Janay Doctor is a telecommunications manager for Comcast-Spectacor, which
owns the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL and the Philadelphia 76ers of the
NBA.
"I have always been interested in information technology," says Doctor.
"As a child I was always interested in computers, how they worked, and any
other technical things that were around. However, I was introduced to the
telecommunications field by my current supervisor. She brought me in and taught
me the basics about telecommunications."
One of Doctor's responsibilities is to configure and modify voice and data
communications systems. Another responsibility is to install or coordinate
the installation of new or modified hardware, software and programming modules
of telecommunications systems, as well as to arrange service and maintenance.
Doctor also communicates with telecommunications vendors to get pricing
and technical specifications for hardware, software and services.
"Some enjoyable and interesting aspects of the telecommunications fields
are definitely the users -- the random problems and questions that the users
ask -- and the how the technical field is constantly changing," says Doctor.
"The telecommunications and technical fields are always changing so you
will not find one person that knows everything. Because there are things in
telecommunications that are changing every day, there will always be a challenge."
What qualities help you succeed in this career? "Some helpful qualities
for a telecommunications manager to have is [to be] outgoing, personable,
patient, [and a] people person," says Doctor.
Here are the qualities that telecommunications manager Laura Geery-Larson
says are important: "You have to have a lot of integrity. You have to always
do what [you say you will]. If you make a commitment, you have to follow through
with it. In our environment here we will do a lot of events, so basically
when I meet with the clients for the first time, whatever I tell them is what
I need to make sure that I can fulfill. You know, it's integrity, honesty
-- the same good qualities that come with any type of position."
Geery-Larson is the vice-president of telecommunications for STAPLES Center
in Los Angeles. STAPLES Center is the home of four professional sports teams
-- the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers, the NHL's Los Angeles
Kings and the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks.
What does Geery-Larson most enjoy about her job? "Just all the people that
you come in contract with, day to day," she says. "And I enjoy coming up with
creative solutions to keep costs down and do large events, [and to] make sure
cabling paths are out of line of site so [there are] no trip hazards -- things
like that."
Telecom managers increasingly need to understand business issues and IT
in addition to telecommunications, says telecommunications consultant John
Glover.
"[For] a person that has grown up in the telecom ranks, they might think
about the information component of a data center, and [for them] that's a
learning curve," says Glover. "For the data guy, he may not understand all
of the physical attributes of the telecommunications infrastructure, and that's
a learning curve. So if you can walk and talk on both sides of the street
then that's a bit of a gift.
"For someone who wanted to get involved in the telecommunications
area, I would want very much to be able to understand not only telecommunications,
per se, but the rest of information technology, primarily because of the heavy
amount of convergence we're running into these days," Glover adds.