Day 5

Sadly I do not have a photograph for this post. 

Today was the final day of my work experience. I accompanied Kaine to a customer's home just outside of London. On the journey over though, I used Kaine's laptop to move product information from one website to another. The website is for Forest Elite's Manager's other company, PlusGold  This required me to access the backends of two versions of the website, and to copy the information of the products from the old one into new directories on the new site. 

We eventually reached the customer's home. Her SONOS sound system in her house was acting up and cutting out, so myself and Kaine used specialised software to identify errors and send them to SONOS themselves. This information allowed Kaine and a SONOS engineer on the phone to work out the solution to the problem, which was simply to relocate the SONOS box - a nearby Wi-Fi router was interrupting it's signal. 

We were then supposed to be going to another customer's home, but sadly he had to cancel as he was away from home at the time we were going to be there. So instead we went to return to the office... Which turned out to take 2 and a half hours longer than to get to where we were. 

When we arrived, I began moving the product information between the two websites again. As I got into doing so, I found I could move the I formation quicker than I could while in the van. Sadly I did not complete moving the profiles over, but Kaine will move over the remaining 12 soon. 

And then the day was done, and I returned to Kaine's home for the last time in the week.

Working for Forest Elite has been very intriguing. I've seen and used some fascinating technologies, some which are completely new to me. I've met some great people like Gav, and the customers we assisted. And I've also achieved a great insight as to what my Uncle does for a living. 

I will definitely keep a job in IT as something to aspire to in the future. 

Day 4

Today we returned to the office, and Kaine and Gave were doing maintenance jobs on the systems show home most of the day. I was set some computer based tasks. 

The first was to complete a brochure for Forest Elite that could be supplied to customers to tell them about what the company does. Kaine already had about 50% of it done in PowerPoint, so my job was simply to complete it. This largely required pulling information from the website and transferring it into the brochure. I also searched for and added illustrative images. The brochure has been sent to the Managing Director, who will go over it with Kaine soon. 

The next task was simply to maintain the website. To do so, I accessed the 'back end' of the site (where one makes changes to the 'front end' public website) and tweaked some things that were required to change. The first was the button which lead to the page for the show home, which needed to be completely revamped. Using my copy of Photoshop, I created a new button, and programmed it into the system. This button is now in use publicly. 

Next, I had to compose descriptions for the pages for CCTV products and the Showhome, which can be found here:

http://forestelite.com/index.php/services/securitysolutions

http://forestelite.com/index.php/j-stuff/our-demo-facility

And finally, I did a thorough link check, which required me to go through the entire public website and check if every hyperlink works and, if any didn't, repair them. The only link I found which was broken was the link at the bottom of the website which leads to the page for the Showhome. This was rectified. 

Day 3

Today we returned to the same home as we were in yesterday to try and install the Q-Wave system again, but all attempts were unsuccessful, so Kaine will have to figure out a new solution. The morning was also spent demonstrating the changes to the system to the Client. 

After this, we travelled to another home in Birmingham to try to repair its automated curtains, who would open and close, but not be stopped in place. However, as Kaina and Gav went to modify the physical computer system, they found that the previous installers had made the arrangement unnecessarily complex, so a large amount of time was spent simplifying it. The client for this job was not present while we were. 

I was tasked with using the curtain remote to, by cycling through each set, find out the channels each curtain was on. This left was left for the Client so she could use the Curtains once she arrived.

And at the end of the day, Kaine a colleague in setting up a CCTV system in a computer. He used FaceTime to speak to him, and remote desktop access on his laptop to watch his Colleague's work. 

Day 2

Today, we travelled to Birmingham to meet with one of the customers and do some work on the home system they had installed in their house, which was a loft conversion. With this business, workers are rarely situated in the office for more than a day a week, as a majority of the work is elsewhere on customer's properties. 

We met with Kaine's colleague Gav when we arrived at the property, who had the job of installing and resting various pieces of equipment around the home. He also assisted Kaine through the day. 

One task of the day was 'Snagging', which is essentially fixing errors in the control system one by one. For example, the system had trouble streaming music from Spotify through Sonos and the house's speakers, and also fixing the Wi-Fi connection's access to the Internet. I shadowed Kaine through doing this. 

Another job which needed doing was assigning the lighting on the computer system, so the client could control it using an App on his Tablets. This involved identifying the Drivers for the lights, and inputting them into the software which controlled them. Drivers are wireless devices that control lighting according to commands from the computer system. Also, lighting 'Scenes' were programmed into two on-wall keypads, so the client could activate the lights in Pre-decided configurations. In order to work out these Scenes, we were required to discuss with the client and also his interior designer, to try and decide on what would be best to do.

Towards the end of the day, I was tasked with trying to get a piece of software working that would allow the screen of the home computer, through the use of a wireless connection, to have its display shown on a Television screen. However, the computer ran on Windows 8, which this system appears to be incompatible with, so Kaine has had to research a new solution. 

After demonstrating the new 'Scenes' to the client, we departed to meet with a new client who was also in Birmingham, to discuss installing the system in their new home they had recently purchased. The meeting was longer than expected however, as the gentleman who was required to make some of the larger decisions arrived late from his work. The family will get in contact with Forest Elite soon. 

Day 1

Today, my Uncle, Kaine (whose work I'll be shadowing through this week) took me to the main office of Forest Elite where he works. The business specialises in fitting and maintaining smart home systems - Computer systems which control in-home tech such as lighting, home cinema systems and motorised curtains and blinds. 

The first job I shadowed was a small maintenance job. The office is situated on the property of Mick, the head of the business. The house is used to demonstrate the Forest Elite's work. The house has a Home Cinema system, which has a rack of various equipment within it for use in entertainment. One particular piece of equipment was refusing to output sound to the Cinema's speakers, so Kaine had to try and figure out the problem. Eventually, he simply rebooted the Amp (the device acting up) and the problem was rectified. 

After this, Kaine dealt with an order from a customer, who wanted automated curtains and lights fitted in his home. The customer had listed what they wanted and where, so Kaine went through Control 4's catalogue to choose the items needed for the installation, and used this to build up an order form for the customer. Control 4 are the main manufacturer Forest Elite use for their smart home systems. 

After this, I assisted Kaine in fixing a Security Camera at the property's entrance. The camera has a controllable, pivoting stand, but it was not responding to control commands. So, we had to require both the camera and control panel correctly, so it could be controlled. 

And finally, the 'Cottage' on the property (a small guest house) needed to have its wireless control system for the lights added. This required the installation of 'Pucks', which are small units that are attached to the wiring of the lighting system's circuit which allow both normal switches and wireless controls to control the lights' activation and intensity. 

When the day was done, we returned to Kaine's home, in which I'd be staying for the rest of the week.