Customer Reviews

Cisco Voice over IP (CVOICE) (Authorized Self-Study Guide) (3rd Edition)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This book is very well written and easy to read. It's ideal for those who want to learn the basics of telephony networks and Voice over IP. It is more than just an exam prep book as the name suggests, it actually helps you build up a solid knowledge foundation for Voice over IP.

The author does a wonderful job in the first two chapters going through the fundamental concepts of traditional telephone networks including different call control architectures (distributed vs. centralized model); a variety of analog and digital signaling systems such as loop-start, ground-start, E&M, CAS and CCS; T1 multiplexing and framing; Digital-Analog/Analog-Digital conversion. The in-depth coverage on different signaling systems is especially helpful in understanding how each of them fits into the telephone system.

Before diving straight into VoIP and QoS, the author discusses different VoIP architectures as well as how to baseline voice traffic using traffic theory. A good thing about this book is that rather than simply focusing on the technical details of the three VoIP signaling protocols - H.323; SIP and MGCP, it also gives you a 10000-foot view of VoIP and how these signaling protocols fit into the whole picture. So that you understand the philosophy behind each of them and know how to choose the best one for your real life deployment.

The book does an excellent job in explaining how Erlang B calculation works as well as the bandwidth and packet size calculation for different CODECs. In order to help readers better understand VoIP signaling systems, the author also includes a detailed call flow analysis and basic sample configurations. Although it has some basic configuration examples, this book is not meant to be a configuration guide for Cisco CallManagers and routers.

QoS is covered briefly in the last chapter. Although the book doesn't have an in-depth discussion on congestion management and avoidance, it does provide you an overview of how different QoS mechanisms can be used to improve voice quality on a data network. It also shows you how to use the Cisco AutoQoS feature to simplify QoS configuration for VoIP. The last chapter also talks about how call admission control (CAC) is implemented in H.323; SIP and MGCP.

VoIP Security is not a major focus for this book. Although Chapter 5 talks briefly about the firewall and proxy requirements for VoIP.

The author primarily focuses on the Cisco implementation of H.323, SIP and MGCP in this book, but the fundamental concepts it presents are based on industry standards. All in all, this book is not only a must have for those who are preparing for the CVoice exam but also a great reference for voice network professionals.

I recently read Cisco Press's Cisco Voice over IP (CVoice) Self Study guide as I was studying for CVoice exam (core exam required for CCVP certification).

Usually I don't like to read certification guides as 9 out of 10 times they lack technical details and real world examples. The focus of certification guides is to help you pass the exam and nothing else. But I was pleasantly surprised as CVoice guide provides ample real world scenarios and lab exercises.

The book is divided into seven chapters and also contains a well written chapter on Cisco Voice Applications in appendix. For folks like me who are new to voice arena, the chapter in appendix is a must read as it is an excellent starting point to learn about Cisco's current Voice portfolio.

The book starts with a chapter on traditional telephony networks and an introduction to IP telephony networks; it then moves to analog and digital voice connections and covers topics like voice encoding, Nyquist theorem and different Signaling Systems. Chapter 3 and 4 cover information about voice interface configuration and dial peer configuration details. Chapter 5 is my favorite chapter as it discusses Voip fundamentals in a clear and concise manner. This chapter is almost 90 pages long and alone worth the price of this book. It goes over different Voip Network Architectures and also discusses different call processing components like Gatekeeper, Gateways etc. The chapter also discusses dial plans and different codecs bandwidth requirements. It also goes over traffic theory and voip security. Chapter 6 and 7 go over Voip Signaling and QoS topics and are very well written. Each chapter contains lab exercises and end chapter review questions with suggested solutions. My only suggestion to Cisco Press is to include companion CDs with Self Study guides that contains flash cards and additional practice tests with detailed answers and explanations. White papers and URLs from Cisco site will be icing on the cake.

Overall I really liked this book and will recommend to anyone who wants to learn about Voice over IP in general. Don't forget that book title reads "Foundation Learning for CCVP Voice over IP" and you may/will have to refer Cisco Connection Online or other Cisco Press titles for more in depth details on different topics.

I personally think it is one of those few certification guides that I will use even after passing my test. Five stars from my side for Kevin Wallace and Cisco Press!

