It is the job responsibility of field service technicians to use their product training and technical skills to ensure that job-specific equipment is properly maintained and repaired with minimum downtime. Field service technicians generally have some basic electronics qualifications or have gained on-the-job experience and training from working in an electronics role. It is their job to install, maintain, and repair a wide range of commercial equipments. Electronic service technicians are required to service and repair household and business electronic equipment including televisions, DVD players, stereos, CD players, etc. Bench technicians fix equipment that customers bring in to the shop for repairs. Field technicians usually travel to a customer’s home or office to repair smaller or larger machines or equipment or electronic items.
When equipment breaks down, technicians find and fix the cause of the problem. Often this means only cleaning out dirty parts, like the tape heads on a VCR. Sometimes technicians use test equipment to identify the problem and then use hand tools to fix it.
The main job responsibilities of a field service technician typically cover three main areas:
Installation:
- Pre-delivery inspections
- Installing new or refurbished equipment and control systems
- Configuring and calibrating the equipment
- Training the purchasers’ staff in the safe use of the equipment
- Service
- Cleaning the equipment and checking its performance
- Replacing or repairing worn or faulty parts
- Making adjustments and recalibrating equipment
- Writing up maintenance reports on a laptop or hand-held PC.
- Repair
- Providing replacement equipment if problems cannot be rectified immediately
- Sending faulty equipment to a repair center for further tests and repair work
- Logging repairs on a laptop or hand-held PC
Exposure to telephone-line linked remote-controlled radios is an additional advantage. Prospective field service technicians normally need four or five good standard grades, preferably in science-based subjects such as math, science, engineering, design, and technology. Further qualifications would enable the technician to secure more skilled work such as repair, servicing, maintenance, etc.
Field service technicians generally start work through an electronic/electrical engineering or information technology apprenticeship. It is possible to find work directly with equipment manufacturers in their repair centers or as a field technician, with smaller companies who carry out sub-contract work, or with large organizations who have their own in-house support team. Jobs are advertised throughout the world in the local press, job centers, and in recruitment agencies. A field support technician can progress to senior technician, service team leader, field service manager, or even regional manager. With further training a field service technician could choose to specialize in particular areas of work as a certified specialist in a particular area. In the case of experienced candidates, some companies combine the role with technical sales, which involves discussing clients’ business requirements and advising them on upgrades or replacement equipment and systems.
As a field service technician, one needs to have diagnostic and problem-solving skills to find the cause of a fault and the patience to trace it. They also need good customer service skills to deal with clients who may be stressed and unhappy about malfunctioning equipment. They need to take a responsible attitude towards their work, have good organizational skills, and be able to work quickly and under pressure without supervision. They should be able to understand technical diagrams and manuals. Technicians should also have good computer and IT skills and show a willingness to keep up to date with new technological developments. They usually need good physical fitness and normal color vision. A driver’s license is often considered essential.
Field service technicians can also find their first foothold in the industry through an electronic/electrical engineering or information technology apprenticeship. The range of apprenticeships available in any area will depend on the local employment market and the types of skills employers need from their workers. Field service technicians enjoy a relatively good starting wage which increases with experience. Average field service technician salaries can vary greatly due to company, location, industry, experience, and benefits. Based on survey reports, radio field service technicians earn approximately $50,000 annually. They normally work, Monday through Friday and enjoy normal eight-to- nine-hour work days, although some may be on-call to deal with out-of-hours problems. The salary package often includes the use of a company car or van. Technicians may also receive bonuses for encouraging customers to replace old equipment with new machines, and in some cases this role can be combined with the role of a technical sales representative.
