Unless you've been stuck on Mars for the past couple of years, you're probably already well aware of the fact that most of the buzz words projected out of jubilant salesmen's (and saleswomen's! !) mouths around Cisco canteens invariably have something to do with voice. The CCIE Voice track has almost caught up with the Service Provider track in terms of numbers qualified, despite the latter being available for a much longer period of time. But gaining a Voice certification doesn't always have to mean IE. Have you considered its little sister, namely the CCVP?

Whether you use it as a stepping stone towards attaining your IE or merely as a measure of consolidating your skill set, it certainly has proved to be as popular and valuable to a great number of engineers- just look at the comments received on the various Discussion forums, such as the Cisco Netpro Forum.

The questions one typically asks before embarking on the pursuit of a CCVP go along the lines of… ��oeSo is it worth the effort? does it enhance job prospects? what does it entail? how much experience in Cisco's voice technologies do I need? how much Routing and Switching knowledge do I need? etc, etc…"

Whether you like it or not, right now and probably for the next 3-5 years, convergence is hot. Not only inside the US, where technology used for carrying voice over a packetized network is at its most mature, but across the globe. So having a CCVP under your belt is most definitely worth the paper it's printed on and then some. Whether job prospects are enhanced by having a CCVP is a more difficult issue to tackle- it certainly helps getting you to the interview, but ultimately the rest is down to you. One thing in your favor however is that companies pursuing the Cisco ��oeUnified Communications Specialization partnership" program require a number of engineers holding a CCVP on their books.

Why should you bother with the CCVP when you can go straight to CCIE Voice? It depends on your experience and certainly there are at least 80-90 CCIE Voice engineers who passed the CCIE Voice lab exam without acquiring the CCVP. These figures are not based upon published statistics but simple mathematics- the IE Voice track was released in September '03 whereas the VP debuted in February '05. However the VP, now that it does exist, is very much worthy as a preparation tool for the IE, as well as a qualification in its own right. It would be impossible to pass the Voice lab without first becoming comfortable with the concepts covered in the VP material so that begs the question- why wouldn't you start with the VP?

As with anything, nothing can substitute real world experience, so every minute working on Call Manager, gateways, QoS, gatekeepers and Catalyst switches, which make up the core components tested on the CCVP exams, helps. The official pre-requisite is having a valid CCNA certification, but don't be fooled- there is virtually no knowledge of routing and switching protocols required to pass the exams, although it does help in tying everything together when looking at the big picture . Whereas the CCNA/CCDA most definitely have tangible benefits when certifying on the CCNP or CCDA, the CCNA is only a pre-requisite for the VP because, er…., there isn't a CCVA! When it comes to teaching the CCVP bootcamp this makes life very difficult because there is absolutely no knowledge of voice required whatsoever.

In total there are five exams that need to be cleared before attaining the VP

* Cisco Voice over IP (CVOICE)
* Cisco IP Telephony (CIPT)
* Implementing Gateways and Gatekeepers (GWGK)
* Quality of Service (QOS)
* IP Telephony and Troubleshooting (IPTT)

Lets start with CVOICE. Earlier releases of this exam dealt with VoFR and VoATM, as well as VoIP. Thankfully Cisco changed their minds and restricted the tested technologies to VoIP. This is the first part of the magic quintet you should deal with and provides a good introduction and grounding for the more glorified exams that follow. In my own view, I would propose that CVOICE should be one half of the CCVA (the other half being the ICND exam that is required for the CCNA). Let's wait and see!

There's two methods of training for this exam- (1) the official Cisco authorized training constituting of the self-study Cisco Voice Fundamentals (CVF) and the 4 day classroom-based CVOICE. (2) A CCVP bootcamp which is not authorized by Cisco but does ��oecram" much of the same information.

