Where would one get the schooling training to work on these business phone systems as a permanent occupation? Thank you in advance.

I would suggest try to find a job with a inter-connect. That is where you can get some experence and trainning. Very few Manufactures train techs who do not work for a inter-connect that is authorized to sell there products.

You might want to checkout your states apprenticeship programs:

https://www.mass.gov/?pageID=elwdsu...=Apprenticeable+Occupations&sid=Elwd

I don't know if you need a licence in your State to do the line of work you are think of.

Besides the fact that a career in this business is like the career of a Titanic deckhand.

-Hal

WOW I had no idea it was a dying trade.Is it just that the equiptment is doing away with techs? Or just keep some diving gear real handy.

If I were you I would look at the IT and computer field. That's what it's being taken over by.

-Hal

And sparky...

That's why we love ya, Hal...ever the optimist!

By the way, the Titanic deck hands fared better than the passengers, because they grabbed the life vests, elbowed their way onto the boats, and whacked the rich folks in the head with the oars.

I would have to disagree. Telecommunications is not going away, but it is changing.

If you're interested in a career in this field, look for a job with an interconnect, as was suggested. Also, learn as much as you can about networking via school and by practicing on your own.

Read whatever you can get your hands on about Telecommunications, both old-school and new.

Phones and cabling go hand-in-hand. Learn codes and standards. Consider some BICSI training. If you want to set yourself apart from 90% of the IT Guys and other cable installers, read/study the NEC.

Computer knowledge is a must. I guess that is true for most fields now.

I agree with nfcphoneman, its not going away. Change is good and bad,but there will always be a need for Telephone tech's, those other guys (Sparky-IT), just don't get "Voice Communications". If you want to learn this trade You have to start at the bottom like any Trade and Learn the Basics.

elbowed their way onto the boats, and whacked the rich folks in the head with the oars.

Now I feel encouraged. I knew I had a reason for whacking at those CGs and IT "professionals".

-Hal

those other guys (Sparky-IT), just don't get "Voice Communications".

No they don't but look at what's happening. The manufacturers are changing their products into something that those butt heads CAN understand because they are in a better position to sell their products than us.

-Hal

Yeah. Once upon a time in the not too distant past, IT gurus thought all anyone ever needed was dial tone and the ability to transfer a call. Gee, what else was there? It didn't matter that our reliable systems were built on years of finely tuned applications. Now of course, all our larger accounts have turned telephony oversight over to IT so if we fail to learn all their phrases, they think we are Neanderthals.

well That Door Swings Both Ways, IMO, This is the way Communications is Going and Nothing is Going to Change That. I Guess its time To Evolve. "Just My two Cents"

Hey, you could contact me in PM if you're interested, depening on what you had in mind.


As been pointed out Hal tends to be negative, but I think that in the long run there is hope.

To some degree the lousy ecomony might be a silver lining. Every one is cutting corners and trying to take the (in the short term) cheap way out. But cabling done poorly comes home to roost pretty quickly. As Verizon etc start to roll out higher performance services and their service calls and complaints grow and is traced back to cabling. Customers and providers will realize that they don't hire IT and EC to do plumbing for a reason. They'll stop hiring them to pull data as well.


It would be helpfull if they took an active roll in creating a licensing and demanding standards. But I think in the long run this will happen.

Now because of the power of the Unions and the EC it might end up happening in the same way the you have to have a seperate license for security. Jusst because you're EC doesn't mean that you can do alarm.

Just because you're EC doesn't mean that you can do alarm.

Depends on the location or state. Most allow an EC to do anything including security. That's what empowers these guys to do anything for a buck, especially if they have their foot in the door already. What customers don't realize is that qualifications and experience are prerequisites for doing something for money, and these guys have absolutely none.

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for licensing as a way to qualify and especially standards do be implemented. As long as there are no safety issues the rest is for the customer and marketplace to sort out. We all know that most customers are dumb as mud when it comes to techincal stuff so the name of the game is the job goes to whoever provides the most convincing story. If you are an EC show them your truck that says "licensed Contractor" on it along with telephone, data, CATV, and electrical work. If you are a CG or IT "professional", show them the diplomas you have for a masters in computer husbandry.

-Hal

Well in MA it's the case you have to have specific S license to do security. At least recent experience in in one town anyway.

In RI and CT you have to have a low voltage license and I do not believe that having an EC covers it. In CT there are actually 2 different licenses a T1 if you are just a worker, but you need a T2 to pull low voltage permit and again I do not believe that having an EC license covers that in CT.

I only know NY and CT. CT has a license for everything but I do know that a EC (E1) trumps all the other electrical licenses. Look here.

-Hal

Just speaking from personal experience, I got my start in Network Administration (a college program), did an internship with a local library networking department, and found the job I have now. The more you know about computing and networking the better, but I learned more valuable information working in the field I work in now.

Find an interconnect company and try to get in with them is your best bet. And I disagree that our industry is dying...we just need to evolve, and most of us will because we have to (though that doesn't necessarily mean we have to like it.)

Dying no, evolving yes. The whole world runs on communications now...that's not just going to go away. The landscape of who is doing what to enable what kind of communication is what's changing.