Field Technician

A Field Technician, also known as a Network Technician,  is a professional who provides on-site end-user support, telecom installation, programming, maintenance, and repairs to a wide variety of telecommunications’ systems, equipment, cabling, and to other related systems and equipment at all locations within the assigned work region.

Technicians also install electrical equipment. They work with a variety of telecom systems and hand tools to provision, install, and repair telephones, headsets, and related peripherals in various locations and diverse work environments.

The job demands that they work off-site more often than not. Besides, they need to carry out regular repairs, maintain equipment, and demonstrate to clients how to use products/equipment.

The job of a technician also entails traveling frequently. They need to effectively use the mobile office setting and equipment to interact with clients as well as their seniors in their organization.

Technicians’ job role involves some amount of physical labor, as they would have to lift equipment, and overhead cabling would require them to work at heights. Since they interact directly with clients who own electronic, electrical, and engineering equipment/products, they need to have excellent communication skills.

Field Service Technician Job Description

Field technicians should act as per client’s requirements, as they are responsible for the installation, maintenance, repair, and general supervision of telecommunications lines, including telephones, voice mail systems, fax lines, security, Internet, and wireless systems.

The key responsibilities for a service technician job description include administering all network services and performing tests on various equipment and circuits, monitoring all services, identifying issues and resolving any problems in equipment.

Technicians design and prepare documents for network and ensure appropriate labeling of all equipment, perform maintenance work on networks, initiate tests, and perform troubleshooting on all outages, manage work according to diagrams and specifications for the network, and ensure compliance to all safety standards and codes and manage work according to regulations.

They need to develop and provide support to all customer programs and perform regular maintenance on the same, monitor all requests and ensure customer satisfaction in all processes, perform installation and maintenance on all telecommunication networks

And associated computer systems, install and configure telephone systems for communication infrastructure, administer installation of PBX digital sets and analog telephone sets and associate ancillary hardware, monitor all customer activities and resolve issues at customer sites for change of premises and cross connection in equipment, and manage installation of various telecommunication related materials, such as routers, hubs, and switches.

Furthermore, field service technicians monitor data network, perform troubleshooting on it, and repair and replace various cables and telephone sets.

Additionally, a field service technician job description will include the following duties

• Analyze the telecommunication market and determine all tools and equipment requirements for clients.
• Administer efficient repair of data wiring and connectors.
• Perform integrity tests on data network installations with the help of LAN test equipment.
• Manage all onsite activities mandatorily
• Contribute to best client service and support them during field visits
• Document the issues and remedies which will be helpful in future
• Should share the issues with  the technical team
• Ensuring in providing a safe work environment

In addition, technicians must be able to come up with innovative ideas to resolve issues

Job Prospects

Job opportunities for telecommunications equipment installers and repairers are projected to fall eight percent during the ten-year period 2016-2026. The reason behind this decline is that employers are looking to hire more people in wireless and mobile services. Nevertheless, aspirants with an associate degree and excellent customer-service skills will continue to be in demand, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Moreover, enterprises outsource their technical support because it is cost–effective, which means demand for freelance field technicians will only continue to increase. Contracting companies will, therefore, hire people on a freelance basis. They will also have sufficient training material to train aspiring technicians. The other major reason for companies outsourcing their technical support is that it allows them to concentrate more on their core business activities.

Salary

As per Payscale.com, the average wage for a freelance Telecommunications Field Technician is $22 per hour in the United States. The annual average salary for a full-time technician is $60,000. The values provided above may vary as per the parameters like city, experience, employers, and job responsibilities. Freshers who have started their career will earn a good pay in the future after they attain adequate experience.

Field service technicians must able to lucidly explain complex technical processes without using jargon to people from non-technical backgrounds

Education

Field Technician’s work is highly dependent on the industry. Despite this, the core of all field service work is maintenance and repair. To acquire a field technician job, one must possess at least an associate degree or a bachelor’s degree in computer science or Information systems or in a relevant discipline like computer technology.

They should also possess brilliant customer service skills and an ability to diagnose and solve problems from non-technical descriptions provided by their clients. If technicians have knowledge of different computing systems, operating systems, it would be beneficial.

How Field Engineer Can Help you Find the Next Project

If you are keen on being hired as an On-Demand Field Technician in the Global Marketplace for Field Engineers, visit Fieldengineer.com. It helps you to reach out to employers who are seeking candidates with the appropriate skill sets. This platform has more than 40,000 engineers with various skills in over 180 countries in an effort to make it easy for employers to hire people in specialty occupations.