CVE, TCT has it changed your life?

[George]

Have you recently attained your Polycom Certified Videoconferencing Engineer or Tandberg Certified Technician certification? Tell us about your experience and whether or not it's made a difference for you career wise both monetarily and performance enhancment job wise.

For more info on the Polycom CVE program visit this link: http://www.polycom.com/resource_center/0,1408,pw-573,FF.html

For info on the Tandberg TCT visit this link: http://www.tandbergusa.com/support/viewTrainingClass.do?id=3

Did I miss any? Are there other certifications that I didn't mention here? Let me know.

[dndtech]

I attained the Tandberg Technical Certification May 03 in Reston Virginia. As a VTC rookie, I found the course very informative and the contracted instructor, Scott Shearer, was a blessing. His "off the wall" instructional technique kept the class relaxed as we plodded through some very dry material.

The course itself was only three days and we covered most topics. The course was based on VTC technologies up until the last session where Tandberg did their sales pitch, This was dissappointing as they used their competitors shortcomings to advance the Tandberg product line. Tandberg has quality product and they do not need to "beat up" the other guy. They should focus on promoting their features.

Overall, I would say the course was worth the expense, but mainly due to the instructor. Scott has forgotten more about VTC than the majority of us have yet learned. He also provides his personal numbers for consultation after the course. He has been helpful to us on several occasions.

Tandberg's Reston facility ws under construction, so the course was held at a local Hotel. This was convenient to say the least. They also took us Grand Prix go-carting. If you haven't tried this yet, get your butt down to your local track and give it a whirl!!

Just me take, eh. Cheers.

[Liz]

My CVE has just run out and quite frankly I'm not bothered about renewing it. Personally I think a lot of these qualifications are not worth the paper they are printed on. CVE certification means that you are good at remembering bits of information which you could look up easily enough anyway. It doesn't test your ability as an engineer in any way shape or form. As an employer I wouldn't be bothered about it either.

I can't comment on the CVE course as I never did it.

[John-James]

I've looked a number of times at the Polycom CVE, and when I started my post at my most recent company I was originally supposed to be taking it. However, my southern counterpart failed so it was dropped. As I've been involed in VC for 8 years plus, my management deemed it would just be chasing a cirtificate rather than a worthwile investment. I've read all the info on Polycoms site, but I'd be interested to know what other experience is to see if I should push work to pay for it.

[Entropy3XD]

Ever since I got my CVE my hair has grown back, my dog hasn't run away, and my wife makes my lunch. THANK YOU POLYCOM!!!!

:rolleyes:

[dfreeman]

To us on the inside, I don't think it really amounts to much. For those folks on the outside of our strange occupation, it gives us some validation and a way to quantify the immeasurable. I'm always asked by vendors if our techs are "certified" and I truthfully can say about 70% of the independent contractors in our organization have some certifications (CVE, TCT, etc.). I don't really presume that those certifications have anything to do with their levels of expertise, but that's pretty easy to determine once they've done a bit of work for us.

[imuxhead]

I took all the courses for the CVE program (H.320 networks, 323, imux, standards, etc), but never took the test. ha. I actually was promoted to project management right before i was to take certification and they didn't want to invest anymore $ in video anymore for me, but I can tell you I did find the classes very informative and helpful. The biggest benefit I utilized from the classes were troubleshooting techniques. yea yea reboot fixes problems 90% of the time, but disecting these systems and learning the guts really helps you troubleshoot. If your work will pay for them, definitely take the courses. If the $ is coming from your pocket, then I would probably pass. Per the above posts, I think the outsiders really like the CVE as it's proof of knowledge on the systems. We send out RFPs for video projects and specifically ask for number of certifed video techs and how many CVEs. So from a purchasing standpoint, we do put some weight on certified support.

[jlu]

VTC is a broad field. You need to have knowledge of both audiovideo section and network section. I don't think any training course( 3 days to one week course) could teach you what you need to know completely to become 'certified' tech. Getting certification will definately help in terms of your knowledge and confidence but I don't think certificate is adequate alone. There are so many variables. As long as anybody who has an aptitude for learning and wants to learn, that alone suffices. No need any certifications.

I think vendors initiated certification program just to increase their product loyalty and for the marketing reason.

Management is usually dumb. If they don't appraise your job performance on the basis of your knowledge and current job performance and they want to tie raise or promotion on the basis of certifications, then you have no choice but to go for certification. Otherwise it's just a waste of your time and money.

As long as you have desire to learn, google is your friend- it will fetch you anything you want to learn :-)

[Peter Morgan]

I have gotten both Polycom's CVE and the Tandberg TCT ( Tandberg Certified Technician). Having both certs makes my resume better for organizations that do keyword searches. All of the engineers in my organization have taken the CVE test and 100% of my shop is certified. Working a gov't contract it does have value because it differentiates the my engineer's skill sets from a computer systems engineer.
One problem is that only the Polycom CVE is publicly available through Sylvan Prometric test centers. Tandberg certification requires attendance in thier 3 day class. The Tandberg test is administered on the final day of training. Because of that I do not think it will ever have the level of recognition that CVE has.

[trapehzoid]

the CVE, or even its implementation in the PictureTel days wasn't worth anything IMO.

If I were worried about resume writing.. I'd use things like 'factory trained' or the like instead.

[Honka]

I have taken the CVE twice now and passed both times. When I took it the second time I felt the exam had not really changed much since the first time I took which I find strange given that the industry is always changing.
The exam does have value because it proves you have attained a set standard and this can only to be a good thing for your customers.

I cant comment on the training course as I have never did it.

As for changing my life! Well it added a few more grey hairs.

[Glen Sykes]

I hold the UK version of TCT, and it really doesn't make a difference to either how I'm percieved by customers, or my employer.

[gus]

Any information about the CVE itselef ? how many questions ? what's the % to pass it ? the questions are they difficult ? any examples ? and that pdf file with 110 questions helps ?, Because I plan to go for it.
Thank you guys

[MKVAZ]

I attended the PictureTel CVE course a couple years ago. Even with a communications background, I found it informative, and worth the $$(of course my company paid). The same instructor teaches the Poycom version and most of the course material is the same. My last certification ran out, and I am in the process of going through the books to recertify now. I really wouldn't bother except my company now needs all it's techs to certify. My company excels in managed services of A/V and Video, they are also a Premier Vendor for Polycom, this year Polycom is re-doing their qualifications for their vendors, and to stay in the top group, all the techs have to be CVE certified. One of the reasons for the certification as previously stated is the government contracts and some commercial people like to know the quaifications of the staff of a company.

[vbhere]

Questions:
1. Which is more difficult: CVE or TCE certification?
2. Which is more recognizable by industry standards in terms of putting it on your resume'?
3. Which is more popularly taken: CVE or TCE and why?
4. After taking the exam, which do you feel you will come away with more from, CVE or TCE regardless of difficulty?