AUTOMATED QUALITY DEFICIENCY REPORT UTILIZING COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE SMART CARD

THE CURRENT PROCEDURE FOR REPORTING COMMUNICATIONS ELECTRONICS SYSTEM SOFTWARE FAILURE USING PAPER FORMS IS ERROR-PRONE, TIME-CONSUMING AND INEFFICIENT. WHEN NUMEROUS TROUBLE REPORTS ARE ROUTINELY GENERATED, AS IS THE CASE WITH LARGE SYSTEMS OR SYSTEMS DEPLOYED AT MULTIPLE SITES, THE DEFICIENCIES OF PAPER FORMS MAY SEVERLY INHIBIT THE PROBLEM RESOLUTION PROCESS. THE TIMELY CORRECTION OF FIELD FAILURES IS A CRITICAL COMPONENT OF SYSTEM MAINTENANCE. NOVACOM, INC. WILL STUDY THE FEASIBILITY OF REPLACING THE USE OF PAPER FORMS WITH AN ON-LINE TROUBLE REPORTING SYSTEM, OR QUALITY DEFICIENCY REPORTING SYSTEM, WHICH WOULD STORE THE TROUBLE REPORTS, ALONG WITH A RECORD OF THE C-E SYSTEM CONFIGURATION, ONTO DURABLE, NONVOLATILE SMART CARDS. FAILURE INFORMATION COULD BE ENTERED AT A TERMINAL, TRANSFERRED TO THE SMART CARD AND EITHER UPLOADED OR PHYSICALLY FORWARDED TO THE APPROPRIATE PERSONNEL FOR RESOLUTION. EMPHASIS WILL BE PLACED ON THE FEASIBILITY OF INTEGRATING THE QDRS INTO EXISTING C-E SYSTEM MAINTENANCE EQUIPMENT. THE STUDY SHOULD REVEAL THAT A QDRS WOULD IMPROVE THE SPEED AND ACCURACY OF TROUBLE REPORT ENTRIES AND EXPEDITE RESOLUTION OF SOFTWARE FAILURES.