[ D4RKCYDE ] yyyyyssssyyyy yyyyssssyyyy yyyy yyyy |lS$$ yy $$$$ """" yy lS$$ S$$$ S$$$$$ $$$$$ S$$$ssssyyyy :|lS$ ""yyyyy yyyyssss|lS$ lS$$ lS$$ yy$$$$$ lS$$ yy lS$$ :||lS$$ $$$$$ :|lS yy :|lS |lS$ |lS$ $$ yyyy |lS$ $$ |lS$ :::|l ,$$$$$ ::|l $$ ::|l :|lS :|lS $$ :|lS :|lS $$ :|lS ::::| $$$$$$ :::| $$ :::| ::|l ::|l $$ ::|l ::|l $$ ::|l .:::: ....... .:::....:::: .::| ..:|....:::| .::| .. .::| [ F41TH ISSUE 11: DECEMBER 1999 ] . . : | +-->--[ hybrid * http://www.f41th.co.uk +-->--[ jasun * http://hybrid.dtmf.org +-->--[ zomba * #darkcyde EFNET +-->--[ digiphreq * mailto: hybrid@f41th.co.uk +-->--[ downtime * mailto: hybrid@dtmf.org +-->--[ force * mailto: zomba@f41th.co.uk +-->--[ dynamics * mailto: submissions@f41th.co.uk +-->--[ bodie * +-->--[ microwire * +-->--[ shadowx * FIND US ON THE PSTN, B1TCH +-->--[ sintax * +-->--[ shylock * (C)D4RKCYDE 1997,98,99+ +-->--[ mata * | * +------------------------------------------------------------------+ | DEFINTLY NOT BABT APPROVED.. : . So close it has no boundaries... A blinking cursor pulses in the electric darkness like a heart coursing with phosphorous light, burning beneath the derma of black-neon glass. A PHONE begins to RING, we hear it as though we were making the call. The cursor continues to throb, relentlessly patient, until... o A balanced source of essential oday for optimum health. o Enriched with infoz, for maintaining healthy a lifestyle. DOSAGE ------ ADULTS AND KODE KIDDIES OVER 12: Swallow one article a day, preferably with a meal. FOR SAFETY ---------- Do not use if inner seal is broken. Do NOT exceed the recommended daily intake. STORE IN A COLD WET PLACE. THIS PRODUCT CONTAINS 0DAY WHICH, IF TAKEN IN EXCESS, MAY BE HARMFULL TO VERY YOUNG CHILDREN. KEEP OUT OF SIGHT AND REACH OF CHILDREN. Women who are pregnant or planning a preganancy should not take any any oday or infoz supplement without first consulting their doctor or clinic. BEST BEFORE END JAN 2000 INGREDIENTS: . : | +-> editorial <-+ hybrid +-- - - +-> bt system x local networks overview <-+ hybrid +-- - - +-> guide to the caribbean phone system <-+ dynamics +-- - - +-> installing freebsd <-+ jonp +-- - - +-> optical phiber technologys <-+ tradeser +-- - - +-> nodal disaster recovery procedure <-+ shadowx +-- - - +-> back-to-back mux p-phone delivery <-+ shadowx +-- - - +-> telephone network synchronisation overview <-+ shadowx +-- - - +-> ntl telephone sync network <-+ shadowx +-- - - +-> bt system x nou css rough overview <-+ anon +-- - - | : . WERD. gBH, 9X, B4b0, #darkcyde, ch1ckie, michella, asshair, lewp, dynamics, c&w crew, chrak, tip, elf, subz, guidob, grip, type0, icesk, ep1d, mortis, siezer, knight, a5m0, epoc, aktiver, ch4x, psyclone, oclet. . : | +-> editorial <-+---------------------------------------------- --- -- -- f41th issue 11. December 1999. Well, f41th has been running for exactly 1 year as of the release date of this issue, so werd to all that have helped out with f41th right from issue 1 (december 98) upto this current issue. This issue we have some real good articles from various peeps, aswell as the usuall lEEt stuff you can expect from the ONLY UK based h/p mag. (THE REAL LONDON UNDERGROUND). Well, as usuall I'm gonna grep the http-access-log from a darkcyde public website, and show you some scary hits that we've had. Lets start with a few hits from various .gov's. (I cant be bothered to organise this all, so I'll just cat the latest hits file into the zine). doj61825.justice.vic.gov.au - - [26/Sep/1999:20:29:55 -0500] "GET /files/faith/faith9.txt HTTP/1.0" 200 145962 doj61825.justice.vic.gov.au - - [26/Sep/1999:20:32:21 -0500] "GET /files/faith/faith9.txt HTTP/1.0" 200 68368 inukshuk.gov.nt.ca - - [28/Sep/1999:12:28:46 -0500] "GET / HTTP/1.0" 200 4599 gw1.vba.va.gov - - [12/Oct/1999:16:42:55 -0500] "GET /images/hybrid2.gif HTTP/1.0" 200 7577 tomichi.its.bldrdoc.gov - - [15/Oct/1999:17:05:01 -0500] "GET /tel.gif HTTP/1.0" 200 9692 sphinx.giss.nasa.gov - - [26/Oct/1999:15:03:09 -0500] "GET /files/faith/faith8.txt HTTP/1.0" 200 361188 proxy34-ext.nt.tas.gov.au - - [28/Oct/1999:21:49:31 -0500] "GET /HTTP/1.0" 200 15575 firewall.camcnty.gov.uk - - [30/Nov/1999:12:14:01 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/shiva.txt HTTP/1.0" 200 29749 digger1.defence.gov.au - - [02/Dec/1999:23:38:44 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/clid-cid.txt HTTP/1.0" 200 31130 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:24:10 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/comint.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 41743 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:24:39 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/swtchhst.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 6792 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:24:50 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/bt_dacs.txt HTTP/1.1" 404 307 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:24:58 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/mer.txt HTTP/1.1" 404 303 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:25:09 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/clid-cid.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 31130 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:25:20 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/mer-ninj.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 21644 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:25:31 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/netserve.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 35952 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:25:41 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/autodin.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 33617 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:25:48 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/5esscomp.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 12099 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:25:56 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/wb900.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 9965 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:26:01 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/5ess2000.