After CVOICE, the next hurdle is the CIPT exam. This is probably the toughest exam out of the five. It's so difficult that Cisco decided to split the material covered into two separate classes- CIPT1 (5 days in the class-room) and CIPT2 (3 days in the class-room). In doing so they forgot to split the exam in two halves, hence you are presented with one pretty tough exam. How many times have you heard people say ��oe…real world experience really does help get you thru this exam…" and end up in the testing center answering a load of questions which do not pertain to any real-world situation? Well, real-world experience really does help you get thru this exam. No, really it does!

Of the five, the CIPT test is probably the most important in its application to the real world. The reason is that the primary focus of the test is Call Manager, which so happens to be the call processing element of any Unified Communications solution. Let's put it another way- Call Manager is the brain of the IP Telephony network. Your Skinny IP Phones, MGCP gateways, Quality of Service, IPCC Express and Unity servers are fairly reliant on Call Manager. In fact, they are totally dependant on Call Manager.

Again, you have 8 days of official Cisco training or material covered in bootcamp format. Whatever means you choose, hands-on lab exercises is vital for this class. There's a whole new dialog that you will come across- call manager groups, regions, device pools, locations, inter-cluster trunks, calling search spaces, partitions, route plans, CDR, BAT, BARS and a whole lot more. And the neat thing is, as well as being useful for the CIPT test, they are the building blocks of engineering any Cisco IPT network in the real world.

Next up is GWGK. Along with CIPT, GWGK provides the real business end of the CCVP cert in that it is very useful in your day to day activities and also for your CCIE prep. Have you read the Cisco Press ��oeImplementing Gateway Gatekeeper" book? I'm guessing the answer to this question is an emphatic ��oeNo", mainly because there isn't one out yet! That is precisely the big challenge with this test in that it is the newest exam (all the other tests existed before the conception of the CCVP) and there isn't much out there in terms of useful reading literature away from CCO.

You data guys might like this class too! CIPT is heavily focused on the Call Manager Administration GUI- you might get fed up of pointing and clicking in Windows by the end of the CIPT class, so don't say you haven't been warned!. The good news with the GWGK class (5 days with Cisco training or bootcamp) is that it is by and large IOS-based. Hence you don't need to stray too far away from your beloved router. Which, by the way, is now renamed gateway or gatekeeper. That is not to say you're going to spend all your time configuring OSPF, EIGRP, RIP, etc…No, there's a whole new world that exists on a Cisco router that you knew nothing about.

If the data guys didn't like GWGK they are sure to love QoS, the next logical step in the Fibonacci sequence. The reason is that you spend most, if not all, your time configuring and learning about class-maps, policy-maps and the things you can do inside WAN interfaces to prioritize beautiful Cinderella-like voice packets ahead of the ugly cumbersome data packets. Not only that, you can also learn about how you can bring down Serialization delay so voice packets don't need to queue up for very long before being transmitted. And if that wasn't enough, you can finally work out what the ��oewrr-queue" command does on a Catalyst switch and what the hell ��oe2q2t" queues are.

In all seriousness, the QoS class/test is extremely useful not only for the CCVP certification but for a number of other Cisco Certifications. How applicable is it in the real world? I'm not going to say it isn't at all because it's definitely better to understand all the various commands that show up on configurations, but AutoQos makes life in the real-world an awful lot easier (AutoQos being a macro that implements all the QoS you need with two or three commands).

QoS is covered in a 5 day Cisco class or in any bootcamp. Beware, they also choose to throw in a little BGP which is interesting to say the least. Did you know you can classify packets based on BGBP community lists and AS paths? Well, you can using the QoS Policy Propagation via BGP feature (a.k.a. QPPB). Another interesting point to note on the QoS exam is the number of simlets and simulations that the candidate is required to negotiate. Of all the exams that comprise the CCVP, the QoS exam tests the candidate's ability to apply knowledge gained more than any other test. This makes it, from a personal perspective, the best, and if there is such a thing, the most enjoyable exam.

