Lock Stock

As mobile phones continue to take on board attributes of our cameras, stereos and TVs, both staff and the public need more education to cope.

Which three words will Tony Blair always be remembered for?

The answer to that question is ‘Weapons’, ‘Mass’ and ‘Destruction’, but the ones I had in mind were ‘Education’, ‘Education’, ‘Education’… three words that excited a whole nation when he first became Prime Minister. After a decade of broken promises and spin, we’re all a lot more cynical, but the actual message is still valid. Education needs to be a priority.

Don’t worry; I’m not about to launch my manifesto formy own political party. It’s just as mobile phones develop, get more complex and offer new opportunities, there’s a need for us dealers to educate ourselves, and the public in general.

For example, most customers have grown up with phones such as the Nokia 3310, 6310i and the Sony Ericsson K700i. Those were tough phones – drop them, and they’d get back up. I think I once called the Nokia 6310i the Roy Keane of mobile phones! But in recent weeks, there’s been a spate of stories in Fone about faulty LCD’s. Nowadays, with the bigger screens, high-res cameras and all the extra features, something has to give; now phones are not as strong as they used to be.

It’s actually quite logical – the bigger the screen, the more likely it is to break. We just need to educate users to the fact that you can’t give the Nokia N95 or the HTC TyTN II the same physical treatment as you would a Nokia 6230i.

Another example is Mobile TV, which has been a bit of a non-starter for us in the UK. Take up has been slow and the public have been generally apathetic towards it. But when we went out to get opinions for a feature on our “Love Your Mobile” TV show (www.fonedoctors.com/lym), the reaction to our demos was quite phenomenal. Those who would never have previously considered such a product were amazed at how good it was. I’d say of the 40 people filmed, more than three-quarters were pleasantly surprised. So, if operators and TV companies can better educate the public on this, we could have our next big winner.

But it’s not just public education; for an industry that is so dependant on knowledge, we have so little formal training and no recognised industry qualification. The IT industry has recognised qualifications such as MCSE or Cisco certification, but where is something similar in our industry? Is our industry any less important than IT? And trust me, after recently searching for new engineers for our service centre, I know how hard it is to find the right skills.

That’s why I must commend the Fone Academy for at least trying to bridge this huge training gap, but there’s a lot more to be done. Knowledge and education are vital to our industry’s continued development, yet the few training courses that are out there are your typical corporate rubbish. If I do attend, it’s normally just for networking purposes. I can think of very few where I’ve actually learnt anything.

We need to get some more challenging courses out there, and develop some meaningful qualifications. Only then will we realise the true potential of our industry.