Customer Reviews

Troubleshooting Cisco IP Telephony

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have to admit that this is not a book that I have read cover to cover. I have dipped into it to cover topics listed in the CCIE voice exam. I have found it to be very useful in that respect. For each topic it gives an overview and brief details on configuration before going on to explain how to troubleshoot problems. It will not replace the troubleshooting resources available on CCO, but it will give you a great place to start!

Now that I've read it I can answer the following questions:

Would I buy it to help pass the Troubleshooting Exam? - Yes (but I have not done the exam so difficult to say for certain)

Would I buy it to help pass the CCIE Voice written exam? - Probably, but would need more information from CCO.

Would I buy it for my reference bookshelf? - Definitely.

I have to say, a lot of the Cisco Press books can be frustrating. They're great if you want a really detailed background on VoIP technologies, but for day to day use and quick reference they quickly prove to be more hassle than they're worth. The idea of a "troubleshooting" guide by Cisco seemed like it would be this to the extreme, but this is actually and incredibly useful book. Especially useful are the sections on configuring traces, monitoring, and alarms. I've worked with Cisco IP Telephony products for nearly 2 years and still was not aware of many of these features. Many of the problems I've encountered are listed here, and accompanied by an ordered checklist of things to troubleshoot. Reading this book will save any engineer, administrator, technician, or manager tons of time on the job.

The only reason I can't give this book 5 stars is it is 4 years old, and only covers CallManager up to 3.3 (5.0 is the latest version). Subsequently, there's lots of "this may be supported in future CallManager versions" lines, which you must then look up on Cisco's website. Many of the problems listed in this book were fixed with CallManger 4.1, released in late 2004.

Overall I thought this book was very well written. It has a lot of good examples and if you are willing to invest the brain power you can learn a lot from it. I will say that you can't rely entirely on this book to help you pass the Cisco IPT troubleshooting test. I used this book along with some material from Knowledgenet to pass the test. I'm pretty sure I would have had to take it at least twice if this book was my only reference.

Delivered quickly and was extremely high quality, great shape. Really would recommend this seller to anyone