Once you've passed the CVOICE, CIPT and QOS exams, congratulations are in order. No you haven't got your CCVP yet, but you have now qualified as a ��oeCisco IP Communications Support Specialist" which is a nice bonus to pick up along the way to your VP and also useful for partner specialization programs.

The final bridge to cross is the IPTT exam. Troubleshooting always sounds interesting, as if you are on the brink of learning some ground-breaking skill that's been missing your entire life. Well, if that's what you're expecting you might be bitterly disappointed. Troubleshooting methodology is a very difficult skill to learn in a classroom- the best troubleshooters in a particular technology invariably have the most experience troubleshooting that technology. At first glance that may not be such a radical statement to make, however the knock-on affect makes one wonder what the point of the IPTT exam is? And that would be a very good question.

Let me explain why. When sitting the QoS class, a large part of any lab exercise demands that the candidate uses the appropriate ��oedebug" and ��oeshow" commands in order to fully appreciate and verify the particular QoS technique in operation. When performing lab exercises in the GWGK class, you will also need to be able to perform the appropriate verification. In the CIPT class, CIPT2 focuses largely on the Internal Server Tools that aid troubleshooting Call Manager. In other words, the IPTT class is a culmination of all the other classes with one little exception, namely Unity.

For some reason, probably because the people responsible for writing the IPTT course content decided that all the content was already covered, decided to throw in troubleshooting Unity into the mix. We end up with the interesting prospect of not needing to know anything about designing or supporting Unity for the CCVP certification, but candidates are expected to know how to troubleshoot Unity. Puzzled? You're not the only one.

What we end up with is a mix of all the other tests and some intricate details on Cisco Unity. It's quite an easy exam if the candidate has passed all the other exams in the not-so-distant past and has the Cisco Unity Systems Engineer (CUSE) certification. It's still quite easy if you're comfortable with everything apart from the Unity sections, but the IPTT exam gets quite difficult if you've forgotten the content of the other parts of the CCVP cert.

IPTT should be the last exam any CCVP candidate attempts and training constitutes a 5 day Cisco official class or the final chapter of a CCVP bootcamp.

So what are you waiting for? Go ahead and make your voice heard!

Vik Malhi, CCIE #13890 Voice, CCVP, Cisco IP Telephony Support Specialist, Cisco IP Telephony Operations Specialist, Cisco IP Telephony Design Specialist and Cisco Wireless LAN Design Specialist.

The Next Generation Network (NGN) is a popular phrase used to describe the network that will replace the current ▲PSTN network around the world today used to carry voice, fax, modem signals, etc.
By definition, the NGN is essentially a managed ▲IP-based (i.e., packet-switched) network that enables a wide variety of services. Among those services are ▲VoIP, ▲videoconferencing, ▲Instant Messaging, e-mail, and all other kinds of pakcet-switched communication services.
The ITU defined the term NGN in Recommendation Y.2001 as follows:
Next Generation Network (NGN): a packet-based network able to provide telecommunication services and able to make use of multiple broadband, QoS-enabled transport technologies and in which service-related functions are independent from underlying transport-related technologies. It offers unrestricted access by users to different service providers. It supports generalized mobility which will allow consistent and ubiquitous provision of services to users.
One of the most important aspects of NGN is the deliberate separation of the access provider from the "service" provider (see the highlighted text above). For those that do not understand what this means, it means that the access provider (the service provider that provides you, the customer, with access to the NGN) may be different than the service provider that provides you with various services, such as voice and video communication, e-mail, stock quotes, or other services.
We say "may", because the access provider and service provider might be the same company. For example, as a subscriber to cable services, you may elect to purchase voice (telephone) services from your cable company. In that case, your access provider and your voice service provider is one in the same. However, the NGN removes this restriction from you—you have a choice. If you prefer to purchase voice services from another company (e.g., Vonage or Lingo ), you have that option, too. Never before have consumers had so many options.
Of course, not everybody is happy with the ability for consumers to have a choice. Why? Because the NGN represents a real threat to the current business model of incumbent service providers. The old-world carriers would prefer to control both the access and the services, blocking competitors from being able to come into the market and offer competitive services.
However, times change and consumers have the right to choose the service providers that provide them services. We have just entered a new era where customers with broadband Internet access can now select their voice service provider of choice—perhaps one that physically exists in an entirely different country! As the incumbent carriers start exploring the possibilities the NGN will bring, they will soon realize an unbounded opportunity for new sources of revenue through a multiplicity of new kinds of services.
As we move forward deploying the Next Generation Network, users may have one or many access providers providing access in a variety of ways, including cable, DSL, ▲Wi-Fi, ▲WiMAX, fiber, etc. into the NGN. Once connected, the options for service providers for voice, video, and data services will be virtually unlimited.
We live in exciting times and are just on the verge of a revolution.

