May 29, 2008 -- The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) and VCampus Corporation have announced a campaign to broaden the adoption of their jointly developed Web certification programs, the CTP and CCNT. A highlight of the campaign is a 20 percent discount for TIA member companies wanting to certify 10 or more employees.
With the support of prominent information and communications technology (ICT) leaders, TIA and VCampus have developed a set of standards-based, industry-accepted exam objectives and curricula to satisfy an increasing demand for qualified salespersons, installers and technicians dealing in unified communications platforms.
According to TIA, the critical requirement for knowledge of how to work with voice, video and data technologies in a converged world are at the heart of the programs, which are designed to train and certify individuals in an effort to: decrease labor costs; increase profitability; improve scheduling efficiencies; achieve high customer satisfaction levels; and establish a baseline mastery of critical skills.
Endorsed by a great many convergence vendors and service providers, the Convergence Technologies Professional (CTP) is a vendor-neutral convergence certification program whose courseware covers data and telephony networking and convergence technologies including industry standards and protocols, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), and network convergence.
Nearly 20,000 individuals worldwide have also attained the Certified in Convergence Network Technologies (CCNT) designation, via a competency-based program that covers a broad range of topics related to the integration of data, voice and video technologies.
For individual staff of TIA member companies, TIA and VCampus are offering a 10 percent discount on all CTP and CCNT certification exams.
"In every corner of the globe, employers and individuals rely on these critical programs to demonstrate their competence and qualifications for today's technology demands," says Grant Seiffert, president of TIA. "Education, standards and certification are the foundation of TIA's mission, and we're delighted to be working with VCampus to expand these valuable certification benchmarks."
TIA and VCampus are also now jointly offering the Certified Internet Web (CIW) Professional program, billed as the de facto standard in vendor-neutral, job-role certification for Web professionals. CIW covers Web site design, e-commerce, security, network administration, application development and programming. More than 130,000 certificates have been issued to Web professionals under the CIW banner, according to the organizations.
"TIA's ability to create globally-respected standards is an accepted fact in the IT industry," comments James Stanger, chief certification architect for VCampus. "Convergence, Web and IT workers alike use TIA standards every day. I can't think of a better partner to help us provide standards-based technology and Web development education across the globe."
The training programs are delivered using an instructor-led online format combined with independent study. The discounted programs include online, CD-ROM and PDF format training materials as well as exam vouchers. Member companies can also opt for on-site, live instruction if 10 or more employees can meet at the member's location.
Companies that have already endorsed the CTP and CCNT programs or are requiring employees to be certified include Avaya, Cisco, Iwatsu, Mitel, NEC, Nortel, Toshiba, Vertical and Cross Communications.
For more information on the certification programs, visit http://www.ctp-certified.com and http://www.ciw-certified.com.