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 7434 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:26:07 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/9x_cit.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 13910 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:26:11 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/9x_dcom.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 31034 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:26:17 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/9x_gets.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 16493 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:26:23 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/9x_lmpt.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 26039 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:26:32 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/9x_swr8.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 14907 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:26:35 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/9x_scntp.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 59421 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:26:38 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/9x_tel.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 30818 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:26:45 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/adbis1.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 5054 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:26:51 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/audix.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 4344 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:26:56 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/bcss.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 5132 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:27:01 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/dc_btpag.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 5556 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:27:08 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/dc_ionic.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 5982 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:27:11 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/dc_line.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 17963 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:27:15 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/dc_sysad.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 3238 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:27:26 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/rboc-ixc.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 15995 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:27:27 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/mm1admin.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 45212 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:27:34 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/satpstn.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 6016 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:27:45 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/shiva.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 29749 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:27:56 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/ss7.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 40610 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:27:59 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/ss7.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 40610 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:28:25 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/ukphreak.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 54173 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:29:18 -0500] "GET /gbh.gif HTTP/1.1" 200 24063 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:29:27 -0500] "GET /heh.jpg HTTP/1.1" 200 11608 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:36:57 -0500] "GET /files/faith/faith9.zip HTTP/1.1" 200 132096 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:37:09 -0500] "GET /files/faith/faith10.zip HTTP/1.1" 200 181208 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:37:23 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/x-local.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 8229 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:38:04 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/systemx.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 18034 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:38:14 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/mer-hack.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 51608 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:38:45 -0500] "GET /files/faith/faith7.zip HTTP/1.1" 200 68367 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:38:58 -0500] "GET /files/faith/faith8.zip HTTP/1.1" 200 129329 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:39:05 -0500] "GET /files/faith/faith6.zip HTTP/1.1" 200 23196 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:39:30 -0500] "GET /files/faith/faith5.zip HTTP/1.1" 200 57209 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:39:35 -0500] "GET /files/faith/faith4.zip HTTP/1.1" 200 62004 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:40:08 -0500] "GET /files/faith/faith2.zip HTTP/1.1" 200 34844 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:40:10 -0500] "GET /files/faith/faith3.zip HTTP/1.1" 200 51026 ncb30.ncb.gov.sg - - [10/Dec/1999:23:40:26 -0500] "GET /files/faith/faith1.zip HTTP/1.1" 200 38757 incrs01.incirlik.af.mil - - [05/Aug/1999:01:16:41 -0500] "GET /main.html HTTP/1.0" 200 16128 kelsatx2.kelly.af.mil - - [09/Aug/1999:13:09:57 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/autodin.txt HTTP/1.0" 200 33617 huachuca-wps.army.mil - - [16/Aug/1999:11:15:53 -0500] "GET /main.html HTTP/1.1" 200 16128 nrad-ascend-ppp22.nosc.mil - - [24/Aug/1999:14:47:56 -0500] "GET /main.html HTTP/1.1" 200 16128 luey.nawcad.navy.mil - - [31/Aug/1999:11:41:58 -0500] "GET /main.html HTTP/1.0" 200 16796 thor.clf.navy.mil - - [31/Aug/1999:16:18:46 -0500] "HEAD /main.html HTTP/1.0" 200 0 bfce.heidelberg.army.mil - - [01/Sep/1999:04:45:22 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/dc_btpag.txt HTTP/1.0" 200 5556 bfce.heidelberg.army.mil - - [01/Sep/1999:04:48:54 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/9x_swr8.txt HTTP/1.0" 200 14907 bfce.heidelberg.army.mil - - [01/Sep/1999:04:56:47 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/9x_lmpt.txt HTTP/1.0" 200 26039 bfce.heidelberg.army.mil - - [01/Sep/1999:05:11:12 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/9x_gets.txt HTTP/1.0" 200 16493 mudd.csap.af.mil - - [14/Oct/1999:12:16:11 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/autodin.