Salary and Outlook

According to the US Department of Labor, there are 178,000 people employed as telecommunications equipment installers and repairers, except line installers in the United States. The median annual salary is $60,370. Entry level employees earn approximately $36,360 per year and senior employees earn approximately $82,660 per year.

Estimates do not include other potential benefits such as health insurance, overtime pay, or retirement benefits that may be offered by employers.

Job Duties

• Maintain computer and manual records pertaining to facilities and equipment.
• Communicate with bases, using telephones or two-way radios to receive instructions or technical advice, or to report equipment status.
• Remove and remake connections to change circuit layouts, following work orders or diagrams.
• Clean and maintain tools, test equipment, and motor vehicles.
• Perform database verifications, using computers.
• Request support from technical service centers when on-site procedures fail to solve installation or maintenance problems.
• Analyze test readings, computer printouts, and trouble reports to determine equipment repair needs and required repair methods.
• Adjust or modify equipment to enhance equipment performance or to respond to customer requests.
• Remove and replace plug-in circuit equipment.
• Provide input into the design and manufacturing of new equipment.
• Address special issues or situations, such as illegal or unauthorized use of equipment, or cases of electrical or acoustic shock.
• Place intercept circuits on terminals to handle vacant lines in central office installations.
• Refer to manufacturers' manuals to obtain maintenance instructions pertaining to specific malfunctions.
• Dig holes or trenches as necessary for equipment installation and access.
• Review manufacturer's instructions, manuals, technical specifications, building permits, and ordinances to determine communication equipment requirements and procedures.
• Drive crew trucks to and from work areas.
• Route and connect cables and lines to switches, switchboard equipment, and distributing frames, using wire-wrap guns or soldering irons to connect wires to terminals.
• Designate cables available for use.
• Diagnose and correct problems from remote locations, using special switchboards to find the sources of problems.
• Program computerized switches and switchboards to provide requested features.
• Enter codes needed to correct electronic switching system programming.
• Examine telephone transmission facilities to determine requirements for new or additional telephone services.
• Measure distances from landmarks to identify exact installation sites for equipment.
• Install updated software and programs that maintain existing software or provide requested features, such as time-correlated call routing.
• Perform routine maintenance on equipment, including adjusting and lubricating components and painting worn or exposed areas.
• Determine viability of sites through observation, and discuss site locations and construction requirements with customers.
• Install telephone station equipment, such as intercommunication systems, transmitters, receivers, relays, and ringers, and related apparatus, such as coin collectors, telephone booths, and switching-key equipment.
• Clean switches and replace contact points, using vacuum hoses, solvents, and hand tools.
• Note differences in wire and cable colors so that work can be performed correctly.
• Inspect equipment on a regular basis to ensure proper functioning.
• Collaborate with other workers to locate and correct malfunctions.
• Remove loose wires and other debris after work is completed.
• Repair or replace faulty equipment, such as defective and damaged telephones, wires, switching system components, and associated equipment.
• Demonstrate equipment to customers and explain its use, responding to any inquiries or complaints.
• Test circuits and components of malfunctioning telecommunications equipment to isolate sources of malfunctions, using test meters, circuit diagrams, polarity probes, and other hand tools.
• Test repaired, newly installed, or updated equipment to ensure that it functions properly and conforms to specifications, using test equipment and observation.
• Climb poles and ladders, use truck-mounted booms, and enter areas such as manholes and cable vaults to install, maintain, or inspect equipment.
• Assemble and install communication equipment such as data and telephone communication lines, wiring, switching equipment, wiring frames, power apparatus, computer systems, and networks.
• Run wires between components and to outside cable systems, connecting them to wires from telephone poles or underground cable accesses.
• Test connections to ensure that power supplies are adequate and that communications links function.

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