What does it buy you?
What does the Realtime Systems Administrator certificate buy me? Will my clients understand and appreciate the meaning of this additional certificate? How can I make it work for me?
The Realtime Systems Administrator Certificate program is one of NCRA’s newer additions to its Training and Certification Division. This program provides indepth training on the provision of realtime to an overview of the currently available realtime viewer software programs, as well as invaluable troubleshooting solutions. In addition, there is information exchange among the trainers and the participants on various hardware and software options to improve your realtime service performance and offering.
The questions for most NCRA members are: What does this buy me? Will my clients understand and appreciate the meaning of this additional certificate? How can I make it work for me? The answers to each of these questions are individualized, depending on your particular focus, but there are some universal advantages to this program.
1. Knowledge is power, and the knowledge you gain from the very experienced Realtime Systems Administrator trainers is tremendous. The Realtime Systems Administrator Guide that you receive as part of the training is a resource for the many technical pitfalls that await each of us on a realtime assignment.
2. Solving a client’s connection issue is the perfect opportunity to point out the Realtime Systems Administrator training you received that enabled you to do so. It is also a further opportunity to educate them on hiring certified reporters at every level — from traditional reporting through Internet realtime. Never pass up an opportunity to tout your personal accomplishments, as well as your standards for your reporters. The more you mention and promote such education and training, the more your clients will begin to expect and appreciate your qualified staff.
The Realtime Systems Administrator program is constantly evolving as technology advances. In addition to the NCRA trainers, the major vendors of realtime software viewers also attend to provide updates, support, and technical troubleshooting on their particular products. The Realtime Systems Administrator committee is currently adding the provision of realtime to iPads and tablets to its syllabus. It continues to update its training as new technologies become available.
The training is structured over a day and a half, followed by an opportunity to take the test right away — no time to forget what you’ve learned! During the training portion, in addition to the formal speakers, various support personnel will be available to assist you on specific issues/system setup, and the dialogue is somewhat free-flowing — you actually learn a lot from the participants sharing questions and personal experiences. There’s also a good bit of humor injected — at least when I trained! The testing follows the half-day session at assigned times and requires you to connect, within 15 minutes, to two different realtime viewers (there may or may not be a few pitfalls to address). And you immediately have your results, pass or fail. If you do not want to test immediately or are not successful, you can sign up for the test at a future testing event.
So, to answer the question, what does the Realtime Systems Administrator certificate buy you? Confidence! The confidence to take the step to provide realtime services; the confidence to set up, troubleshoot, and successfully connect your clients; and, finally, the confidence to do what you do best: write flawlessly!
