COMPANY: Carphone Warehouse Networks CPWN
Part of the Telecoms division of The Carphone Warehouse
Previously know as Opal Telecom Ltd which was set up by two guys in a shed.
CPWN employs over 450 people
JOB TITLE: Northern Switch Manager
I am responsible for a team of 9 Switch Engineers. We design, expand and maintain CPWN’s voice network. We are responsible for the switch sites in Manchester and Birmingham. We work on “traditional” switching platforms and on next generation voice over IP switches. We help to ensure that CPWN’s 1.3 million LLU customers have a stable voice service. We are also responsible for the routing of voice traffic (telephone calls) making sure that they get to the correct destination as efficiently as possible.
EDUCATION:
I studied Building Surveying at the University of Central Lancashire, Preston.
WORK EXPERIENCE:
Left University before the end of my degree as it was obvious to me that my career was not destined to be in Building. I took a temporary post at Telewest Communications (now part of Virgin Media) as a customer support agent. I moved on from this into a technical role doing datafill (sort of programming) on switches (telephone exchanges). I was then offered a job at Marconi (a manufacturer of switches) working as a datafill engineer. I was made redundant by Marconi and found a job at Opal Telecom (now known as Carphone Warehouse Networks) as a Reseller Support Agent (kind of customer support). After a while I then moved onto the switch team doing the sort of work that I had done at Telewest. At that time the team consisted of only three engineers (me being one of them). The team then grew and I was promoted to a Senior Engineer, this was followed by a further promotion to the job of Switch Manager.
SKILLS REQUIRED FOR THE JOB:
- Technically understand voice networks and switches.
- Be able to adapt to new technologies such as 21st Century Voce over IP networks.
- The ability to manage skilled engineers making sure that they are developing within their role.
- Time Management skills ensuring that the requirements of the voice network are met whilst allowing time to help other parts of the business with their specific requirements.
- An element of project management is required as I need to plan network upgrades and expansion whilst making sure that this fits into other pieces of work being undertaken by other engineering groups.
BENEFITS OF THE JOB:
- Being part of a company with great ambition.
- The ability to progress your career if you show the potential.
- Company benefits such as a pension scheme, sharesave, health care and Carphone Warehouse Discounts.
CAREER GOALS:
To grow the CPWN voice network into one of the biggest voice networks in the UK. To continue to learn all about new technologies and further develop my technical and management career within Carphone Warehouse Networks.