I read Cisco Voice over IP, Second Edition, by Kevin Wallace (ISBN-13: 978-1-58705-262-0) because I worked with Cisco VoIP when it first came out, but have not kept current with new VoIP developments and improvements. Many of the books available today on Cisco VoIP are starting to get dated. I have found that Cisco Press is generally the best source for accurate and up-to-date information regarding Cisco tests. This book does a great job of covering both the basics and recent topics.

The material is well presented in this book. Kevin starts with the fundamentals and legacy POTs. He then covers basic VoIP and dial-peers. He covers H.323, SIP and MGCP signaling protocols in depth. There is a good chapter on MGCP - a protocol seldom used in enterprise networks that many of us need to learn for this test. The book wraps up with a chapter on QoS. Essentially everything you need to know to have a very strong understanding of VoIP is covered in this book. This book covers the latest ISR routers and call control methods.

Cisco Voice over IP, Second Edition also contains some good mini-labs that you can do with just 3 routers. The best way to really learn and retain is by reading and then doing. This is especially useful in a study guide when you plan on taking the test afterward. This book goes into more detail than is required for the test so it is a great reference book for real life - well after you have passed your test.

This book does its job as a self-study guide and was very instrumental in my studying. It is one of the best, most up to date Cisco VoIP books available today. It helped me pass the Cisco CVOICE test on my first attempt. I recommend this book for anyone studying for this test or just brushing up on VoIP in general.

Finally, a book I trust when studying for a test. While other vendors may very well contain all of the content necessary for exam preparation, Cisco Press is the only one I feel 100% sure about when taking Cisco exams.

If you come from a data background like myself (not voice), the chapters on voice technologies and analog/digital voice are essential. While you may never have to work with PBXs or care what signaling is used in other countries, its all fair game for test takers. I really never knew how deficient my knowledge of the old voice world was until reading this book. Local Loop Signaling, Trunk Signaling, the Nyquist Theorem (which seems to exist in every book I own), its all in here. As dry as some of these topics are, the understanding of the brick-level voice construct helps in troubleshooting issues with your telco.

If you arent buying this book for test preparation, youll be able to appreciate the chapters on voice interface configuration, configuring dial peers, dial plans, and troubleshooting. It gives details on setting up the above including the syntax of commands. I also own the CallManager Fundamentals book and the Gateway/Gatekeeper study guide. Youll find many of the same commands in this book as the other two. This book is broader in its scope than the Fundamentals or Gateway book.

I always look for troubleshooting tools more than anything else books (any command I can put in my arsenal). I maintain a network as opposed to implement new networks for companies, so Im faced with network complications that consultants largely get to avoid. The Comparing Call Control Models was likely the most useful to me. Whether you use SIP, H.323, or MGCP (we use MGCP), there are plenty of show and debug commands at your disposal and are listed in the text. While I had these commands in other books as well, I personally cant get enough of troubleshooting techniques in books. Keeping the network up and supporting end users is what keeps me employed.

My only gotcha with any book is end of chapter test-type questions. I never completely trust answer keys in the back of books and I thought I found errors in at least one question in this book. It was easy for me to catch because I knew the right answer but be on the lookout.

In all, I'd recommend this book for test takers and non-test takers. It covers some materials (dial peers, signaling and call control protocols, etc..) that are covered in other classes (Gateway/Gatekeeper class for one) and can be used as a quick reference.

I was glad to see this book begin with some basics on America's existing telephone systems and how they came to be. Some folks anxious to `just pass the test' may want to skip past this material but they will be hurting themselves. IP voice is not a technology unto itself. It is a means of integrating with or portion-replacing the current telephone systems we use.

That being said, let me state that this text is complete as a stand alone book and is not simply a boot camp prep document for the exam. It does however serve very well in that capacity. My point is that whether you are pursuing the certification or not, the book belongs on the shelves of anyone planning, perusing or working in the VOIP (voice over internet protocol) arena.

By the time you finish chapter two you will have covered reasonably our current telephone systems, the legacy systems they grew from and how we are positioning ourselves for the move towards IP telephony. There is an interesting lab exercise at the end of chapter two. It builds fundamental connectivity between two devices but does not begin to touch on the VOIP required parameters. This is resolved as you move into chapter three which steps right into voice card / interface configuration.

