Cambridge Nationals

R001 Revision Guide – June 2014

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Information for Learners

Many employees work remotely from their main office with their daily routine organised for them by a manager. This manager will be responsible for scheduling the work of each employee so that the needs of the customer are best met. (Scenario 1)

Customer feedback is a useful method of gauging the effectiveness of employees. (Scenario 2)

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Scenario 1

Cable Ties Ltd is a company that specialises in installing and maintaining cable television systems. The company employs seven Cable Technicians and provides each of them with a smartphone to help them complete their work. Each Cable Technician is required to sign an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) before they are issued with their smartphone. As part of this AUP, each technician has to agree not to download any Apps other than those included with the smartphone when it is issued.

At the end of each day, Jackie, the Office Controller, looks at all the jobs that have been booked and creates a work schedule for the next day for each technician. These work schedules are then remotely synchronised with the technicians’ smartphones.

At the start of the day, and when a job is completed, each technician contacts the next customer on their schedule to confirm that the planned visit is still convenient.

Cable Ties Ltd has some ‘priority’ customers. A call from a ‘priority’ customer must be dealt with within four hours of being received. When such a call is received, Jackie will make any necessary changes to work schedules for the day. Updated work schedules are then sent remotely to the smartphones of any Cable Technicians affected by the change.

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Scenario 2

Jackie, the office controller, wants to collect feedback from customers. She is not sure whether to ask customers to fill in a paper-based form while the technician is at their premises or to ask them to give feedback online after the technician’s visit. Jackie knows that whichever method she chooses, she will receive a lot of feedback. She would like to be able to link the feedback from each customer to the job to which it refers.

Marcus has just started working for Cable Ties Ltd as a Cable Technician and his work is being monitored for his first four weeks. When he completes a job, he has to send an SMS message to Jackie, with the word ‘Done’ and the job reference. This information is then used to monitor the time that Marcus takes to complete each job.

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Preparation

In order to prepare for the examination, you should find out the features of smartphones and how these can be used to support the day-to-day work of a travelling technician.

This should include:

the use of wired and wireless technology to transfer information to portable devices and the benefits and drawbacks of doing so

how information and data can be stored on portable devices

possible drawbacks of providing technicians with smartphones.

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You should also research into:

legal and moral restrictions on the use of personal and other data

methods by which personal data can be protected

methods of storing data and information that is no longer required for day-to-day use

methods of tracking the work of travelling technicians

methods of collecting and using data about customer satisfaction

the impact of the use of ICT on the efficiency of businesses.

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LO1Input, Output & Storage

Input Devices (keyboard, mouse, microphone)

Output Devices (monitor, speakers, printer)

Storage Devices (hard drive, flash drive)

A ‘USB’ is not any of the above – you probably mean a flash drive – and that’s

storage, not input or output

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LO1Storage & Connectivity

Storage & Connectivity Devices:

Optical discs (CD & DVD)

Magnetic media (Internal & External HDD, tape)

Solid State Drives (SSD)

Memory cards & Flash Memory

Network devices (modems, routers)

Cloud Storage

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LO1Smartphones

Features

Relate features specifically to day to day work of a travelling technician

Apps

Diary software, Syncing with office

Methods of communication

SMS, Calls, Email

Advantages & Disadvantages of giving technicians smartphones

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LO1Application Software

Specifically:

Communications software

Web browsers

Apps for portable devices

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LO1Monitoring Employees

Using GPS location tracking

Monitoring internet use and comminicatons

GPS and Sat Nav are not the same thing!

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LO2Data Storage

File formats:

Proprietary formats: .doc, .xls, .ppt, .fla, .wma, .aac

Open formats: .rft, .pdf, .csv, .exe, .txt, .mp3, .wav

Date storage technologies

Local and removabe media

Remote storage (offsite storage, cloud storage)

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LO2Security

Security measures to be taken when storing data:

Network/Computer Security

Usernames/Passwords

Access rights/permissions

Document Security

Passwords

Other ways to restrict access to or editing of content

How and why data is encrypted

Physical security to prevent loss of data/devices (e.g. locked doors)

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LO2Connectivity

Be able to give definitions and uses of each:

Wired:

USB, Firewire, Ethernet, HDMI

Wireless:

Wifi, Bluetooth, Infrared

LO2Connectivity

Be able to state the benefits and drawbacks of:

Wired connections

Wireless connections

A benefit is a good feature or an advantage.

A drawback is a bad feature of a disadvantage.

If you’re asked about implications, you need to look at the benefits and the drawbacks

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LO2Connectivity

Mobile data transmission – 3G & 4G

Remote methods – Email, Internet, Cloud, P2P

Security methods – data encryption

How the following impacts choice of method:

File size, transfer speed, future-proofing, data security, user needs

Factors effecting transfer speed:

Bandwidth, router, technology

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LO2Connectivity

Factors affecting the appropriate optimisation of electronic files (e.g. download speeds, quality of product)

How to connect a computing device to an existing wireless network:

Network name – SSID

Use of security keys

Firewalls for public and private networks

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LO2Data Capture Methods

Online & Paper-Based Forms

Automated Data Capture: control system sensors, barcode readers, RFID, NFC

How can following factors affect choice of method:

Nature of information to be collected, cost, availability, ease of use, data security

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LO2Data Capture Methods

How to design data capture forms to obtain specific information

How to code information for use in spreadsheet or database

Data validation methods

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LO2Storing Data

How to use backup and recovery systems:

Data storage media, backup frequency, archiving, automated vs manual systems

How the following factors can affect the choice of method:

Cost, ease of use, availability, data security

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LO3Diary Management (DMS)

What is DMS?

What can DMS do?

Appointments, reminders, syncing

How is DMS accessed?

Mobile app/cloud

Closed/open – Access Rights

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LO3 & LO4Smartphone Drawbacks

Consider:

How organisations monitor employees:

GPS location tracking, monitoring internet use, monitoring communications

How legislation effects business computer users:

Health & Safety, Data Protection, Copyright, Computer Misuse

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LO3 & LO4Smartphone Drawbacks

Moral and ethical issues:

Use and abuse of personal and private data

Cyberbullying

Monitoring individuals

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LO3 & LO4Smartphone Drawbacks

Implications and consequences for organisations of data loss:

Legal implications

Impact on customer

Impact on employees

Impact on organisation

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LO4Legislation

Computer Misuse Act

Health and Safety at Work Act

Data Protection Act

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act

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LO4Monitoring Individuals

CCTV

Swipe or RFID cards

Key logging

Mobile phone triangulation

Cookies

Call monitoring / recording

Electronic consumer surveillance (loyalty cards)

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LO4Acceptable Use Policies

What are they?

What might they include?

Relate to legal, moral and ethical