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 33617 mudd.csap.af.mil - - [14/Oct/1999:13:57:00 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/mer-ninj.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 21644 mudd.csap.af.mil - - [14/Oct/1999:14:32:58 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/clid-cid.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 31130 mudd.csap.af.mil - - [14/Oct/1999:15:23:38 -0500] "GET /files/faith/faith1.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 114945 mudd.csap.af.mil - - [14/Oct/1999:15:31:00 -0500] "GET /files/faith/faith2.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 99468 mudd.csap.af.mil - - [14/Oct/1999:15:37:33 -0500] "GET /files/faith/faith3.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 142384 mudd.csap.af.mil - - [14/Oct/1999:15:50:53 -0500] "GET /files/faith/faith4.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 186594 mudd.csap.af.mil - - [14/Oct/1999:16:18:07 -0500] "GET /files/faith/faith5.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 166108 mudd.csap.af.mil - - [14/Oct/1999:16:18:40 -0500] "GET /files/faith/faith6.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 63595 mudd.csap.af.mil - - [14/Oct/1999:16:31:32 -0500] "GET /files/faith/faith7.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 196105 mudd.csap.af.mil - - [14/Oct/1999:16:34:45 -0500] "GET /files/faith/faith8.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 361188 mudd.csap.af.mil - - [14/Oct/1999:16:55:00 -0500] "GET /files/faith/faith9.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 145962 gatekeeper01.stricom.army.mil - - [25/Oct/1999:16:50:15 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/autodin.txt HTTP/1.0" 200 33617 gatekeeper01.stricom.army.mil - - [25/Oct/1999:16:53:00 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/ HTTP/1.0" 403 288 gatekeeper01.stricom.army.mil - - [25/Oct/1999:16:53:07 -0500] "GET /files/ HTTP/1.0" 403 275 gatekeeper01.stricom.army.mil - - [25/Oct/1999:16:53:11 -0500] "GET / HTTP/1.0" 200 14200 gatekeeper01.stricom.army.mil - - [25/Oct/1999:16:54:54 -0500] "GET /files/ HTTP/1.0" 403 275 gatekeeper01.stricom.army.mil - - [25/Oct/1999:16:54:56 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/ HTTP/1.0" 403 288 mudd.csap.af.mil - - [28/Oct/1999:13:46:42 -0500] "GET /main.html HTTP/1.1" 200 625 mudd.csap.af.mil - - [28/Oct/1999:13:47:50 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/mer.txt HTTP/1.1" 404 303 mudd.csap.af.mil - - [28/Oct/1999:13:48:00 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/mer.txt HTTP/1.1" 404 303 mudd.csap.af.mil - - [28/Oct/1999:13:48:04 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/mer.txt HTTP/1.1" 404 303 mudd.csap.af.mil - - [28/Oct/1999:13:48:12 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/mer-ninj.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 21644 mudd.csap.af.mil - - [28/Oct/1999:13:48:34 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/swtchhst.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 6792 mudd.csap.af.mil - - [28/Oct/1999:13:49:18 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/9x_gets.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 16493 mudd.csap.af.mil - - [04/Nov/1999:10:38:31 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/mer-ninj.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 21644 cio84.med.navy.mil - - [11/Nov/1999:08:36:52 -0500] "GET /images/hybrid2.gif HTTP/1.0" 200 7577 herbert.mksit.mil.se - - [12/Nov/1999:10:54:50 -0500] "GET / HTTP/1.0" 200 15630 fsgate03.randolph.af.mil - - [30/Nov/1999:02:03:54 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/autodin.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 33617 ip199133.nvl.army.mil - - [06/Dec/1999:08:18:22 -0500] "GET /files/faith/faith4.txt HTTP/1.0" 200 186594 mudd.csap.af.mil - - [07/Dec/1999:15:50:31 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/mer-ninj.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 21644 neptune.bt.com - - [04/Aug/1999:04:48:30 -0500] "GET /main.html HTTP/1.0" 200 16128 web-3.access1.bt.com - - [24/Nov/1999:07:42:47 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/ss7.txt HTTP/1.0" 200 40610 web-2.access1.bt.com - - [30/Nov/1999:06:00:18 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/comint.txt HTTP/1.0" 200 41743 web-2.access1.bt.com - - [30/Nov/1999:06:06:54 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/clid-cid.txt HTTP/1.0" 200 31130 web-2.access1.bt.com - - [30/Nov/1999:06:07:56 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/autodin.txt HTTP/1.0" 200 33617 web-2.access1.bt.com - - [30/Nov/1999:06:08:50 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/9x_gets.txt HTTP/1.0" 200 16493 web-2.access1.bt.com - - [30/Nov/1999:06:10:43 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/ss7.txt HTTP/1.0" 200 40610 web-2.access1.bt.com - - [30/Nov/1999:06:22:07 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/ukphreak.txt HTTP/1.0" 200 54173 web-3.access1.bt.com - - [30/Nov/1999:09:49:45 -0500] "GET / HTTP/1.0" 200 15697 web-3.access1.bt.com - - [30/Nov/1999:09:49:55 -0500] "GET /gbh.gif HTTP/1.0" 200 24063 web-3.access1.bt.com - - [30/Nov/1999:09:54:38 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/ukphreak.txt HTTP/1.0" 200 54173 web-3.access1.bt.com - - [30/Nov/1999:09:55:25 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/9x_gets.txt HTTP/1.0" 200 16493 web-3.access1.bt.com - - [30/Nov/1999:10:05:49 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/comint.txt