The CCNA Voice certification (Cisco-certified Network Associate) is an information technology certification offered by Cisco Systems. It is a certification that validates an individual’s knowledge and skill about voice technologies at the associate level, in contrast to a Cisco professional-level certification, the CCNP (Cisco-certified Network Professional) (Certiology, 2020). It is one of many Cisco certifications that are deemed essential to a potential IT employee’s value and skillset.
The certification covers many aspects of voice technology: this includes VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol), VoIP phone technology, switch configuration, Cisco Unified Communications Manager utilization, CUCM Express, Unity Connection, PSTN (public switched telephone network), and technical knowledge of radio frequency & signals (Network, 2020).
The CCNA Voice certification preps a potential IT worker for jobs such as voice technology administrator, voice engineer, voice manager, or even jobs as a home cable installation technician for a cable company such as Comcast or DirectTV (Engineer, 2020). Several of the job functions related to the CCNA Voice certification include planning, installing, & configuring wired or wireless LANs and WANs containing routers, switches, & firewalls, configuring access control policies, overseeing & participating in voice technology projects, and monitoring & troubleshooting networks (Engineer, 2020).
Due to Cisco Voice being a separate track in Cisco’s networking specializations, the CCNA Voice certification is a pre-requisite to the CCVP certification (Cisco-certified Voice Professional), which is also offered by Cisco (Kits, 2017). That means that the CCNA Voice certification must be completed before the higher-level certifications in Voice specialization can be achieved at a later period in time.
The CCNA Voice certification also requires a pre-requisite of its own as well: a valid CCNA, CCIE (Cisco-certified Internetwork Expert), or CCENT (Cisco-certified Entry Networking Technician) that is up-to-date (Kits, 2017). The CCNA Voice certification contains approximately 70 questions with a given time limit of 90 minutes for completion, and it is taken at Pearson VUE assessment testing centers (Certiology, 2020); it can be successfully completed again for re-certification as necessary should an individual chooses to do so. According to GoCertify.com, the CCNA Voice certification is only valid for 3 years before needing re-certification/renewal (GoCertify, 2018), as with many other IT certifications.
CCNA Voice Certification Cost
According to GoCertify, the CCNA Voice certification costs approximately $250, which is considered a low-cost exam compared to higher-level, more expensive certification exams (GoCertify, 2018). Due to the low $250 cost, it could be a valuable certification to have in possession for employers. Though, the exam can be quite accessible for some test takers, and quite difficult for others, which is not much of a burden for the latter given the low cost of $250 should one have to re-take the exam.
CCNA Voice Certification Worth
The CCNA Voice certification may be well worth the effort and achievement for a few reasons. One advantage of the certification is, because of its low cost, it gives a much greater return investment in terms of salary and value. Field Engineer claims that the CCNA Voice certification potentially allows for a $78,000 yearly salary as a return investment (Engineer, 2020). This appears as a decent salary amount when compared to the salaries of other IT certifications, such as the MCITP (Microsoft-certified IT Professional) offered by Microsoft that potentially pays a $90,000 salary. Secondly, even just one IT certification can give a boost in one’s value on the job market, meaning that an individual would gain valuable skills & knowledge out of the CCNA Voice certification upon obtaining it, and can be added to a résumé for greater credibility.
According to Certiology, there is a high demand for IT employees who specialize in certain areas of modern technology (Certiology, 2020), with professional voice technology occupations being one of them. On the other hand, the CCNA Voice certification may not be worth it if an individual does not plan on being employed in an IT job that does not rely heavily on or relate to the certification. An example of this scenario is if an employee works in an entry-level general technical support department for a company despite not heavily involving voice technology.
The achievement of the CCNA Voice certification is solely dependent on the individual’s IT area specialization, occupation, and motive. The CCNA Voice certification may also be very well worth it should an individual choose to obtain it as a pre-requisite to earn higher-level Voice certifications to gain passage to a managerial position in a company. In summary, the CCNA Voice certification is worth the $250 cost if used for the right position.
References
- Certiology. (2020). CCNA Voice. Retrieved from Certiology: http://www.certiology.com/cisco-certifications/ccna/ccna-voice.html
- Engineer, F. (2020). CCNA Voice. Retrieved from Field Engineer: https://www.fieldengineer.com/skills/ccna-voice
- GoCertify. (2018). Cisco Certified Network Associate – Voice (CCNA Voice). Retrieved from GoCertify: http://www.gocertify.com/certifications/cisco/ccna-voice.html
- Kits, C. (2017). CCNA Voice Certification Overview. Retrieved from Certification Kits: https://www.certificationkits.com/ccna-voice-overview/
- Network, H. t. (2020). Cisco CCNA Voice. Retrieved from How to Network: https://www.howtonetwork.com/courses/cisco/cisco-ccna-voice/
