I was initially licensed (Civil) in my home state ~10 years ago, at that time all licensing was done through the state board and I took the 8-hr NCEES test. A couple years ago I needed to get licensed in a few additional states, so I started an NCEES record. It took a few weeks to verify my experience, references, and transcript through NCEES, but it is the way to go if you need to be licensed in multiple states so you don't have to go through that process with each individual state. Once I had my NCEES record ready to go, I submitted my Colorado application and transmitted my NCEES record on a Saturday afternoon, and I believe I had my CO license by Monday afternoon. Other states still have additional requirements, but CO was by far the most painless once I had my NCEES record.
One other tip on NCEES - once you have your record ready to go, apply for every state you need within a year. After that you have to update your experience and reconfirm your references.