HTTP/1.0" 200 41743 web-3.access1.bt.com - - [30/Nov/1999:10:06:03 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/autodin.txt HTTP/1.0" 200 33617 web-3.access1.bt.com - - [30/Nov/1999:11:59:25 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/bt_dacs.txt HTTP/1.0" 404 295 web-3.access1.bt.com - - [01/Dec/1999:06:33:59 -0500] "GET / HTTP/1.0" 200 15697 web-3.access1.bt.com - - [01/Dec/1999:06:34:03 -0500] "GET /gbh.gif HTTP/1.0" 200 24063 web-3.access1.bt.com - - [01/Dec/1999:06:47:25 -0500] "GET /gbh.gif HTTP/1.0" 200 24063 web-3.access1.bt.com - - [01/Dec/1999:06:48:17 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/ukphreak.txt HTTP/1.0" 200 54173 web-3.access1.bt.com - - [01/Dec/1999:06:48:46 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/satpstn.txt HTTP/1.0" 200 6016 web-3.access1.bt.com - - [01/Dec/1999:06:48:58 -0500] "GET /gbh.gif HTTP/1.0" 304 - web-3.access1.bt.com - - [01/Dec/1999:06:49:01 -0500] "GET /gbh.gif HTTP/1.0" 206 6830 web-3.access1.bt.com - - [01/Dec/1999:06:55:23 -0500] "GET /gbh.gif HTTP/1.0" 304 - web-3.access1.bt.com - - [01/Dec/1999:06:55:26 -0500] "GET /gbh.gif HTTP/1.0" 206 6830 web-3.access1.bt.com - - [01/Dec/1999:06:55:40 -0500] "GET /gbh.gif HTTP/1.0" 304 - web-3.access1.bt.com - - [01/Dec/1999:07:05:50 -0500] "GET /gbh.gif HTTP/1.0" 304 - web-3.access1.bt.com - - [01/Dec/1999:10:48:42 -0500] "GET /gbh.gif HTTP/1.0" 200 24063 web-3.access1.bt.com - - [01/Dec/1999:10:48:42 -0500] "GET /heh.jpg HTTP/1.0" 304 - moose.alien.bt.co.uk - - [23/Nov/1999:09:33:54 -0500] "GET /files/faith/faith5.txt HTTP/1.0" 200 166108 moose.alien.bt.co.uk - - [23/Nov/1999:09:40:05 -0500] "GET /files/faith/ HTTP/1.0" 403 281 moose.alien.bt.co.uk - - [23/Nov/1999:09:40:11 -0500] "GET /files/ HTTP/1.0" 403 275 moose.alien.bt.co.uk - - [23/Nov/1999:09:40:16 -0500] "GET / HTTP/1.0" 200 15630 moose.alien.bt.co.uk - - [23/Nov/1999:09:40:17 -0500] "GET /heh.jpg HTTP/1.0" 200 11608 moose.alien.bt.co.uk - - [23/Nov/1999:09:46:35 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/ss7.txt HTTP/1.0" 200 40610 moose.alien.bt.co.uk - - [23/Nov/1999:09:56:23 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/autodin.txt HTTP/1.0" 200 33617 pc5219.comnet.bt.co.uk - - [01/Dec/1999:05:19:42 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/bt_dacs.txt HTTP/1.1" 404 307 pc5219.comnet.bt.co.uk - - [01/Dec/1999:05:21:22 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/clid-cid.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 31130 pc5219.comnet.bt.co.uk - - [01/Dec/1999:05:27:46 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/bt_dacs.txt HTTP/1.1" 404 307 pc5219.comnet.bt.co.uk - - [01/Dec/1999:05:28:25 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/wb900.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 9965 pc5219.comnet.bt.co.uk - - [01/Dec/1999:05:29:45 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/9x_tel.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 30818 pc6023.btlabs.bt.co.uk - - [02/Dec/1999:09:59:51 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/comint.txt HTTP/1.0" 200 41743 alpxy1.att.com - - [20/Oct/1999:14:18:13 -0500] "GET /files/faith/faith10.txt HTTP/1.0" 200 215337 kcpxy5.att.com - - [29/Oct/1999:14:08:10 -0500] "GET /images/hybrid2.gif HTTP/1.0" 200 7577 qrtph005.nortelnetworks.com - - [22/Sep/1999:10:02:48 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/ss7.txt HTTP/1.0" 200 40610 eharh015.nortel.com - - [19/Nov/1999:13:03:36 -0500] "GET /files/faith/faith3.txt HTTP/1.0" 200 142384 qrtph003.nortelnetworks.com - - [07/Dec/1999:13:04:55 -0500] "GET /images/hybrid2.gif HTTP/1.0" 200 7577 qrtph003.nortelnetworks.com - - [07/Dec/1999:13:05:12 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/mer-hack.txt HTTP/1.0" 200 51608 qrtph003.nortelnetworks.com - - [07/Dec/1999:13:13:45 -0500] "GET /files/hybrid-files/mer-ninj.txt HTTP/1.0" 200 21644 Scary.... NASA, STIRCOM COMMAND, BT, A&TT, NORTEL... All reading f41th, that must be saying somthing. Heh. Well, as you can see, quite alot of activity happening on the webserver. Oh yeah, that reminds me, D4RKCYDE/f41th have a new website. It appears that http://darkcyde.phunc.com is down, so instead goto http://www.f41th.co.uk in the future, you never know, one day if we can be botherd to do some good html, it MIGHT, just MIGHT look presentable. As of always, f41th can always be downloaded from my own website at http://hybrid.dtmf.org/ Hmm... I cant figure out what to say in this editorial, so I guess I'll stop writting bullshit now. Just have a MAD ELITE NEW YEAR:) Oh, and be carefull, the Millenium bug might brake your familly "pc" :/ You'd best call someone to come round and check its Y2K complient.... Stupid f00ls. They'll be giving Vacinations at local hospitals soon, so you dont catch the MILLENIUM BUG... Heh, I'm gonna quit this shit now, cuse I'm sure you wanna read f41th:) and not the twisted/warped shit comming from my clinicly insane membrane.. :/ Later:) . : | +-> overview of system x local networks <-+---------------------- --- --- _\'/_[ Gwhan Burn'in Haxorz ]_\'/_ The UK PSTN an overview. SYSTEM X/X LOCAL AXE hybrid. _\'/_gBH Throughout the UK, BT implement system x (a digital switching system operated on a hierarchical chain of network operation groups). In this article I am going to explain some of the myths about the UK phone system, and expand on a few things that "they" would'nt want you to know. 1st, well look at the different facilities that are offered to internal BT staff within the X LOCAL network. (Customer Line Testing on Digital Exchanges...) Automatic Exchange Billing/Direct Transfer of Accounting in SYSTEM X, the mechanical subscribers meter is replaced by "software". The subscribers meter then becomes an area of "memory" allocated to each subscriber, and is incremented after each call in much the same way as the old meter was "stepped" after every unit. These individual areas of "memory" within the exchange, can be "read out" automatically and the information transfered to the Accounts Department in a very short period of time. This brings us on to the "REMOTE ACCESS" privaleges of the BT engineer, depending on level of clearnace. Manipulation of Exchange Equipment from a central point. For example, taking