Huawei Technologies Co Ltd. ("Huawei"), a leader in providing next generation telecommunications network solutions for operators around the world, today announced that it has been chosen by TeliaSonera, the largest telecoms operator in Scandinavia and the Baltic countries, to supply the world' s first commercial 4G/LTE (Long Term Evolution) network, in Oslo, Norway. Huawei will, together with TeliaSonera, raise mobile broadband speeds significantly by dramatically improving quality and capacity with Huawei' s advanced LTE solution.

Under the agreement, Huawei provides an environmentally friendly end-to-end LTE solution including LTE base stations, core network and OSS (Operating Support System) covering Oslo. Huawei also provides services including network design, implementation, systems integration

The contract marks a significant step in TeliaSonera' s evolution to the next generation network. Thanks to Huawei' s 4^th Generation Base Station platform, the Huawei LTE solution provides an All-IP, high speed, low latency and high frequency efficiency mobile network. LTE technology will deliver new mobile data rates, which will enable TeliaSonera to introduce the fastest mobile broadband experience to their customers.

Mr. Lars Klasson, Senior Vice President and CTO Business Area Mobility Services of TeliaSonera says, "Our customers will enjoy 4G with high-speed and high-quality mobility communications already in 2010. We have chosen Huawei as our partner based on their strong focus on LTE development and early deployment capabilities, as well as Huawei' s impressive and proven worldwide track record in advanced mobile technology."

"We are excited to help TeliaSonera to construct the world' s first commercial LTE network", says Chengdong Yu, President of Huawei European region. "Huawei always focuses on addressing the challenges of operators and the needs of its customers. With our leading LTE technology, we are confident to provide TeliaSonera with winning solutions for their businesses and help them provide the fastest mobile broadband experience for their customers." and support.

We have been discussing the competitive landscape of always on wireless broadband in Pakistan. PTCL has entered this lucrative area with a soft launch of personal broadband wireless service using cdma EVDO technology. Service currently available in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Mirpur.
For customers, its the performance which matters and PTCL is claiming up to 500 to 1,000 Kbps but in reality average speeds are likely to vary from 300Kbps to 700Kbps for downlink and 200 Kbps to 400Kbps for uplink. Here’s a summary of the rates.

Package 1 (no CPE cost) - Unlimited access:
Monthly service charge: Rs.2500 (first year) and Rs. 2000 from second year onwards.
No initial charges required and the charges will be billed with PTCL landline bill.
Package 2 - Unlimited access:
Initial CPE charge : Rs.4000
Monthly service charges : Rs.2000 for unlimited access
Monthly service charges will be billed with PTCL landline bill.

