Telecommunications engineers design, build, test and maintain telecommunication systems and networks, including radio and broadcasting equipment. They analyse customer needs and requirements, ensure that the equipment meets regulations, and prepare and present reports and proposals on telecommunication-related problems. Telecommunications engineers design and oversee the service delivery in all it’s phases, supervising the installation and use of telecommunications equipment and facilities, preparing documentation and providing training for company staff once new equipment has been installed.
Here are some typical duties of telecommunications engineers:
Design telecommunications systems and network architectures based on client requirements, considering factors such as scalability, reliability, security, and cost-effectiveness.
Develop telecommunications network infrastructures, including wired and wireless networks, fiber-optic systems, and satellite communications systems, to facilitate voice, data, and video transmission.
Select appropriate telecommunications equipment, such as routers, switches, modems, multiplexers, and transmission equipment, based on technical specifications and performance requirements.
Ensure compliance with telecommunications protocols and standards, such as TCP/IP, Ethernet, SONET/SDH, DSL, LTE, and VoIP, to ensure interoperability and compatibility with existing systems.
Optimize telecommunications networks to enhance performance, capacity, and reliability. This may involve adjusting network configurations, optimizing routing algorithms, and implementing Quality of Service (QoS) mechanisms.
Implement security measures to protect telecommunications systems and networks from unauthorized access, cyberattacks, and data breaches. This includes implementing firewalls, encryption, access controls, and intrusion detection/prevention systems.
Install, configure, and integrate telecommunications equipment and systems, ensuring proper functionality and interoperability. This includes testing and troubleshooting to resolve any issues or compatibility issues.
Monitor telecommunications systems and networks to track performance, analyze usage patterns, and identify potential issues. This involves using network monitoring tools and techniques to proactively detect and address problems.
Provide ongoing maintenance and support for telecommunications systems, including troubleshooting, repair, and upgrades. This ensures the reliability and availability of communication services for end-users.
Maintain documentation of telecommunications systems, configurations, procedures, and support activities. This includes creating network diagrams, technical specifications, and incident reports to support operations and compliance requirements.
Provide training and knowledge transfer sessions for users and IT staff to enhance understanding of telecommunications systems and best practices. This promotes efficient usage and troubleshooting capabilities within the organization.
Stay abreast of emerging telecommunications technologies, protocols, and trends. This involves participating in professional development activities, attending conferences, and evaluating new technologies for potential adoption.
Telecommunications engineers typically work in office environments, either within IT departments of organizations or for telecommunications service providers. The role may involve occasional travel to visit remote sites or attend meetings with clients or vendors.
A bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, telecommunications engineering, or a related field is typically required for entry-level positions as a telecommunications engineer. Relevant certifications, such as Cisco CCNA, CompTIA Network+, or Certified Telecommunications Network Specialist (CTNS), may be beneficial. Practical experience gained through internships, co-op programs, or entry-level positions in IT or telecommunications is valuable. Strong analytical skills, problem-solving abilities, and proficiency in telecommunications technologies and protocols are essential for success in this role. Continuous learning and staying updated on advancements in telecommunications technology contribute to ongoing professional development as a telecommunications engineer.
ISCO skill level is defined as a function of the complexity and range of tasks and duties to be performed in an occupation. It is measured on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 the lowest level and 4 the highest, by considering:
the nature of the work performed in an occupation in relation to the characteristic tasks and duties
the level of formal education required for competent performance of the tasks and duties involved and
the amount of informal on-the-job training and/or previous experience in a related occupation required for competent performance of these tasks and duties.
Telecommunications engineer is a Skill level 4 occupation.
This knowledge should be acquired through learning to fulfill the role of telecommunications engineer.
Systems development life-cycle: The sequence of steps, such as planning, creating, testing and deploying and the models for the development and life-cycle management of a system.
ICT network routing: The processes and techniques for choosing the best paths within an ICT network through which a packet can travel.
Microwave principles: The technologies used in transmission of information or energy via electromagnetic waves between 1000 and 100,000 MHz.
ICT network security risks: The security risk factors, such as hardware and software components, devices, interfaces and policies in ICT networks, risk assessment techniques that can be applied to assess the severity and the consequences of security threats and contingency plans for each security risk factor.
Procurement of ICT network equipment: The products available from network equipment providers and methods for selecting and procuring the equipment.
Electronics principles: The study of electric energy, more specifically electron, control and its prominent principles regarding integrated circuits and electrical systems.
Telecommunication industry: The major players on the telecommunications market such as organisations manufacturing and distributing telephone terminal equipment, mobile devices, accessibility, and network security.
ICT communications protocols: The system of rules which allow the exchange of information between computers or other devices via computer networks.
Quality assurance methodologies: Quality assurance principles, standard requirements, and the set of processes and activities used for measuring, controlling and ensuring the quality of products and processes.
ICT system user requirements: The process intended to match user and organisation’s needs with system components and services, by taking into consideration the available technologies and the techniques required to elicit and specify requirements, interrogating users to establish symptoms of problem and analysing symptoms.
Signal processing: The algorithms, applications and implementations that deal with the processing and transferring of information through analog or digital frequencies.
These skills are necessary for the role of telecommunications engineer.
