Network Operation Center (NOC) is a centralized location where IT teams can continuously monitor the performance and health of a network. The Network Operation Center serves as the first line of defense against network disruptions and failures.
Through the NOC (pronounced “knock”), organizations gain full visibility into their network, are able to detect anomalies and take steps to prevent problems by quickly resolving the issues as they emerge.
The goal of any Network Operation Center is to maintain optimal network performance and availability, and to ensure continuous uptime through the assistance of the personnel called the NOC Engineer.
The NOC Engineers have several duties in order to ensure the smooth running of the network:
Network Operation Center Engineers are assigned to the following:
- Work with Network element monitoring systems (IManager VNC, ICTOM and OSS) to detect faults and prevent power outage on the tenant’s equipment (MTN, 9mobile, Airtel).
- Troubleshoot, query and escalate environmental alarms on the tenant’s equipment and liaise with Field Teams/Engineers to resolve faults.
- Track all escalations and follow through till all faults have been properly resolved.
- Fault handling and escalation (identifying and responding to power related faults on the tenant’s equipment).
- Maintenance of technical documentation of processes and procedures used throughout an operation.
- Responsible for managing complaints and ensuring that they are resolved.
- Ensure the work is done according to the company’s policy.
The Network Operation Center Engineer will be involved in both proactive and reactive monitoring of technology systems within their scope. NOC has the following types of monitoring management:
- Monitoring Management: This involves using monitoring systems like the ICTOM , IManager, RMS in detecting events and to ensure that the current status of the tenant’s site is known.
- Event Management: This focuses on determining the significance of the event in order to trigger the appropriate response. For example, when the site is on warning alarm the NOC Engineer will escalate quickly to the Field Engineers so as to prevent outage on the site. Also when outage occurs without any prior alarm, the NOC Engineer will also escalate quickly so that the FSE would rescue the site on time.
- Incident Management: This is a situation where the NOC Engineer records the incident and correlates it with the events. The NOC Engineer also communicates with the Field Engineers to resolve the issue at the site.
- Problem Management: The NOC Engineer would correlate incidents with existing problems and also participate in the identification of new problems.