Cisco CUCM Setup

[michaeltownley7]

Greetings,

I am researching Cisco's IP phones and I have many questions about the software and such. So starting out I noticed they got rid of the CCNA Voice exam and it looks like it has been replaced with the Collaboration category is there a specific exam for voice or any information you can point me too? My second question is can I setup a lab for testing IP phones without physical IP phones? My last question is when setting up Cisco Unified Communications Manager in many articles and instructions I read it said as a pre-requisite to installing you must setup your network for VoIP Communication what is meant by this and how would I go about setup that up. Any who my questions are basically as follows:

1.) Is there a Voice Exam or info I can study specifically geared towards setting up IP phones systems?
2.) Can I setup a lab for testing IP phones without physical IP phones?
3.) When setting up Cisco Unified Communications Manager many articles say to setup your network for VoIP although I cannot find any information on how to set up a network for VoIP. How do you setup a network for VoIP

[Martin L]

Collaboration category includes Voice and Video; a lot of Voice stuff is still valid for Collaboration exams.  for exam/cert details use link below and navigate to Certifications.

yes, it is not easy to start Voice cert due to all gear required; However, you should be able to get Cisco Unified Communications Manager working for 6 months without "expensive" license.  You do not need to get special hardware for CUCM; just get CUCM software which needs VmWare workstation software. You will need decent "gaming" PC and VMware software. I recommend 2 used physical IP phones from Ebay but there is a software soft-phone version called Cisco IP Communicator. So, You could go virtual using CUCM and Windows with those soft-phones installed on Vmware Workstation (not sure if free vmware player will do; it should but vm workstation is free for 30 days).

Otherwise, network lab for VoIP should include at least 2 real IP phones, L2 switch, PC running vmware with CUCM.  IP phones are connected to L2 switch and to home PC; PC is running vmware with CUCM and another Windows inside with a soft-phones installed.  Later, You should also get used 2800 or 2900 router as a voice gateway.

I would also go to CLN -link below- then navigate to Collaboration community to see if there is any help,

https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/s/discussions

Regards, ML
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