IELTS LISTENING
COMPUTER SYSTEM
Randhir Gotra: Hello. I’m Randhir Gotra from the technology department.
Dave Hadley: Ah, yes. Good. I’m Dave Hadley thanks for coming to see me.
Randhir Gotra: That’s okay. I believe he wants us to do some work for you.
Dave Hadley: Yes, that’s right. I’m responsible for students Admissions to the college. And, I use a computer system to help process student enrollments and to do the time tableing. But it really doesn’t suit the way we work these days. Q21 It’s over 10 years old, and although it was fine when it was first introduced, It’s just not good enough now.
Attempt Listening Full Test….
Randhir Gotra: Okay. What problems are you experiencing?
Dave Hadley: Well, 20 years ago, the college was quite small and we didn’t have the numbers of students or tutors that we have now.
Randhir Gotra: So the system can’t handle the increasing volumes.
Dave Hadley: Well, Q22 there’s a lot more data now and it sometimes seems the system has crashed. But in fact, it just takes ages to go from one screen to the next.
Randhir Gotra: Right, Is that the only problem?
Dave Hadley: Well, that’s the main one. But Q23 there are others in the past doing the time tableing was quite simple, but now we have a lot more courses and what’s made it complicated is that many of them have options.
Randhir Gotra: Right? But the system should allow you to include those.
Dave Hadley: Well, no, it doesn’t. It was supposed to and a few years ago, we did ask someone from the technology’s department to fix it, but they never seemed to have the time.
Randhir Gotra: Are there any other issues with system?
Dave Hadley: Well, I’ve been given extra responsibilities, and so I have even less time to do the time tableing. If there was anything you could do run dear to make the process more efficient, that would be really helpful.
Randhir Gotra: Well, it sounds like you could do with an assistant, but that’s obviously not possible. So what about having an online system that students can use to do their scheduling?
Dave Hadley: How would that work?
Randhir Gotra: Well, Q24 it may mean less choice for students, but we could create a fixed schedule of all the courses and options, and they could then view what was available and work it out for themselves.
Dave Hadley: That sounds great.
Randhir Gotra: Okay, so um, we’ll need to decide whether or not to improve the existing system or to build a completely new system. Well, Q25 I’d much prefer to have a new system. Quite frankly, I’ve had enough of the old one.
Dave Hadley: Okay, that’ll probably take longer. Although it may save you money in the long run.
Randhir Gotra: When were you hoping to have this in place?
Dave Hadley: Well, it’s January now and the new intake of students will be in September. We need to start processing admissions in the next few weeks.
Randhir Gotra: Really?
Dave Hadley: Well, it will take more than a few weeks, I’m afraid. As an initial estimate, Q26 I think we’ll be looking at April or May to improve the existing system. But for a new system, it would take a least nine months. That would be October at the earliest. What are the next steps if we are to have a new system?
Randhir Gotra: Well, the first question is, do you have support from your Q27 senior management?
Dave Hadley: Yes, I’ve already discussed it with them on their also keen to get this work done.
Randhir Gotra: Okay, because I was going to say that’s the first thing you need to do and without that we can’t go ahead.
Dave Hadley: Yes, I’ve done that.
Randhir Gotra: That’s good. Actually, they mentioned that there’s probably a form I need to complete to formally start the project. Yes, that’s the next thing you need to do. I’ll send you an email with a link so you can fill it in online. It’s called a Q28 project request form.
Dave Hadley: Okay, great, and then what happens?
Randhir Gotra: Well, I have a list of things, but I think the third thing you should do is see Samir. He’s our analyst who will look at the system and identify what needs to be done.
Dave Hadley: Okay. Can you send me his contact details and I’ll set up a Q29 meeting with him?
Randhir Gotra: Okay, that’s good. So we should soon be able to get a team together to start the work.
Dave Hadley: Some members of our team work in different locations, so it’s not easy to have face-to-face meetings.
Randhir Gotra: That’s okay. I’m used to having Q30 conference call providing they’re not late at night.
Dave Hadley: Right. So I’ll send you details of the team, and if you could set up a call, that would be great.
Randhir Gotra: Okay, I’ll do that.
Dave Hadley: Thanks.