faulty equipment out of service, or making subscribers temporary out of service (TOS) for non-payment of bills. Monitoring Exchange Performance.. to ensure that faults in the exchange equipment do not effect service to other customers. Monitoring Network Performance - to ensure that defciencies or faults in the Network do not affect service. All these facilities can be controled from a central point. This central point can control a number of exchanges and can be situated virtually anywhere. (Network MASTER PLAN...) Network Structure. The UK Digital Network consists of several different types of Excahnges formaing the Trunk Network, TN and the Local Network, LN. The Trunk Network consists of 54 Digital Main Switching Units (DMSU) System X exchanges which are FULLY interconnected. Each of these exchanges has a number of Digital Local Switching Units (DLSU) conencted to it and the DMSU catchment area encompasess several old group Switching Centre Areas. The Local Network is divided into cells.. These "cells", contain a MINIMUM of two Digital Local Switching Units (DLSU) one a System X Exchange and the other an AXE10 Exchange. One of these Exchanges is used as the Digital Cell Centre Exchange (DCCE) and has access to the DMSU via its Digital Distribution Frame. The other Exchange also uses the DCCEs Frame for access to the DMSU. Remote Concentrator Units (RCU) are conencted to the DLSU's for their own system type. Where Analogue Local Exchanges have been replaced by several concentrators this is known by BT's internal staff as a Remote Concentrator Centre (RCC). In isolated/rurral areas of the UK, such as certain areas of Scotland, UXD5 exchanges are still in place. So, here is a diagram of what the UK SYSTEM X network plan looks like... (fear the ascii) ....................... _____ . | ALE | . |_____| . : > Non Switched | . = > Non Swicched _____ _|____ . ______ | RCU |__| DLSU | . | | |_____| | DCCE |--------| DMSU | |______| . |______| ............................... _____ | | . : | . | RCU |____| | . : | . _____ _____ |_____| | . : | . | RCU | | RCU | | . : | . |_____| |_____| Local Call | . : | . | | ..............|........ : | . | | | : | . | | | _:__|_ . __|___ __|___ |__________| |==========.==| DLSU |======| DLSU | | DMSU |__________.__| DCCE |______| DLE | |______| . |______| |______| : | . | : | . | Local Call : | ......|........................ : | | : | | _:__|_ | | | | | DMSU |________________| |______| In this diagram, the RCU's could also be RSS's, or more comonly known as AXE 10... Here is a brief explanation of the different sections of this diagram.. DMSU == Digital Main Switching Units, these exchanges provide the fully interconnected Trunk Network. Each DMSU catachment area comprises of several old GSC areas. The DMSU switches traffic both between and within the catchment area. DLSU == Digital Local Switching Unit. The DLSU is a general term for a digital local proccessor exchange. It provides a service for its customers. It can also provide other facilities dependant on its role as either DCCE or a DLE. DCCE == Digital Cell Centre Exchange. This is the exchange that provides a service for its own customers and act as a "parent" for the RCU's. It can act as a parrent for anolouge exchanges, terminating analouge line plant and performing call charging as required. It concentrates, and then forwards traffic to the DMSU's for parented Analouge Local Exchagnes (ALE) without their own DMSU links. The DCCE also switches Tandem Traffic between other DLSU's. DLE == Digital Local Exchange. This is a DLSU which may host RCU's and also act as a parent for those ALE's which have been replaced bt RCU's parented upon the DLE. (As Above). RCU == Remote Concentrator Unit. These are connected to the DLSU and are considered as part of the DLSU which it is conencted to. UXD5 == This is the digital exchange developed from the CDSS1 (Monarch) PABX. DJSU == Digital Junction Switching Unit. This is a switching unit situated in a high telephone density local network which performs a tandem switching function, but has NO customer conenctions. TXD identification... An alternative method of labelling types of exchanges is by number. This number forms part of the exchanges Network Nodal Identity, which appears on ALL documents specific to the particulr exchange. Some examples of the TXD numbers/identification... TXD NUMBER EXCHANGE -------------------------------- 3 RCU [ SYSTEM X ] 5 UXD5 6-9 DLSU [ SYSTEM X ] 13 DMSU 14 DJSU 30 OSSU 31 OCHC 53 RCU [ AXE 10 ] 56-59 DLSU [ AXE 10 ] 80-86 OMC THE OMU ALL BT Digital Exchanges are served by an Operations and Maintenance Centre (OMC). An OMC is the computer equipment required ro collect data from exchanges and is served by a number of users... Traffic, Sales, Operation and Maintenance Unit (OMU) etc.. An OMU is the office where engineers monitor the performance of the exchanges, and recieve the data collected by the OMC. There are sometimes more than one OMU connected to each OMC. The OMU is an office containing visual display TERMINALS which are connected to the Operations and Maintenance Centre (OMC). The OMU staff can send or recieve information via the OMC to control the exchanges conencted to it. The OMU hierarchy is as follows... ISOS == In Service Operational Support PSG == Product Support Group (BT Headquaters) DSG == District Suppoer Group (BT District staff) OMU == Operations and Maintenance Unit (BT OMU staff) The OMU staff... System Manager == The system manager has overall responsibility for the operation of the OMC computer and its terminal network. OMU Manager == The Operations and Maintenance Unit Manager (UM) has an overall responsibility for all exchanges controlled by his/her OMU. Maintenance Control Officer (MCO) == Is responsible for making sure that all tasks and routines have been carried out. This is achived will the help of the Maintenance Officers. His/Her job is also reffered to as the Task Co-ordinating Duty (TCD). Maintenance Officer (MO) == This dude is responsible for dealing with and clearing tasks pressented to him by the MCO. There are three types of Local System X exchange. They are... Digital Principle Local Exchange (DPLE), Large Local Exchange (LLE), Medium Local Exchange (MLE). THE