9/15/2003 -- As it announced it would do last June, Cisco Systems has launched a lab exam for its Voice CCIE credential.

The Voice over IP written exam costs $300 and lasts two hours. Topics encompassed in the test include these: campus design, quality of service, architecture and protocols, SMDI (Simplified Message Desk Integration), security, capacity planning (voice gateway and network as well as at the application level), dial plan, high availability, video, echo theory, fault diagnosis, SIP proxy, coexistence and migration, unified messaging, call processing, manageability considerations and 911/E911 considerations. You can read the complete blueprint of topics for the written exam here.

To achieve the title, a candidate must first pass a written exam and then tackle the lab -- a hands-on exam that gauges the person's ability to get the VoIP solution operating in a timed test situation. Cisco said more than 800 candidates took the written exam during its beta.

The lab exam, which takes place in San Jose, Calif., lasts eight hours and costs $1,250. Although basic network connectivity is provided for the lab, according to Cisco, the candidate must configure the parameters of the network, such as quality of service, vLANs, gateways, gatekeepers and so on. Cisco did not say when the lab might expand to other locations.

An introduction to voice over IP is available on Cisco's site here.

You can read about the CCIE Voice track here. -Dian Schaffhauser