The CCNA Voice and Cisco Unified Communications For Small Businesses
In case you have not heard, Cisco has an affordable Small Business Unified Communications solution. It consists of two components, Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express (CME) and Cisco Unity Express (CUE). CME is the call processing engine. UC Manager Express runs on an Integrated Services Router (ISR) and does not require a dedicated server. The same ISR router can be used for access to the Internet, the corporate Wide Area Network (WAN) and Virtual Private Network (VPN). Depending on the router, UC Manager Express can support between 8 – 250 IP Phones. It supports the majority of IP phones and also supports softphone, IP Communicator.
CUE is Cisco's voicemail solution for the ISR router. It can support between 12 – 250 mailboxes. CUE comes as either a Network or Advance Integration Module (AIM). Both platforms support features like Integrated Messaging, which allows users to see their voicemail in email. With Unity Express you can create multiple Automated Attendants and play different greetings based on the time of day. Other nice features supported by Unity Express include Fax integration, Live Reply, Live Record, VoiceView and Remote message notification.
When combined together these two products provide a very powerful communications solution for any small to medium sized business.
Communications Manager Express is one of the key topics covered in Cisco's new Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) specialization for Voice exam. Candidates will need to know how to design and implement Communications Manager Express and Unity Express. After Completing the CCNA Voice students can pursue the Cisco Certified Voice Professional (CCVP). The CCVP is one of the highest paying Professional level certifications.
