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The kind of documents you need are dependent on the needs of your customer. I am currently documenting telecommunication equipment. The kinds of things that need to be decribed are as follows:
How do I physically install it.
How do I get it running.
How do I install and operate the management software.
How do I maintain the equipment and troubleshoot problems.
What are the features of the system and what do they mean or how does it fit in the big picture.
That is what is required by my customer. Whether it meets your customer's needs is another question. You may notice that really these are the same kinds of questions you answer when you document software.
How do I install it.
What do I do with it.
How do I get it to do what I want.
What do I do when things go wrong.
MILspec is only necessary for the military or if that is what your customer prefers. It isn't required by the telecom business, nor the semiconductor business; the other hardware writing that I have done.
As a side note, your customer is really choosing a bad time to try and break in to the telecom business. The news is full of telecom companies laying off workers by the thousands and tens of thousands.
Michael Shea
XpressLink Documentation
c/o ICN AS BA ST2
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Michael Shea
ROSEMANN & LAURIDSEN GMBH
Am Schlossberg 14, D-82547 Eurasburg, Germany
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