END... (OF THE BEGGINING). _\'/_gBH. . : | +-> guide to the caribbean phone system <-+---------------------- --- --- /-------------------------------------------------------\ 8-0-9 MCI PHEER PHACTOR 809 INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS PRESENTS.... \-------------------------------------------------------/ greetz to: Bahamas Calling Card System,MCI,Cable&Wireless Francis Acosta (Head of Switching,Belize Telecom) Barclays Offshore Banking,International Data Proc (Nevis) Trinidad & Tobago Tourism and Codetel (Dominican Rep) haxxor greetz to: Redblade, GPI, _dave, Psyclone, Node8, Kuji, Polymorph hybrid and Shadow --------------------------------------------------------- A GUIDE TO 809 THE CARIBBEAN PHONE SYSTEM AND NUMBERING AND ROUTING ARRANGEMENTS --------------------------------------------------------- ........:Ver 1.1 for F41th and Echelon Magazine:....... "GaNjA sMoKiN sWiiTchMON, cAbLe and dA wIrEleSs jAmAicA lImIted" INTRODUCTION ------------ Welcome to 809 mon! In my opinion, the Caribbean is one of the most interesting NPAs around. Mainly because it is international but also national, meaning that technically it is an NPA like any other, but in real terms it has far more autonomy than an "ordinary" number area. For instance, many islands in this area have their own international circuits and ground stations, meaning that calls to this area do not all necessarily go through mainland US and some calls from South America end up entering the US via international gateways situated in this area. Call to numbers in the former 809 area from the US are considered to be international. I aim to inform the reader of the details of the telephone system in this area, and this would not be complete without giving Numbering Zone 5 a mention. The Caribbean is in fact split between Zone-1 (US) and Zone-5. Zone-1 includes islands that are US-friendly, and most British and European colonies. Caribbean countries in Zone-5 have either obtained their own IDC code by breaking away from Zone-1 or are nations that have a particular dislike of being in the US NPA, for political reasons mainly, which is why Cuba and Haiti are not in Zone-1. Sometime in the near future, Trinidad and Tobago will obtain their own International Dialling Code. Trinidad and Tobagos' code will be +296 - Zone-2, as codes in Zone-5 have been used up. Until recently, the Caribbean was unified under NPA 809, with exchanges assigned to the individual islands. Since then, the old 809 NPA has been divided into smaller NPAs, with most groups of islands being assigned their own NPA. NPAs of the Caribbean and Exchanges ----------------------------------------------------------------| | ISLAND | NPA | EXCHANGES | ----------------------------------------------------------------| | Anguilla | 264 |497-2xxx Valley | | | |497-3xxx Valley | | | |497-4xxx Lopse | | | |497-6xxx Sisal | |---------------------------------------------------------------| | Antigua and Barbuda | 268 |960 460 461 462 463 464| |---------------------------------------------------------------| | Bahamas | 242 |Andros 369 | | | |Bimini 347 | | | |Coopers Town 362 | | | |Deadman's Cay 337 | | | |Eight Mile Rock 348 | | | |Eleuthera 332 | | | |Farmer's Hill 338 | | | |Freeport 349 | | | | 352 | | | | 353 | | | | 673 | | | |Fresh Creek 368 | | | |George Town 336 | | | |Green Turtle Cay 363 | | | |Harbour Island 333 | | | |High Rock 345 | | | |Hope Town 365 | | | |Inagua 339 | | | |Lucaya 373 | | | |Marsh Harbour 367 | | | |North Andros 329 | | | |Nassau 322 | | | | 323 | | | | 324 | | | | 325 | | | | 326 | | | | 327 | | | | 328 | | | | 344 | | | | 354 | | | | 355 | | | | 348 | | | | 392 | | | | 393 | | | |Marsh Harbour 367 | | | |North Andros 329 | | | |New Providence 321 | | | | 356 | | | | 359 | | | | 361 | | | | 364 | | | |Rock Sound 334 | | | |San Salvadore 331 | | | |Spanish Wells 335 | | | |Treasure Cay 366 | | | |West End 346 | |---------------------------------------------------------------| | Barbados | 246 |Bridgetown 230 420 421 | | | | 422 423 424 | | | | 425 426 427 | | | | 428 429 430 | | | | 431 432 433 | | | | 434 435 436 | | | | 437 438 439 | |---------------------------------------------------------------| | Bermuda | 441 |Devonshire 231 232 233 | | | | 234 235 236 | | | | 237 238 239 | | | | 291 292 293 | | | | 294 295 296 | | | | 297 298 299 | |---------------------------------------------------------------| |British Virgin Islands | 284 |Road Town 494 | | | |Long Swamp 495-2 | | | |Little Apple Bay 495-4 | | | |Virgin Gorda 495-5 | | | |Others 496 | |---------------------------------------------------------------| | Cayman Islands | 345 |West Bay Road | | | |East Side 947 | | | |Cayman Brac 948 | | | |George Town, | | | |Grand Caym. 949 | | | |Additional Exchange for| | | |George Town and others | | | | 946 | |---------------------------------------------------------------| | Dominica | 767 |Roseau 445 446 447 | | | | 448 449 | |---------------------------------------------------------------| | Domincan Republic | 809 |Azua 521 | | | |Bani 522 | | | |Barahona 524 | | | |Boca Chica 523 | | | |Bonao 525 | | | |Constanza 539 | | | |Cotui 585 | | | |Elseibo 552 | | | |Guerra 526 | | | |Hato Mayor 553 | | | |Higuey 554 | | | |Imbert 581 | | | |La Romana 556 | | | |La Vega 573 | | | |Magua 584 | | | |La Matas de Farfan 536 | | | |Moca 578 | | | |Monte Cristy 579 | | | |Neyba 527 | | | |Puerto Plata 586 | | | |Rio San Juan 589 | | | |Salcedo 577 | | | |Samana 538 | | | |Santiago Rodriguez 580 | | | |Santiago 575 582 | | | | 583 587 | | | |Santo Domingo 530 531 | | | | 532 533 | | | | 535 541 | | | | 542 543 | | | | 544 545 | | | | 546 547 | | | | 549 551 | | | | 560 561 | | | | 562 563 | | | | 564 565 | | | | 566 567 | | | | 568 569 | | | | 574 594 | | | | 595 596 | | | | 597 598 | | | | 682 685 | | | | 686 687 | | | | 688 689 | | | |San Juan de la Maguana | | | | 557 | | | |San Jose de Ocoa 558 | | | |San Cristobal 528 | | | |San Francisco deMacoris| | | | 588 | | | |San Pedro de Marcoris | | | | 529 | | | |Sosua 571 | | | |Valverde Mao 572 | | | |Villa Altagracia 559 | |---------------------------------------------------------------| | Greneda | 473 |Grenville 442 | | | |St Georges 440 441 | | | | 443 444 | |---------------------------------------------------------------| | Jamaica | 876 |Annotto Bay 996 | | | |Balaclava 963 | | | |Black River 965 | | | |Brown's Town 975 | | | |Carlton 968 | | | |Central 967 | | | |Chapelton 987 | | | |Christiana 964 | | | |Discovery Bay 973 | | | |Duncans 954 | | | |Highgate 992 | | | |Irish Town 943 | | | |Kingston 493 921 | | | | 922 923 | | | | 924 925 | | | | 926 927 | 928 929 | | | | 998 | | | |Linstead 985 | | | |Lucea 956 | | | |Mandeville 962 | | | |May Pen 986 | | | |Montego Bay 951 952 | | | | 958 | | | |Montrose 977 | | | |Morant Bay 982 | | | |Negril 957 | | | |Ocho Rios 974 | | | |Old Harbour 983 | | | |Pembroke 969 | | | |Port Antonio 993 | | | |Port Maria 994 | | | |Portmore 988 | | | |Red Hills 944 | | | |Rose Hall 953 | | | |Santa Cruz 966 | | | |Savanna - La Mar 955 | | | |Spanish Town 984 | | | |St Ann's Bay 972 | | | |Stony Hill 942 | |---------------------------------------------------------------| |Montserrat | 664 |All points 491 | |(British. West Indies) | | | |---------------------------------------------------------------| | Puerto Rico | 787 |Adjuntas 829 | | | |Aguadilla 882 891 | | | |Aguas Buenas 732 | | | |Aibonito 735 | | | |Anasco 826 | | | |Aquada 252 868 | | | |Aquirre 853 | | | |Arecibo 878 879 | | | | 880 | | | |Arroyo Patillas 839 | | | |Barceloneta 846 | | | |Barranquitas 857 | | | |Bayamon 251 730 | | | | 740 780 | | | | 785 786 | | | | 787 797 | | | | 798 799 | | | |Cabo Rojo 255 851 | | | |Caguas 258 743 | | | | 744 745 | | | | 746 747 | | | |Camuy Hotillo 262 820 | | | | 898 | | | |Candvanas 256 | | | |Caparra 380 381 | | | | 382 383 | | | | 384 385 | | | | 386 387 | | | | 388 389 | | | | 390 391 | | | | 394 395 | | | | 396 397 | | | | 398 399 | | | |Carolina 250 750 | | | | 752 757 | | | | 762 768 | | | | 769 | | | |Catano 784 788 | | | |Cayey 263 738 | | | |Ceiba 885 | | | |Ciales 871 | | | |Cidra 739 | | | |Coamo 825 | | | |Comeria 875 | | | |Corozal 859 | | | |Culebra 742 | | | |Dorado Toa Baja 796 | | | |Fajardo 860 863 | | | |Florida 822 | | | |Guanica Ensenada 821 | | | |Guayama 864 | | | |Guayanilla 267 835 | | | |Guaynabo 720 731 | | | | 789 790 | | | |Gurabo 737 | | | |Hormigueros 849 | | | |Humacao 852 | | | |Isabela 830 872 | | | |Isla Verde 253 791 | | | |Jayuya 828 | | | |Juana Diaz 837 | | | |Juncos 734 | | | |Lajas 899 | | | |Lares 897 | | | |Las Marias 827 | | | |Las Piedras 733 | | | |Levittown 261 795 | | | |Loiza 876 | | | |Luquillo 889 | | | |Manati 854 884 | | | |Maricao 838 | | | |Maunabo 861 | | | |Mayaguez 254 264 | | | | 265 831 | | | | 832 833 | | | | 834 | | | |Moca 877 | | | |Morovis 862 | | | |Naguabo 874 | | | |Naranjito 869 | | | |Orocovis 867 | | | |Palmas del Mar 850 | | | |Penuelas 836 | | | |Ponce 259 840 | | | | 841 842 | | | | 843 844 | | | | 848 866 | | | |Pueblo Viejo 749 781 | | | | 782 783 | | | | 792 793 | | | |Quebradillas 895 | | | |Ramey 890 | | | |Rincon 823 | | | |Rio Grande 887 | | | |Rio Piedras 250 751 | | | | 753 754 | | | | 756 758 | | | | 759 | | | |Roosevelt Roads 865 | | | |Sabana Grande 873 | | | |Salinas 824 | | | |Santana 881 | | | |Santurce 268 721 | | | | 727 728 | | | |San Germain 892 | | | |San Juan 722 723 | | | | 724 725 | | | | 726 886 | | | | 888 | | | |San Lorenzo 736 | | | |San Sebastian 896 | | | |Santa Isabel 845 | | | |Toa Alta 870 | | | |Toa Baja 794 | | | |Trujillo Alto 729 748 | | | | 755 760 | | | | 761 | | | |Utuado 894 | | | |Vega Alta 883 | | | |Vega Baha 855 858 | | | |Vieques 741 | | | |Villalba 847 | | | |Yabucoa 266 893 | | | |Yauco 856 | |---------------------------------------------------------------| | St. Kitts and Nevis | 869 |St Kitts 465 467 | | | |Newcastle (Nevis) 469 | |---------------------------------------------------------------| | St. Lucia | 758 |All points 452 453 454 | |---------------------------------------------------------------| |St. Vincent&Grenadines | 784 |All points 456 457 458 | |---------------------------------------------------------------| | Trinidad and Tobago | 868 |Arima 642 667 | | | |Barrackpore 654 | | | |Chaguanas 665 671 | | | | 672 | | | |Claxton Bay 659 | | | |Couva 636 678 | | | | 679 | | | |Cross Crossing 657 | | | |Diego Martin 632 633 | | | | 634 637 | | | |Fryzabad 677 | | | |Gasparillo 650 | | | |Guayaguayare 630 | | | |Marabella 658 | | | |Maraval 629 | | | |Mausica 646 | | | |Mayaro 644 | | | |Penal 647 | | | |Piarco 664 669 | | | |Princess Town 655 656 | | | |Point Fortin 648 | | | |Port-of-Spain 622 623 | | | | 624 625 | | | | 627 628 | | | |Roxborough (Tobago)660 | | | |Scarborough (Tobago)639| | | |Siparra 649 | | | |San Fernando 652 653 | | | |San Juan 638 674 | | | | 675 676 | | | |Santa Rosa 643 | | | |St Augustine 645 662 | | | | 663 | | | |Toco 668 670 | |---------------------------------------------------------------| |Turks & Caicos Islands | 649 |Grand Turk 946-2 | | | |South Caicos 946-3 | | | |Providenciales 946-4 | |---------------------------------------------------------------| | U.S Virgin Islands | 340 |Charlotte Amalie, | | | |St Thomas 774 775 | | | | 776 777 | | | | 778 779 | | | |St John 776-6xxx| | | | 776-7xxx| | | |Christiansted, | | | |St Croix 771 773 | | | |Fredericksted, | | | |St Croix 772 | |---------------------------------------------------------------| Note: Some countries have not updated their routing tables to take into account the new NPAs in this region. Should you find yourself on a trunk in one of the non-updated countries, when routing simply use 809 as the area code. Kp2-1-0-809-prefix-number-ST This is possible, as none of the exchanges listed here overlap or conflict, because until recently they were all on NPA 809. This routing might be worth considering, if routing using the new NPA won't work. NETWORK INFRUSTRUCTURE ---------------------- The nature of the Caribbean area - many small islands, makes laying cables to every island a challenging task. As the result, the larger islands are served with submarine cables and tend to act as concentration points for infrustructure. Satellites are also used, these mainly for international calls due to the delay often associated with satellite connections, satellites are making it possible for many nations in this area to have direct links with the UK and Europe meaning that international