CONVERGENGE is very imporatnt these days. You know, the voice and video stuff. Many "data only" guys either don't care about this or just refuse to care, so if you spend your time learning these things, you will do well, in all likelihood. Knowing VoIP technolgies and related stuff really matters for most "cool" jobs.
Amen, brother. I've been in telecom for nearly 19 years now, and whether I like it or not, VoIP is here to stay. I'm having to learn a lot of "Gawd, why do I got to study this crap" stuff for the CCNA certification, just so I can be qualified to work on the next big system we plan on selling, because the whole damn thing is IP. The days of the hardwired phone to the digital port on the KSU are fading away, and technicians who understand this stuff will be getting the work.
And you are right about "data only" guys. I have run into quite a few who have been shocked when there "great network" turns out to be sub-acceptable when you start throwing voice conversations on it. Makes them have to get out of their chairs and start re-programming or updating their routers. They definitely do not like it when VoIP starts stepping into their turf!
And then I run into some "IT Managers" that don't know a darn thing about the job they are supposed to be managing. This is no lie:We asked the IT manager of a new customer of ours to provide us with an IP address, subnet mask, and gateway for the system we were putting in. He says, "Huh? I don't know a thing about that. We have a guy in our headquarters that deals with that." Glad he's not MY boss....