Course Content

This five-day course is intended to be a technical introduction to Unified Communications and converged Internet Protocol (IP) networks. The course presents an incremental approach to designing, deploying and supporting an IP infrastructure for Unified Communications. The range of topics includes network technologies, Virtual LANs, Ethernet, Frame-Relay, MAC Addresses, IP Addresses and TCP/IP. The discussion encompasses not only these topics but also how they specifically relate to the successful operation of a complex converged network as typically used in most corporate enterprise environments today. The class will introduce the technologies used to create a robust and reliable IP infrastructure and incrementally build on UC concepts throughout the week to finally incorporate full interoperability to legacy telecom devices and the VoIP components. Students will get hands-on experience and practice with TCP/IP design and sub- and super-netting. Additionally, students will be given hands-on exercises with Cisco Router Configuration and Cisco Unified Communications Manager 6.x (formerly Cisco CallManager) and the support of legacy telecom and Cisco IP telephones.

Target Audience

The target audience for this course includes anyone who needs to gain a basic understanding of VOIP: individuals with strictly a PBX or Telecom Service Provider background; individuals with a fundamental data networking background who are moving into the area of converged networks; individuals who are new to supporting data networking projects such as someone with a Project Management or Business Administration background.

Prerequisites

To benefit fully from this course, you must have these prerequisite skills and knowledge:

• Basic computer literacy
• Basic windows navigation skills
• Basic Internet usage skills
• Basic e-mail usage skills

Course Objectives

After completing this course the student should be able to:

• Describe how various networks including Ethernet, Frame Relay, and MPLS function
• Describe network addressing including MAC, IP, and DLCI addresses
• Describe networking and network protocols in the TCP/IP suite
• Describe networking equipment and its use including IP and analog phones, Cisco routers,and Cisco Unified Communications Manager (UCM)
• Describe telephony and signaling, comparing TDM and VoIP
• Describe VOIP signaling protocols including H.323, SCCP, and MGCP
• Describe how to ensure Voice Quality on IP networks utilizing Quality of Service
• Navigate the Command Line Interface on a Cisco Router
• Configure Cisco Router "dial-peer" to support working VOIP environment
• Add and integrate a Cisco IP Phone to interoperate with legacy equipment.

Course Outline

• Basic Networking Concepts
• Open Systems Interconnect Model Review
• Understanding IP Addressing
• Understanding Binary Basics
• Constructing a Network Addressing Scheme
• Operating and Configuring Cisco IOS Devices
• Operating Cisco IOS Software
• Staring a Switch and a Router
• Configuring Cisco IOS Devices
• Switch Operations in a VOIP Environment
• Cisco Discovery Protocol
• Introducing Basic Layer 2 Switching and Bridging Functions
• Improving Performance with Spanning Tree
• Solving the Challenges of Shared LANs
• Routing Between VLANs
• Configuring Cisco Catalyst Switches for Endpoints
• Introduction to Voice over IP
• Introducing VOIP
• Understanding Codecs and Digital Signal Processors
• Introducing Dial Plans and Voice Networks
• Numbering Plans and Dial Plans
• Understanding Call Types
• Configuring Analog Voice Ports
• Configuring Digital Voice Ports
• Understanding Dial Peers
• Introduction to Cisco Unified Communications Manager
• Understanding Cisco Unified Communications Manager Architecture
• Understanding Cisco Unified Communications Manager Deployment and Redundancy Options
• Administration of Cisco Unified Communications Manger
• Understanding Unified Communications Manager Administration Options
• Managing Services and Initial Configuration of Cisco Unified Communications Manager
• Managing User Accounts in Cisco Unified Communications Manager
• Deploying Endpoints in Cisco Unified Communications Manager
• Understanding Endpoints in Cisco Unified Communications Manager
• Implementing and Hardening IP Phones
• Configuring Single-Site and Multi-Site Trunks and Dialing
• Implementing MGCP Gateways in Single-Site Deployments
• Implementing Multisite Connections
• Configuring Cisco Unified Communications Manager Call Routing Components