PTCL provides EvDO PCMCIA cards. You need a laptop with PCMCIA slot. EVDO Rev.A offers up to 3.1 Mbps downlink and up to 1.8Mbps uplink. Average speeds vary from 300Kbps to 700Kbps for downlink and 200 Kbps to 400Kbps for uplink. However it varies depending on the physical situation of the user and the network at a particular time.
Beside the initial coverage in the cities described above, consumers can also use internet in other big cities as well where there is 1900MHz network but on dialup speed (153Kbps). PTCL provides a very large coverage area where you can stay connected.
The broadband speed depends on how far you are from CDMA BTS. Either with EVDO network or CDMA 1x, you will get very good speeds if the tower is within 2 – 3 KMs radius

Mobilink- the pioneer of GSM networks in Pakistan and currently the market leader with over more than 30 million customers is the only Pakistani operator to be ranked among the top 100 Mobile Operator Brands.
The research survey which ranked Mobilink (PMCL) 68th in the global mobile operator sector and 16th among the Asian Mobile Operators, was carried out by Intangible Business and is published in the December Issue of Mobile Communications International (MCI) Magazine.
In “Brands Punching Above Their Weight” category, Mobilink has been ranked 3 places ahead of Airtel, Tata Indicom and Relience.

"We are truly honored to have been recognized by the international fraternity. This accolade is a reflection of Mobilink’s consistency in driving brand recall and motivation to continue delivering the very best to our consumers and stakeholders. I am thankful to Orascom for their tremendous support and every member of the Mobilink family for their selfless dedication that has made this possible."
Bilal Munir Sheikh
VP Marketing, Mobilink

The Brand Valuation calculations were based on Forecast Sales, Royality Rates and Discount Rates. Each brand was also measured on three years of hard data including turnover, subscriptions, churn, market share, growth, penetration, average revenue per user (ARPU), and profitability

Nortel Networks Corp, the ailing telecom equipment provider, has decided to abandon its WiMax wireless technology business as it restructures in bankruptcy protection.

In a statement late on Thursday, Toronto-based Nortel said it will also end an agreement with Alvarion Ltd. Under that deal, struck last June, Nortel was to resell Alvarion's WiMax access products and help it fund the development of the technology.

In the months leading up to its filing for bankruptcy protection, Nortel hailed WiMax -- essentially a type of fast, next-generation wireless technology -- as very promising.

Nortel said it will work closely with Alvarion to make sure it can continue to support existing WiMax customers.

"We are taking rapid action to narrow our strategic focus to areas where we can drive maximum return on investment," Richard Lowe, president of Nortel's carrier networks business, said in a statement.

Nortel said last fall that it would look at mitigating the risks related to investments it had made in next-generation technology.

GMPLS (Generalized Multiprotocol Label Switching), also known as Multiprotocol Lambda Switching, is a technology that provides enhancements to Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) to support network switching for time, wavelength, and space switching as well as for packet switching in particular, GMPLS provides support for photonic networking , also known as optical communications.
GMPLS enhances MPLS architecture by the complete separation of the control and data planes of various networking layers. It enables a seamless interconnection and convergence of new and legacy networks by allowing end-to-end provisioning, control and traffic engineering even when the start and the end nodes belong to heterogeneous networks.

Ufone has officially come up with this new package (they say its first time in Pakistan ), called Collect Call. With Ufone Collect Call you can remain connected and make calls even when you don’t wish to pay for a call, so you no longer require sending people missed calls as the receiving party pays for the call charges.
With Collect Call you can even make call even with ZERO balance in your account.
This Package is available for both prepaid and postpaid customers, and both (calling/receiving) parties should have Ufone.
At the same time, this package can be used in an efficient manner by managers, who want their subordinates to stay in touch with them – so now they can pay for the calls made to their numbers, while subordinates will have to pay for all other calls. Same can be applied for children-parents scenario.
How to make a FREE Call?
In order to initiate an Ufone Collect Call request, simply dial 11 followed by the desired Ufone number. e.g. 1103335199942.
If the other party accepts your collect call your call will be connected right away. However If the dialed number does not have sufficient balance or cancels your request you will receive a SMS notification.
How to Block Collect Calls?
Don’t worry guys; there is a method available to block all those muft callers. Try following commands…
BR ALL Block all collect call requests.
UN ALL Unblock all collect call requests
BR To block a specific number
UN To unblock a specific number
BR LIST To get the list of Barred numbers
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