I recently returned from the Cisco Live US 2018 event in Orlando, Florida. It was a great experience, with lots of conversations, sessions, and insight. You can expect more content about what I learned over the coming weeks.

But for now, I'd love for you to checkout an interview I did with Network Chuck. If you're not familiar with Network Chuck, you're in for a treat. He's an instructor at CBT Nuggets, but I've been a fan of his YouTube channel well before that. His enthusiasm for all things IT is contagious, and I'm sure you'll get some valuable insight from him in this interview.

If you'd like to follow Chuck on any of his social media channels, here are his links:

• YouTube: http://bit.ly/2HSeiwG
• Website: http://bit.ly/2t1yPdC (NetworkChuck.com)
• Twitter: http://bit.ly/2JImENa
• Instagram: http://bit.ly/2JGf3P4
• Facebook: http://bit.ly/2ldoXsZ

Kevin Wallace, CCIEx2 (R/S and Collaboration) #7945

Last week (on Cyber Monday), I did a webinar covering the theory and configuration of multiple QoS mechanisms. Here's what you'll learn in this replay of that webinar:

• Learn QoS Mechanisms
• Understand QoS Markings
• Demystify Weighted RED
• Select Appropriate Queuing
• Explain the "Token Bucket"
• Configure QoS Using MQC

Enjoy the webinar replay!

Kevin Wallace, CCIEx2 (R/S and Collaboration) #7945

I recently did a Facebook Live session covering the fundamentals of Cisco Collaboration technologies. If you missed it, or want to see it again, here's a replay.

Topics covered include:

• Traditional Telephony Networks
• Voice over IP (VoIP) Fundamentals
• Unified Communications Network Components
• Overview of Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM)
• Overview of Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express (CUCME)
• Overview of Cisco Unity Connection
• Route Plans
• IP Phone Registration
• Overview of Video Networks
• Cisco Video and TelePresence Endpoints

Also, I'm offering a $100 discount off the price of my Ultimate Collaboration Bundle product. Here's the link to get the discount: http://kwtrain.com/save100

Check out the video for more details about what's included in that product.

Enjoy the video!

Kevin Wallace, CCIEx2 (R/S and Collaboration) #7945

If you’re one of the 200,000+ Cisco customers using a Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) server to support your Cisco IP Phones and soft clients, this blog post is for you. Specifically, Cisco recently introduced their latest version of CUCM, version 12.0, and this post will identify a five of the major changes in this new version.

1. Support for Hybrid Deployments

For the past year or so, I’ve been getting questions from people concerned that CUCM is going away, and that Cisco Unified Communication (UC) customers will gravitate towards Cisco’s cloud-based call management solution, called Cisco Hosted Collaboration Solution (HCS). To get some answers, at Cisco Live US earlier this year, I asked one of the Cisco UC engineers about their plans. He assured me that Cisco is committed to going forward with both solutions (i.e. their cloud-based solution and their on-premises CUCM solution). He also explained customers don’t have to choose...

The Need to Know MQC in a World of Automation

These days, Quality of Service (QoS) can be configured relatively easy. If we’re using the APIC-EM as a network controller to manage our routers and switches, we can simply point and click our way through the EasyQoS utility and have a very robust QoS configuration applied to our devices. Even at the command line interface (CLI) of a router a switch, we could invoke the power of AutoQoS VoIP (to optimize QoS settings for voice traffic, or (just on routers) AutoQoS for the Enterprise (to discover network traffic patterns and create a customized QoS configuration to reflect our network’s specific characteristics).

However, what if you need to make an adjustment to such dynamically generated QoS settings? If you examine the underpinnings of any of these QoS automation tools, you’ll see they all use the same approach to configure most (of not all) of their QoS settings. This approach is called Modular QoS CLI, or MQC for...

Before Cisco had a Collaboration track, they had a Voice track. One of the courses in that track’s curriculum was the CVOICE course, and it really got into the configuration of H.323 gateways. I actually loved that course. I write three versions of the CVOICE book for Cisco Press and taught the CVOICE course for many years.

Sadly (for me anyway), the CVOICE course went away when Cisco moved to the Collaboration track. One of the main topics in that CVOICE course was the configuration of H.323 gateways.

Although, H.323 gateways are still touched on in the Collaboration curriculum, it doesn’t receive the attention it used to receive. Yet, it’s still a critical technology to master.

So, this video seeks to demystify how to configure a Cisco IOS router to act as an H.323 gateway. 

Enjoy the video!

Kevin Wallace, CCIEx2 (R/S and Collaboration) #7945

You might be hearing the term Cisco Spark used a lot these days. But what exactly is it?

That's what you'll learn in this video. Enjoy!

Kevin Wallace, CCIEx2 (R/S and Collaboration) #7945

Are you going to Cisco Live US (CLUS) 2017 in Las Vegas? If so, you might want to come check out my session. It's entitled Number Globalization and Localization for CCIE Collaboration Candidates. But, please don't be thrown by the title. Even though it has CCIE in the title, this session can be super valuable to you if you work with Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) servers, regardless of your certification level.

This video gives you the details of what you'll be learning:

You can check out the session in the CLUS Schedule by clicking HERE.

Hope to see you in Vegas!

If you’re studying for a Cisco certification, you might be debating what to do for your hands-on practice. Will you buy a home lab? What about using a simulator or an emulator?

Well, before spending any money, consider Cisco’s DevNet Sandbox. For example, let’s say you’re studying Collaboration technologies. You can (for FREE) access a Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) cluster (in your choice of CUCM version). You can even (virtually) get your hands on an IM and Presence server.

When I first discovered this, I actually felt guilty using it. After all, this resource is at Cisco’s DevNet site, and I’m not a developer. Fortunately, I was talking with one of Cisco’s DevNet folks at Cisco Live this year, and they told me it was not limited to developers. In fact, they encouraged me to let certification students know about this resource, and I’ve got to say it’s remarkable.

Please check out this new video I created to show...

You want to get your first (or next) Cisco certification, but do you have a specific preparation strategy, or are you just winging it? If you do have a structured framework you’re confidently executing against, congratulations! If not, allow me to share my seven-step framework for Cisco exam preparation.

Step #1: Identify Your Training Source

When it comes to learning what you need to learn, the good news is, you’ve got options. Let’s compare a few:

Cisco Learning Partner

The traditional approach, and the way I trained certification candidates for nearly fourteen years, is to take an official Cisco course from a Cisco Learning Partner (CLP). You might have the option of taking your course at a training facility or on-line, and you typically get access to the gear you need to perform lab tasks during the course. You also get Cisco’s official course material. However, a gotcha that many people don’t realize is that Cisco typically has different groups...