Customer Case Study
Customer Success Story
“Studying for the CCIE Voice
and then achieving it is the way
to gain the knowledge that can
set you apart. It helps you earn
the respect of both clients and
your networking professional
peers.”
“學習和考取思科專家認證-
語音, 令我獲得業界最專業的
知識和肯定. 幫助我贏得網絡
專業同儕和客戶的尊重跟認
同.”
吳啟賢, CCIE #25691
職位：思科系統公司客戶網
絡支援工程師”
Patrick Ng, CCIE #25691
Customer Support Engineer,
Technical Assistance Center (TAC)
Cisco Systems, Inc.
Cisco CCIE Voice Certification Represents Key Achievement for Cisco Support
Engineer
Patrick Ng, CCIE #25691, has a master’s degree in computer science. But in terms of what
is most valuable, he rates his Cisco CCIE® Voice certification as the highest achievement of his
professional career. “The academic degrees are a good foundation. However, with the hands-on
skills of a CCIE, I definitely have more knowledge and understanding on how to resolve customers’
network issues and restore critical services faster,” he says.
After leaving his native Hong Kong for the United States, Patrick enrolled in the University of
California at Berkeley, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and
computer science. He continued his computer science studies at San Jose State University and
earned his master’s degree in 2005 while working full time at Cisco.
When Patrick joined Cisco nine years ago, he worked as a software engineer on ATM networks,
network management systems, gigabit switch routers, and the sophisticated Cisco Carrier Routing
System (CRS-1) routers. He began his Cisco certification path by attaining a Cisco CCNA® and
a Cisco CCNP®. Today, as a customer support engineer in the San Jose Technical Assistance
Center (TAC), he focuses on unified communications solutions such as Cisco MeetingPlace®,
Cisco WebEx®, Cisco Unified Contact Center, Cisco CallManager, voice gateways, and voice
gatekeepers.
“I work with customers everyday to troubleshoot voice network issues. With my CCIE Voice, I now
plan to design Cisco data and voice networks at a system level,” says Patrick.
Making the commitment to attain his CCIE Voice certification. Patrick cited three reasons
for deciding to work toward a CCIE Voice certification:
• Expand his career opportunities
• Demonstrate mastery of the technology
• Challenge himself
“Right now there are only 20,860 CCIEs in the entire world and only 1214 CCIE Voice professionals
among them. It’s an exclusive group, and I wanted to be a part of it.”
Patrick enrolled in the Cisco 360 Learning Program for CCIE Voice when he was preparing for
his second attempt to pass the CCIE Voice Lab Exam. He utilized the program for five months
and tracked his progress using the Learning Management System (LMS) that is provided with the
program.
 Customer Case Study

“I was so lucky to be the first Cisco Voice 360 student who passed the CCIE Voice Lab Exam,”
says Patrick. “The modern voice network is a broad unified communications platform, which is
composed of many components. It is getting very complex to design, configure, and maintain. The
Cisco 360 Learning Program’s practical skill-building definitely prepared me to build an expert-
level skill set to tackle my demanding job at Cisco, as well as helped me pass the CCIE Voice Lab
Exam.”

Patrick offers his thoughts about specific components of the program:

Preassessment Labs: His first step was to take the graded Preassessment Lab to measure his
baseline skills. He used the assessment results to create a personalized learning program that
he could complete at his own pace. “The Preassessment Lab is graded by an automated grading
engine, and a score report showed me the mistakes I made during the lab,” he says.

“The grading engine is especially interesting,” says Patrick. “The results helped me select the
appropriate curriculum elements to use. I was able to understand my mistakes and to identify my
weak areas. I could then read the answer key with its high-quality technical content and apply the
knowledge to help me improve.”

Self-Paced Lessons: By the time Patrick completed his preassessment work, he was well
prepared for the Self-Paced Lessons, which include many hours of video instruction that are
available on demand via the LMS portal. “I watched all of them. Of course, there are plenty of
print materials to read. The videos, which are delivered by certified instructors, can show you the
lessons in a more graphic way.”

Patrick points out the benefit of having access to multiple modules, each about 15–30 minutes in
length, which fit easily into his busy work schedule at Cisco. “I liked the flexibility that it gave me and
the fact that I could download lessons once, and replay them as many times as needed.”

Practice Lab Workbook: Though Patrick found value in the Self-Paced Lessons, he was even
more impressed with the Practice Lab Workbook. This program component consists of 25 lab
scenarios that enable students to practice hands-on configuration and troubleshooting activities
on voice network equipment.

“I enjoyed this aspect, because it challenges you,” he says. “For me, but maybe not for others, this
is the most direct way of learning. It offers various difficulty levels, and I appreciate the depth of the
knowledge that is built into it.” And again, Patrick made good use of the grading engine comments,
which explained the rationale for the right answers. He could therefore match his work against the
correct configurations.

Performance Assessments: Patrick also completed the 8-hour graded Performance

Assessments, which mimic the actual 8-hour CCIE Voice Lab Exam. The resulting personalized
score reports create a more efficient learning path, because they specifically identify areas where
students need extra preparation. “I could practice and build my technical skills from beginner to
expert in a systematic way based on my assessment results,” says Patrick.

