing the implementation and troubleshooting of video infrastructures.
The first exam is called “Implementing Cisco Collaboration Devices” and corresponds to exam number 210-060 CICD. Topics to note within this exam will be call signaling and media flows, VoIP quality implications, user account creation and modification, calling privileges, IM and Presence, RTMT and CDR/CMR-based reporting, and typical end user support scenarios. The focus of this exam is now on becoming a well-rounded engineer, with knowledge in more than just CUCM. For more information, visit this link.
The second exam is called “Implementing Cisco Video Network Devices” and corresponds to exam number 210-065 CIVND. Topics on this exam that should carry great importance will be streaming video, media convergence, desktop and immersive systems, troubleshooting methodologies, media quality, and multi-point control units. With the focus here being solely on video and its integration with voice networks, candidates for the exam will gain a breadth of knowledge during the studying process that can be applied in many industry scenarios. For more information, visit this link.
For those that have been preparing for the CCNA Voice (640-461 ICOMM) or CCNA Video (640-461 ICOMM and 200-001 VIVND) certifications and are worried that all your hard work will be lost—fear not! You may still take both exams up until the deadline of August 14, 2015. In addition, if you pass (or have already passed) either exam before the deadline, each can be used in order to attain the CCNA Collaboration certification.
For example, if an engineer passes the 640-461 ICOMM exam on August 14, 2015 (or before), it can be used in combination with the new “Implementing Cisco Video Network Devices” exam (210-065 CIVND) to achieve the CCNA Collaboration. Cisco has created a CCNA Collaboration Exam Migration Tool that allows you to determine what is required based on your specific scenario. Check out the details at this link.
Being the CCIE Collaboration instructor here at iPexpert, I can say that the knowledge gained by studying for the CCNA Collaboration can not only provide great skills for immediate use in the industry, but can also be used as a stepping stone towards earning both your CCNP and your CCIE Collaboration certifications. Now more than ever, Cisco has streamlined the associate and professional level certifications such that the knowledge attained can be used as a building block for the next level of exams, which has not always been the case. So if you have been on the fence about starting your journey into the world of Collaboration, the time to start is now!
0 comments:
Post a Comment