The book is targeted towards Cisco's deployment of VOIP of course but, I felt some more attention could have been given to SIP (session initiated protocol) as this will probably exist in almost any VOIP enabled network. Chapter five, which contains some of the SIP information covered in the text, does an excellent job of covering the various fundamentals of VOIP. If you're curious about VOIP in general, this chapter does a better job than many dedicated books on the subject.

The discussion of QOS and Cisco's AutoQOS do a good job of covering the priority treatment required for a good VOIP user experience and the ways to simplify that within a Cisco architecture. QOS is one of those technologies that is fundamentally simple but can require a high level of micro-tuning depending on the existing environment you plan to integrate VOIP into. I am acquainted with more than one large institution that has chosen to keep the VOIP network non-integrated with the existing network. This removes some of the capitalization on the installed hardware/software base but pays that loss back in ease of deployment.

Final thoughts on the book are to recommend it highly to those seeking certification as well as those already dealing with VIOP deployments or administration.

I read this book primarily to pass the CVOICE exam.

First off, this book barely provides adequate coverage of the questions that come up in the exam. I kept seeing questions and thinking, hey, this wasn't in the book!

I don't think I would have passed the exam if I had relied solely on this book. It's got too many niggling errors and some poorly explained sections that look like the author was writing them in the small hours or after a few pints.

You need to check the web site, 3rd party prep guides and course notes to be sure of success.

Kevin Wallace is a well known author and has delivered several Cisco Press Flash Cards and Exam Practice series books. "Authorized Self-Study Guide Cisco Voice over IP (CVoice)" is his latest book. It focuses primarily on the subject materials covered by the CCVP Cisco Voice over IP Exam.

Having extensive routers and switches but very limited voice experiences, I found this book very helpful in explaining telephony network, connections and concepts. The book starts with introduction to traditional networks and concepts, then moves to analog and digital voice connections and signaling, voice interface and voice dial peer configuration, VoIP dialing plans, VoIP signaling and call control and finally VoIP designs and Quality of Services (QoS).

The author has provided a very concise and understandable reading with the few number of pages provided. Each chapter goes straight to the topics, explains in an easy to follow manner, provides some configuration examples and closes with a simple lab exercise with suggested solution to reinforce learning.

The book does an excellent job in explaining complicated subjects such as voice traffic and bandwidth calculation. I have understood Erlang calculation better from the 25 pages dedicated for this topic in Chapter 5 than from any other sources. I only wish the book can cover more on IOS CLI running configuration and scenario examples. There are also several typos in some areas and configuration examples but it is acceptable.

Some people question the lack of details in this book, but readers can always get the learning foundation from this book and follow up with more information in Cisco web site and Cisco Connection Documentation.

Overall, I consider this book an important tool in my preparation for CCVP certification as well as a reference. I liked this book a lot and certainly will recommend others to read this. I like the way it presents the materials in a brief and concise manner. I gave the book five out of five stars for its good and concise explanation.

This book is very hard to learn from. It is very dry and appears as a book with tons of concepts and terms with no previous preparation for them for the reader. If it had the proper level of details to understand the many concepts, it would be 4x thicker but more valuable for what it is written for, 'Self-Study Guide', not a review of key points as it appears for new comers of Voip.

No good for a self study, find another book.
The book has no structure, and is inconsistant in its delivery of the info.
Config walk throughs are confusing at best, sometimes requiring knowledge on features not yet covered.
I'm sure some of the info is outright wrong, almost like it was never proof read or fact checked.

1:Technical descriptions are hard to follow and inconsistant.
2:Config walkthroughs are hard to follow and inconsistant.
3:Features are covered at random with no real structure.
4:Some facts are just wrong.
5:Dialplan recomendations are scary.
6:Sample questions are very easy compared to what is on the actual exam.
7:There is NO BOSON TEST SIM with this book.

I've self studied both CCNA and QoS succesfully with the other CisCo Press Books.
This one is a real let down.

The book lacks focus which makes it extremely hard to understand.

Also for a Kindle user this book is not formatted with the Kindle in mind. Words are cut off and there is no table of contents to use for jumping from chapter to chapter.