8/23/2011 -- Cisco today announced a new area of certification for "onsite technicians" with a new entry-level certification, the Cisco Certified Technician (CCT).

Available immediately, this new CCT covers the  maintenance and support of Cisco infrastructures. According to the company, the exams will focus on proper installation, verification, troubleshooting and replacement of specific Cisco products, while also providing information on how to effectively work alongside Cisco Global Technical Assistance Center members.

Three tracks are available, each consisting of one 90-minute exam with 60 to 70 multiple choice questions:

• CCT Routing & Switching: Focuses on maintenance and support of Cisco routers, operating environments and switches.
• CCT Data Center: Consists of maintenance and support of Cisco Unified Computer Systems and servers.
• CCT TelePresence: Certifies candidates on how to properly support and maintain Cisco TelePresence Systems.

Candidates must pass the Routing & Switching exam before the other two certifications can be attempted, according to the company.

"Onsite IT technicians and their employers responsible for support of Cisco networking equipment now have a formal way to qualify their ability to work with a customer's critical networking infrastructure," said Jeanne Beliveau-Dunn, vice president and general manager of  Learning@Cisco, in a prepared statement. "Cisco Certified Technicians become members of the largest community of networking professionals in the industry, and have the opportunity to expand their support, implementation and design skills through additional Cisco authorized training and certification programs."

Testing can be completed at any worldwide Person VUE testing facilities for $125 per exam.

Cisco is also offering optional training for each section, which includes online course materials, audio narration, videos, graphics and feature text -- all broken up into multiple short lesson segments. These resources are available through the  Cisco Learning Network store for $299 per track.