Full clean driving license

Current Position

June 2004 to present day

Senior Engineer employed at The Bank of New York Edinburgh by Redstone Converged Solutions

In this position, I am resident engineer at a major financial institution where I provide cover in the event of any possible disruptions to service. It is a business requirement that procedures are in place for every eventuality so that the relevant parties can be contacted in the event of any part of the system requiring urgent attention, both during and out of hours in the event of me not being qualified to rectify a problem by myself. Initially I diagnose problems using Avaya software tools and frequently have to liaise with other suppliers and network providers to enable a rapid resolution to any operational disruptions. I am the problem owner until any issues are resolved to the satisfaction of the user. I routinely perform checks on all systems to monitor any trends that could affect performance. As well as this, I carry out frequent backups of software and databases of all systems to enable complete recovery in the event of a failure of any part of the voice equipment.

To be able to carry out my duties, I have a great deal of experience in the Avaya Definity range of voice switches; Audix voicemail and the Thales voice recorder as well as CMS.

I also carry out projects on the voice side of the business, from conception to completion, in conjunction with network providers and other suppliers, to a high quality specification, using the Avaya Definity voice platform, Audix voicemail, CMS and Wordnet voice recording equipment. Patching of both voice and data circuits from the Avaya platform or the Cisco Catalyst 6500 data switch to the end user is also a requirement of the position. Completing documentation is critical for the legal requirements of the business as the customers frequently request call recording and monitoring. It also enables rapid measurement of capacity for additions or moves.

Frequently I am required to make changes to the database at other sites on the customers network to enable features on one of the other sites or over the entire network.

I am also required to visit other Redstone customers throughout Scotland, when required, either on maintenance related problems or PR visits, discussing any problems or more frequently, giving advice and making suggestions to improve the functionality of the equipment on site and to improve the efficiency of the customers telecommunications network, using either my own knowledge or that of one of my colleagues within the business. Although most of the time I work alone, I am a team player and firmly believe in this concept.

1998 to June 2004

Prior to this, I was team leader of the maintenance team and office manager for the company's Manchester Office.

As well as the normal admin requirements for managing a small office, one of my duties was to provide accurate and timely reports on the performance of my team for monthly management meetings. These reports gave statistics on individual performance on each member of the team, but more importantly gave information to customers on the service level that we were providing them with.

Regular meetings were scheduled with customers to update them on the latest features and technology, with a view to assisting them with improvements to their telecommunications structures and networking requirements.

Every month it was required that I spend a day monitoring the performance of every member of the team for quality, performance, health and safety, timekeeping, customer facing skills and technical ability. This day in the field provided information to assist me with the quarterly and annual reviews and also pointed out where there was a requirement for further training, either technical or otherwise.

My primary duty was still as an engineer and main point of contact for all our customers, except for fault reporting which was dealt with by a central team in London.

One of our major customers was (and still is) The Co-operative Bank, the head office of which was in Manchester with other large offices at locations in London, Stockport, Skelmersdale and Salford, along with the CIS part of the group with three locations within the greater Manchester area, having several thousand agents spread across the network. This network was upgraded four years ago using Fibernet's network to carry voice and data between sites, requiring many hours testing with several network suppliers as well as the customers own network engineering staff..

For a short time I was also a resident engineer for this customer at the Skelmersdale location dealing with user problems and faults, again liaising with other companies and network providers.

At these customers sites, initially I worked on Siemens MCX PABX's which were

later phased out and replaced with Avaya g3r's, most with Intuity or Audix voicemail and CMS. Generally, the CMS was networked to an Enterprise 3500, based at the largest call centre site although two sites were stand-alone.

I still remain the primary contact for voice issues, though only for advice and remote work since the customer now has its own staff dealing with the day to day faults and queries.

1980 to December 1997

Siemens Communications

Employed as maintenance engineer, I was mainly responsible for a Stockport Health Authority, Ford Motor Company at Halewood, Liverpool and Co-operative Bank, as above.

The systems initially were Siemens MCX, a very popular and reliable system, but in the later years were not feature packed and so became obsolete.

I also worked on the SDX Index range with its voicemail systems etc, and also the Hicom 300.

Due to many changes within the company, a large number of staff became unsettled and at this stage I was head hunted to join Genesis.

1965 to November 1980

British Telecom

I started my working career at The Post Office, as it was then called, serving a full apprenticeship, covering all aspects of the business, settling into the public exchange area, until a position became available on the PABX team, where I remained as a resident engineer at an international pharmaceutical company working to very strict and high standards, on a MD110. This involved working alongside the customers own network team as well as other colleagues from BT. I remained in this position, finally being team leader over the whole BT team until BT lost the contract due only to cost, shortly after which I resigned.

KEY SKILLS

· Avaya Definity G3r, si and csi

Formal training completed for si and csi 1998

In house and on site training from 1998 to 2002 then formal training course.

Daily exposure on all products since initial training.

· Some knowledge of 8700, 8500 and 8300 products

In house training 2002, frequent exposure since, both on site and remote.

· CMS and BCMS call management systems

BCMS in house training 1999 with regular exposure initially.

CMS formal training 2001, regular exposure before and after, mainly as

administrator and occasionally as an engineer.

· Intuity and Audix voicemail systems.

Formal training on Audix 1998, in house training on Intuity, regular exposure

on both products.

· Knowledge of voice and data cabling systems.

Vast experience on all types of voice and data cabling for many years.

· Networking experience of DASS2, i421, DPNSS, QSIG, DCS and IP

trunking.

Experience of most network protocols since they were introduced.

· Set up and maintenance of voice recording system (WordNet 3)

In house training of Thales Wordnet 2003, daily exposure since, although

software issues are contracted out to a third party.

Education

Up to 1965, Stockport School, gaining 5GCE's

1965 to 1968 block release at Stockport College, sponsored by BT, gaining ONC in Electrical Engineering

Hobbies

Used to play football and rugby, but now taking a back seat and just being a spectator.

I do like walking with my dogs and gardening, along with most DIY work.