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  1. #1
    Senior Tech 100+ Posts Jhonjon's Avatar
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    MFP/IT Technician.

    Hi! Our company hired I.T to work as I.T/MFP technician because they said that most of the machines needed to configure locally or to the network. We will assist and provide necessary training to them in the field for two to three months in trouble shooting MFP machines. Do you think is it better to train an MFP technician to become an I.T or vice versa and WHY?!

  2. #2
    Master Of The Obvious 10,000+ Posts
    MFP/IT Technician.

    blackcat4866's Avatar
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    Re: MFP/IT Technician.

    I think that I.T. personnel should work on I.T., and technicians should work on the hardware. Is there any particular reason that you would send your employees out to work on something they are completely unfamiliar with? Is it some sort of a test to see who can adapt the best?

    If you could only have one or the other, I would probably select technicians for the majority. The largest part of the work is mechanical, not I.T. Most technicians have some minimal I.T. skills, but in my experience less I.T. personnel have the requisite mechanical skills.

    Ideally I would have a mix, 3 wrenches for 1 electron chaser, some of those being able to cross over as needed. Does that answer your question?
    =^..^=
    If you'd like a serious answer to your request:
    1) demonstrate that you've read the manual
    2) demonstrate that you made some attempt to fix it.
    3) if you're going to ask about jams include the jam code.
    4) if you're going to ask about an error code include the error code.
    5) You are the person onsite. Only you can make observations.

    blackcat: Master Of The Obvious =^..^=

  3. #3
    Senior Tech 100+ Posts Jhonjon's Avatar
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    Re: MFP/IT Technician.

    Quote Originally Posted by blackcat4866 View Post
    I think that I.T. personnel should work on I.T., and technicians should work on the hardware. Is there any particular reason that you would send your employees out to work on something they are completely unfamiliar with? Is it some sort of a test to see who can adapt the best?

    If you could only have one or the other, I would probably select technicians for the majority. The largest part of the work is mechanical, not I.T. Most technicians have some minimal I.T. skills, but in my experience less I.T. personnel have the requisite mechanical skills.

    Ideally I would have a mix, 3 wrenches for 1 electron chaser, some of those being able to cross over as needed. Does that answer your question?
    =^..^=
    Indeed Mr. Blackcat...Thanks' for your reply!

  4. #4
    RTFM!! 5,000+ Posts allan's Avatar
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    Re: MFP/IT Technician.

    Its no match. I though about this the other day how i forget that what seem simple to us make others phobic.
    We here techs gets dragged thru IT problems on a daily basis and some of the time you need to fix something unrelated to get the job done.
    Like if the router finds itself reset and nothing else works right the one thing they really what fixed is the printer...
    Whatever

  5. #5
    Retired 10,000+ Posts
    MFP/IT Technician.

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    Re: MFP/IT Technician.

    Quote Originally Posted by allan View Post
    Its no match. I though about this the other day how i forget that what seem simple to us make others phobic.
    We here techs gets dragged thru IT problems on a daily basis and some of the time you need to fix something unrelated to get the job done.
    Like if the router finds itself reset and nothing else works right the one thing they really what fixed is the printer...
    I got called out a couple of years ago by a major customer when people were having trouble printing to a MP C3503. When I got there, I found out that those who could not print also were not able to access any network resources, including the internet. Connected my laptop to the C3503 and was able to print. Also some of the users in that building could print and access the internet. Another symptom of the problem was that the only ones having trouble were those who had turned their computers off the night before. Connected my laptop to the network and sure enough, no DHCP. Their current IT was a total F up. He was trying to replace the main router because people could access the internet, therefore the router had to be the problem. Didn't even think to check the DHCP server. Since I could not get in touch with the IT, I told the executive I was working with what I found.

  6. #6
    ALIEN OVERLORD 2,500+ Posts fixthecopier's Avatar
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    Re: MFP/IT Technician.

    Our tiny shop has 4 mechanics and 2 IT. i am sure that some of the issues that are IT related can take hours to correct and could really mess up that 4.5 calls a day the industry ask for. Even the instructor at the last Ricoh school said they should be kept separate. I think the IT people who are forced to do the mechanical work will quit when they find a job that is only IT. I think that mechanics that are forced to learn and do IT will quit when they find an IT only job.
    The greatest enemy of knowledge isn't ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge. Stephen Hawking

  7. #7
    Field Supervisor 500+ Posts
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    Re: MFP/IT Technician.

    I have worked in both situations. It works better most of the time to have separate IT and mechanical techs. It is nice to have cross training, if it;s a quick fix either way, then it helps the customer, they don't have to wait.

  8. #8
    Service Manager 1,000+ Posts
    MFP/IT Technician.


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    Re: MFP/IT Technician.

    If you're doing a lot of installs, sell document management software and run remote assistance software your IT should be busy enough doing IT.

    Becoming a good copier tech techs a few years of non-stop troubleshooting. There's no way to be great at both.

  9. #9
    Service Manager 1,000+ Posts
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    Re: MFP/IT Technician.

    Catch 22..IT trained tech feels turning screwdrivers is below him/her, Copy tech doesn't feel like he/she is paid enough to be an it tech, if you can find a tech that is willing to learn the IT side, do whatever you can to retain them.. Emujo

  10. #10
    Senior Tech 100+ Posts Jhonjon's Avatar
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    Re: MFP/IT Technician.

    Our manager said if we hire I.T to become an MFP technician, Two birds in one stone?! It will take time and perseverance maybe, possible or failure who knows it depends on the person... Thanks for your comment guys...

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