Application
Field officers, technicians or technical supervisors from carriers, contractors or other service providers apply the skills and knowledge in this unit. It is particularly relevant to field technicians remotely accessing the network and the network operation centre (NOC) which controls the coordination of remote network activities. |
Elements and Performance Criteria
ELEMENT | PERFORMANCE CRITERIA |
1. Diagnose remote faults | 1.1. Install remote access software on notebook computers 1.2. Verify network fault by analysing relevant data 1.3. Investigate context and background information relevant to network fault 1.4. Source appropriate documentation and test equipment relevant to the network fault 1.5. Conduct appropriate tests and analyse results 1.6. Diagnose network faults using established methodical strategies in a timely fashion without disruption to other services |
2. Plan remote repair | 2.1. Assess the level of involvement of the NOC in planning the repair 2.2. Plan for any necessary outages and notify customers 2.3. Develop repair strategies to clear fault 2.4. Develop a strategy for the rerouting of customer traffic if applicable 2.5. Advise on site personnel of required work and clearly communicate the repair strategy |
3. Repair fault | 3.1. Initiate remote repair strategies to reconfigure or repair remote equipment in a manner safe to self, fellow workers network equipment and public 3.2. Inform customers of repair progress where fault has caused degradation of service or outage 3.3. Escalate unresolved faults according to established enterprise procedure 3.4. Test the remote repair for required performance 3.5. Assess ongoing network performance and the likelihood of further problems |
4. Report remote diagnosis and repair and document results | 4.1. Notify all relevant parties of the results of the remote diagnosis and repair 4.2. Record details relating to any outage according to enterprise procedures 4.3. Complete all relevant documentation and recommend any changes required by the enterprise quality assurance system |
Required Skills
Required skills |
analytical skills to review alarm information and make judgments to inform operational decisions communication skills to: liaise with technical personnel working across different levels and in different contexts provide advice and guidance to others initiative and enterprise skills to identify improvements to alarm resolution and troubleshooting learning skills to keep up to date with new technology literacy skills to read complex technical data, procedures, equipment and system manuals and specifications numeracy skills to interpret levels, readings and numerical data problem solving skills to address complex problems from a remote location research skills to source technical information from enterprise website or manufacturer's technical documentation technical skills to: interpret and use equipment and system manuals and specifications undertake diagnosis and repairs on a range of networks |
Required knowledge |
installed telecommunications systems and equipment path protection telecommunications networks test equipment and test procedures typical problems and challenges that arise in NOCs and in the field typical systems and procedures |
Evidence Required
The evidence guide provides advice on assessment and must be read in conjunction with the performance criteria, required skills and knowledge, range statement and the Assessment Guidelines for the Training Package. | |
Overview of assessment | |
Critical aspects for assessment and evidence required to demonstrate competency in this unit | Evidence of the ability to: diagnose and identify faults including using fault history and ranking likely causes plan and coordinate repair of network faults apply enterprise escalation and outage procedures following related OHS requirements and work practices. |
Context of and specific resources for assessment | Assessment must ensure: sites on which remote diagnosis and repair of network may be conducted use of test equipment currently used in industry manufacturer's technical documentation. |
Method of assessment | A range of assessment methods should be used to assess practical skills and knowledge. The following examples are appropriate for this unit: observation of the candidate performing remote diagnosis of network faults observation of the candidate giving clear and precise instructions to staff engaged in on site repair observation of the candidate repairing network faults review of documentation completed by the candidate oral or written questioning to assess required knowledge. |
Guidance information for assessment | Holistic assessment with other units relevant to the industry sector, workplace and job role is recommended, for example: ICTCBL4099A Remotely locate and identify cable network faults ICTTEN4081A Locate, diagnose and rectify faults ICTTEN4085A Monitor, analyse and action telecommunications network alarms ICTTEN4086A Undertake routine maintenance of the telecommunications network. Aboriginal people and other people from a non-English speaking background may have second language issues. Access must be provided to appropriate learning and assessment support when required. Assessment processes and techniques must be culturally appropriate, and appropriate to the oral communication skill level, and language and literacy capacity of the candidate and the work being performed. In all cases where practical assessment is used it will be combined with targeted questioning to assess required knowledge. Questioning techniques should not require language, literacy and numeracy skills beyond those required in this unit of competency. Where applicable, physical resources should include equipment modified for people with special needs. |
Range Statement
The range statement relates to the unit of competency as a whole. It allows for different work environments and situations that may affect performance. Bold italicised wording, if used in the performance criteria, is detailed below. Essential operating conditions that may be present with training and assessment (depending on the work situation, needs of the candidate, accessibility of the item, and local industry and regional contexts) may also be included. | |
Relevant data may include: | alarm conditions customer reports event history event log service level degradation test results from remote interrogation. |
Context and background information may include: | customer reports environmental factors fault history previous reports. |
Appropriate documentation may include: | manufacturer's technical documentation test procedures trouble clearing and alarm reference guide. |
Test equipment may include: | bit error rate tester communication system analyser digital analyser laser source magnetic error reduction meter microwave link analyser modulation analyser multimeter optical attenuator optical fibre power meter optical loss test set oscillator oscilloscope optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR) pattern generator personal computer loaded with diagnostic routines power meter radio frequency (RF) microwave test set RF sweep tester signal level meter spectrum analyses transmission measuring set voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) meter. |
Appropriate tests may include: | bandwidth blocking call rate congestion distortion drop out rate functionality interference latency network tests optical transmission packet loss rate quality of service (QoS) radio transmission recovery rate redundancy signal to noise ratio transmitted power measurements upload and download rates. |
Network faults may include: | out of specification faults dynamic loops intermittent performance problems latency network dropout severe cable or transmission path damage system configuration problems system equipment failure or partial failure traffic congestion. |
Network operation centre may include: | engineering unit within an enterprise responsible for: coordinating repairs or changes to the network monitoring the network performing diagnostic tests. |
Outages may include: | loss of service to customers due to a network fault or upgrade planned, in the case of network upgrades unplanned in relation to faults. |
Repair strategies may include: | force traffic to alternate path isolate faulty unit switch to redundant equipment. |
Customer traffic may include: | analogue or digital forms of: data image voice. |
Escalate may include: | greater involvement from the NOC progressive shifting of network restoration responsibility to more capable areas. |
Enterprise procedure may include: | installation maintenance reporting. |
Relevant parties may include: | contractors customers equipment vendors and manufacturers fault centre individual reporting the fault network administrator network manager network operations centre staff on site technical staff site manager. |
Quality assurance may include: | acting on logs, reports and other data to guide ongoing quality improvements updating logs and reporting on installation or maintenance activities. |
Sectors
Unit sector | Telecommunications |
Competency Field
Telecommunications networks engineering |
Employability Skills
This unit contains employability skills. |
Licensing Information
Refer to Unit Descriptor