Voice Engineer
Voice Engineers design systems for use in the telecommunications field to manage VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) and telephony systems. They are responsible for tasks, such as designing, installing, operating, maintaining, and troubleshooting voice communication systems.
Besides, they must have been trained specially in unified communications. An emerging communications technology, unified communications’ technology allows communication in real-time or otherwise. It does so by cutting down latency time and enhancing the communications speed. This technology has allowed organizations to communicate through personal computers, mobile devices, PDAs, etc.
Engineers should also frequently communicate with the people in charge of voice technology to devise plans based on the needs of an organization.
They should have excellent analytical and problem-solving skills. Engineers must have first-rate communication skills (written and oral). They must be open to working in changing environments.
Job Description and Responsibilities
Engineers manage and supervise telecommunications infrastructure and its related software, such as call management systems, VoIP, video conferencing, voice mail, and other telephony and network applications. They oversee the performance of voice systems and conduct traffic analysis and capacity planning so that the quality of service functions properly.
Engineers work with telephony protocols, such as SIP, TCP/IP, H323, QoS, etc. They evaluate existing capabilities and aid in planning guidelines to tap emerging trends in cloud, VoIP, mobility solutions and managed services.
Engineers develop, and implement policies, measures, and training plans for the administration of telecommunication systems. The devise a plan for and arrange preemptive maintenance and upgrades for equipment and software of voice systems.
Engineers oversee to isolate performance and capacity issues for telecommunications traffic so that telecommunications systems are operating without any downtimes. They manage and implement patches to systems and hardware.
Engineers provide support for switches, voice gateways, and firewall infrastructure. They need to support users and troubleshoot all their VoIP issues within an entire organization/company. To ensure this, they need to detect and address issues with trunks, profiles, endpoints, and dial plans. For this, Voice Engineers must have received the latest, practical technical experience supporting VoIP and unified communications services.
Engineers are responsible for managing and maintaining VoIP networks by being a part of large telecommunications and network team, and also for day-to-day operations and to handle unified voice, data, and video services within organizations, and WANs/LANs/MANs. Besides, they should document modifications to the infrastructure. They partner with other technical team members for safely and properly installing wiring, cabling, and other electrical equipment.
Engineers will also interact with vendors for receiving support, escalating issues and for keeping themselves abreast with the latest in technologies and versions so that they can improve or upgrade existing telecommunications’ infrastructure. They monitor and update key performance indicators, provide training to IT and non-IT professionals and support to others on the network team.
Moreover, their other tasks would involve the following.
- Upgrading technical specifications.
- Testing all code entirely before its release to application certification testing, and troubleshooting all code flaws.
- Extending support for applications and components system software
- Assisting in the pricing of equipment required for a company/organization by identifying what exactly it needs for a particular environment.
- Guiding and mentoring help desk team so that they can understand better issues related to unified communications.
- Taking part in regular training programs to upgrade skills in existing and future technologies
Future of Voice Engineers
With technology changing exponentially, Voice Engineers would need to brush up their knowledge by being in the know about the latest developments continuously. It can be done by taking courses or attending conferences on seminars on networking.
On the career front, they stand a chance of becoming computer network architects or could take up managerial positions in information technology departments.
Of late, VoIP, also known as Internet Telephony or IP Telephony, is being used by many small, medium, and large organizations to make conference phone calls that are very cheap or free. It allows people to communicate sans a telephone set by making use of broadband Internet connections. Besides cutting costs, it allows organizations to communicate more efficiently with its clients.
Skype, a breakthrough product enabled by VoIP, allows people to see each other while they speak in real-time. With such technologies, demand for voice engineers is only bound to increase.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) states that job opportunities for broadcast and sound engineering technicians is expected to increase eight percent during the period 2016-2026. According to the government agency, demand is expected to originate from enterprises, entertainment sector, and educational institutions that want to improve their audio-visual (AV) capabilities. All these organizations would require technicians to arrange, operate, and maintain cutting-edge technological equipment.
Educational Qualifications and Certifications
A high school diploma or equivalent in computer sciences would do, but applicants with a bachelor's degree would be preferred. Moreover, degree holders would be more likely to be considered for promotions.
They should have experience with testing and resolving issues in VoIP systems (Cisco or Genesys Telephony Platforms), reasonable programming skills in any language and extensive knowledge in computer networking protocols, such as TCP/IP, IPv6, DHCP, DNS, etc., besides knowledge of cloud-based voice services.
Earnings
The average yearly salary for Voice Engineers is $74,783 and their median earnings per hour are $41 in the United States, according to payscale.
How Field Engineer Can Help
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