Design computer network: Develop and plan ICT networks, such as wide area network and local area network, that connect computers using cable or wireless connections and allow them to exchange data and assess their capacity requirements.
Design process: Identify the workflow and resource requirements for a particular process, using a variety of tools such as process simulation software, flowcharting and scale models.
Provide ict system training: Plan and conduct training of staff on system and network issues. Utilise training material, evaluate and report on the learning progress of trainees.
Interact with users to gather requirements: Communicate with users to identify their requirements and collect them. Define all relevant user requirements and document them in an understandable and logical way for further analysis and specification.
Adjust ict system capacity: Change the scope of an ICT system by adding or reallocating additional ICT system components, such as network components, servers or storage to meet capacity or volume demands.
Define technical requirements: Specify technical properties of goods, materials, methods, processes, services, systems, software and functionalities by identifying and responding to the particular needs that are to be satisfied according to customer requirements.
Support ICT system users: Communicate with end users, instruct them on how to progress with tasks, use ICT support tools and methods to solve problems and identify possible side effects and provide solutions.
Use session border controller: Manage calls during a given VoIP session and ensure security and quality of service by operating a session border controller (SBC).
This knowledge is sometimes, but not always, required for the role of telecommunications engineer. However, mastering this knowledge allows you to have more opportunities for career development.
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Agile project management: The agile project management approach is a methodology for planning, managing and overseeing of ICT resources in order to meet specific goals and using project management ICT tools.
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Java (computer programming): The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in Java.
Computer programming: The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms (e.g. object oriented programming, functional programming) and of programming languages.
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C#: The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in C#.
Telecommunication trunking: The method of providing network access to many clients while keeping smaller number of connection components by grouping and sharing connection circuits and frequencies.
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Groovy: The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in Groovy.
ASP.NET: The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in ASP.NET.
APL: The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in APL.
Cisco: The products available from the network equipment provider Cisco and methods for selecting and procuring the equipment.
Microsoft Visual C++: The computer program Visual C++ is a suite of software development tools for writing programs, such as compiler, debugger, code editor, code highlights, packaged in a unified user interface. It is developed by the software company Microsoft.
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Swift (computer programming): The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in Swift.
ICT project management methodologies: The methodologies or models for planning, managing and overseeing of ICT resources in order to meet specific goals, such methodologies are Waterfall, Incremental, V-Model, Scrum or Agile and using project management ICT tools.
Matlab: The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in MATLAB.
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Scratch (computer programming): The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in Scratch.
Process-based management: The process-based management approach is a methodology for planning, managing and overseeing of ICT resources in order to meet specific goals and using project management ICT tools.
Lean project management: The lean project management approach is a methodology for planning, managing and overseeing of ICT resources in order to meet specific goals and using project management ICT tools.
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ICT networking hardware: The ICT network equipment or computer networking devices, such as UPS systems, electrical systems, networking facilities and structured cabling systems.
Scala: The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in Scala.
These skills and competences are sometimes, but not always, required for the role of telecommunications engineer. However, mastering these skills and competences allows you to have more opportunities for career development.
Provide technical documentation: Prepare documentation for existing and upcoming products or services, describing their functionality and composition in such a way that it is understandable for a wide audience without technical background and compliant with defined requirements and standards. Keep documentation up to date.
Assess ICT knowledge: Evaluate the implicit mastery of skilled experts in an ICT system to make it explicit for further analysis and usage.
Provide user documentation: Develop and organise the distribution of structured documents to assist people using a particular product or system, such as written or visual information about an application system and how to use it.
Create software design: Transpose a series of requirements into a clear and organised software design.
Use different communication channels: Make use of various types of communication channels such as verbal, handwritten, digital and telephonic communication with the purpose of constructing and sharing ideas or information.
Perform ICT troubleshooting: Identify problems with servers, desktops, printers, networks, and remote access, and perform actions which solve the problems.
Operate private branch exchange: Handle Private Branch Exchange (PBX), a telecommunication system within an organisation that switches calls between users on local lines. At the same time the system allows all users to share external phone lines.
Install electronic communication equipment: Set up and deploy digital and analogue electronic communications. Understand electronic diagrams and equipment specifications.
Analyse business requirements: Study clients’ needs and expectations for a product or service in order to identify and resolve inconsistencies and possible disagreements of involved stakeholders.
Implement ICT network diagnostic tools: Use software tools or components that monitor ICT network parameters, such as performance and throughput, provide data and statistics, diagnose errors, failures or bottlenecks and support decision making.
Apply technical communication skills: Explain technical details to non-technical customers, stakeholders, or any other interested parties in a clear and concise manner.
Give live presentation: Deliver a speech or talk in which a new product, service, idea, or piece of work is demonstrated and explained to an audience.
Build business relationships: Establish a positive, long-term relationship between organisations and interested third parties such as suppliers, distributors, shareholders and other stakeholders in order to inform them of the organisation and its objectives.
Integrate system components: Select and use integration techniques and tools to plan and implement integration of hardware and software modules and components in a system. Apply specific testing techniques to ensure integrity during system integration.
Perform resource planning: Estimate the expected input in terms of time, human and financial resources necessary to achieve the project objectives.
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