Instructor-Led Workshops: Patrick reports that Instructor-Led Workshops were a large part of
his experience. A blend of lectures and hands-on labs teach students how to use expert-level,
problem-solving processes to support Cisco Unified Communications technologies. “I found
particular value in the Performance Assessment labs and live instruction,” he says. “The material
presented is very challenging, particularly the troubleshooting. And of course, instructors in this
segment of the program all have CCIE Voice and Cisco CCSI certified instructor certifications,
so we have the opportunity to learn from real experts. They would illustrate the decision tree or
thought process to approach a problem and fulfill the lab requirement.”

Reference Library: Many valuable technical and best-practice resources are available in the
Reference Library, and Patrick utilized them. Moreover, the Reference Library contains articles on
exam-preparation strategies and useful study tips.
 Customer Case Study

A 24-hour training product meeting global needs. Patrick understands that IT is an ever-
changing industry and that an in-depth understanding of the fundamentals is the key to success.
No matter where in the world a voice networking professional works, the CCIE Voice goal is
attainable. He says, “The CCIE Voice Lab Exam is a very difficult exam. For candidates who
finished the whole Cisco 360 Learning Program, the chance of passing is much higher.”

And for those who are about to embark on a similar path, Patrick offers this advice: “Be patient,
study, and learn in a consistent way. Know that you can do it, because this is probably the best
training program in the market.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION

To learn more about the Cisco 360 Learning Program for CCIE Voice, visit:
http://www.cisco.com/go/360.

Americas Headquarters Asia Pacific Headquarters Europe Headquarters

Cisco Systems, Inc. Cisco Systems (USA) Pte. Ltd. Cisco Systems International BV
San Jose, CA Singapore Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Cisco has more than 200 offices worldwide. Addresses, phone numbers, and fax numbers are listed on the Cisco Website at www.cisco.com/go/offices.

CCDE, CCENT, CCSI, Cisco Eos, Cisco HealthPresence, the Cisco logo, Cisco Lumin, Cisco Nexus, Cisco Nurse Connect, Cisco Stackpower, Cisco StadiumVision, Cisco TelePresence, Cisco WebEx, DCE, and
Welcome to the Human Network are trademarks; Changing the Way We Work, Live, Play, and Learn and Cisco Store are service marks; and Access Registrar, Aironet, AsyncOS, Bringing the Meeting To You, Catalyst,
CCDA, CCDP, CCIE, CCIP, CCNA, CCNP, CCSP, CCVP, Cisco, the Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert logo, Cisco IOS, Cisco Press, Cisco Systems, Cisco Systems Capital, the Cisco Systems logo, Cisco Unity, Collaboration
Without Limitation, EtherFast, EtherSwitch, Event Center, Fast Step, Follow Me Browsing, FormShare, GigaDrive, HomeLink, Internet Quotient, IOS, iPhone, iQuick Study, IronPort, the IronPort logo, LightStream, Linksys,
MediaTone, MeetingPlace, MeetingPlace Chime Sound, MGX, Networkers, Networking Academy, Network Registrar, PCNow, PIX, PowerPanels, ProConnect, ScriptShare, SenderBase, SMARTnet, Spectrum Expert, StackWise,
The Fastest Way to Increase Your Internet Quotient, TransPath, WebEx, and the WebEx logo are registered trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and certain other countries.

All other trademarks mentioned in this document or website are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. (0903R)

Americas Headquarters Asia Pacific Headquarters Europe Headquarters

Cisco Systems, Inc. Cisco Systems (USA) Pte. Ltd. Cisco Systems International BV
San Jose, CA Singapore Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Cisco has more than 200 offices worldwide. Addresses, phone numbers, and fax numbers are listed on the Cisco Website at www.cisco.com/go/offices.

CCDE, CCENT, CCSI, Cisco Eos, Cisco HealthPresence, the Cisco logo, Cisco Lumin, Cisco Nexus, Cisco Nurse Connect, Cisco Stackpower, Cisco StadiumVision, Cisco TelePresence, Cisco WebEx, DCE, and Welcome to
the Human Network are trademarks; Changing the Way We Work, Live, Play, and Learn and Cisco Store are service marks; and Access Registrar, Aironet, AsyncOS, Bringing the Meeting To You, Catalyst, CCDA, CCDP, CCIE,
CCIP, CCNA, CCNP, CCSP, CCVP, Cisco, the Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert logo, Cisco IOS, Cisco Press, Cisco Systems, Cisco Systems Capital, the Cisco Systems logo, Cisco Unity, Collaboration Without Limitation,
EtherFast, EtherSwitch, Event Center, Fast Step, Follow Me Browsing, FormShare, GigaDrive, HomeLink, Internet Quotient, IOS, iPhone, iQuick Study, IronPort, the IronPort logo, LightStream, Linksys, MediaTone, MeetingPlace,
MeetingPlace Chime Sound, MGX, Networkers, Networking Academy, Network Registrar, PCNow, PIX, PowerPanels, ProConnect, ScriptShare, SenderBase, SMARTnet, Spectrum Expert, StackWise, The Fastest Way to Increase
Your Internet Quotient, TransPath, WebEx, and the WebEx logo are registered trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and certain other countries.

All other trademarks mentioned in this document or website are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. (0903R)
DDM09CS2333 09/09