connections no longer have to go through the US, increasing the autonomy of the telcos in the area. [bermuda-earthstation.jpg] The main hubs, or nodal points in the network, are situated strategically on the larger islands. Historically, the smaller islands were linked together with a VHF Radio and UHF-Microwave system, the latter being pioneered by Cable&Wireless in 1972, what was then the longest island hopping analogue microwave system in the world, spanning the 800 miles between Tortilla and Trinidad, including the French islands. This microwave network is still in use, but over recent years (1991) has been developed further to provide digital transmission and greater bandwidth. [See cwmicrowavemap.jpg] [See microtower.jpg] But, with the advent of the internet, and greater demand for bandwidth, it has become economical to lay fibres to even the smaller islands. Recently, the Eastern Caribbean Fibre-Optic System was inaugerated, stretching from the British Virgin Islands to Trinidad, this system provides high quality undersea international links and ensures that the islands of the Eastern Caribbean have the capacity to keep up with the increased demand for telephone service. [See Ecfs.jpg] More developments are on the horizon in the Eastern Caribbean. Cable&Wireless is constructing an IP network with gateway nodes and network management centres in Antigua, Barbados and Trinidad. A Frame-Relay network is due for completion, to complement the new IP Network. ....]Main Hubs From looking at a map of the main cables in this area [caribbean.gif], the network hubs can be identified. The US Virgin Islands seem to be the biggest hub amd covers the Eastern Caribbean area. It is linked to the US mainland via the Americas-1, Columbus-2 and Florida - St Thomas cables, both with bandwidths of 2.5Gbps each. It is the base of the Eastern Caribbean Fibre-Optic System. It is also linked with Venezuela and Brazil, via the US-Venezuela cable and the Brus, both coaxial with 640ch each. The second part of the Americas-1 also links it with Brazil, and provides 560Mbps of bandwidth. The Columbus-2 (560Mbps) links the US Virgin Islands hub with Palermo in Italy. The hub for the Western Caribbean is Puerto Rico. The Eastern hub is linked with Puerto Rico via the 560Mbps Taino-Carib fibre-optic cable with landing points in US. VI and in Isla Verde and Miramar in Puerto Rico. A coaxial, 4,680 channel cable links San Juan in Puerto Rico with West Palm Beach FL. The TCS-1 coaxial system links Jamaica, Domincian Rep and Colombia with Puerto Rico, offering a capacity of 3,780 channels, before splitting in two with 1,890 channels for Jamaica and Dominican Republic and 1,890 channels of capacity for the Colombian link. Jamaica has become increasingly important, with a new cable linking it with Florida (aptly named the Florida - Jamaica). From Jamaica, a cable links it with Panama and the Cayman Islands. Jamaica is part of the Jamaica-Cayman Fibre Optic System, linking several landing points on the islands involved. [Side note on the Cayman Islands, they actually have the highest number of fax machines per capita than anywhere else and they are in the top ten financial centres, and probably the least know of them all... :D] [Note: this map is a 1996 plan, courtesy of KDD. It leaves out a few of the newer cables, including some US - Venezuela connections and the Cayman-Jamaica Fibre Optic System. Some have been added, but not all, although this map seems to be the best out of the maps currently available online.] Nearly every island has a ground station, providing international links and television services, some of the satellites used include INMARSAT, INTELSAT, and TRICOMSAT. Some reports of Westar IV being used by Nicaragua (505) are floating around, this is unverified. Belize (501) did have a direct satellite link with the UK until last year, but the link died and now all calls are handled by MCI as a primary carrier with secondary agreements with AT&T and Telmex. ....]Switching and Signalling Most of the islands in the Eastern Caribbean have fully digital switching facilities and services that are on a par (if not better) than what we have in the UK. Prices are fairly comparable, although local calls are free. Teledensity is lower in this region as a whole, but efforts made by the telcos are paying off and demand for lines is increasing. ESS and DMS are the main digital switches in use, such is the US influence on the area, for analogue switiching, the Crossbar is the main switch, there are few Step-by-Step/Strowger switches remaining, if any. Signalling for international calls in a combination of SS7 and R1/C5. R1 and C5 are still used fairly extensively, despite digitalisation, mainly due to the reduced demand and revenue from international calls meaning the need for upgrading is less. Background dialling, muting during routing and single-pleep connections are all features of a typical Caribbean C5 connection. Filtering on these connections is intensive and therefore they are always the hardest connections to bluebox. Despite this, they are always interesting to the inquisitive, and have many features such as the ability to drop onto verification trunks for eavesdropping. It is the case with some connections, such as Belize, that the C5 routing and signalling data is digitised onto E1 cables for transit via the US. On reaching Belize it once again becomes inband, meaning that seizing intermediate trunks along the route is impossible. This method might also mean that certain devices could be used to prevent blueboxing, although my knowledge of these devices is minimal. SS7 is increasingly the signalling of choice, although blueboxing will still be alive over there for quite some time. A fully digitised Caribbean is within view in the next 10 years, unfortunatly for blueboxing. ....]Brief Description of the Networks BAHAMAS Nowadays, most business districts in New Providence are serviced via fibre optic cable, and, in 1997 Batelco inaugurated its new fibre optic cable connection to Florida which is owned by BATELCO, AT&T, MCI, Worldcom and telephone companies in Barbados, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Canada, and Trinidad and Tobago. This is in addition to the coaxial BAHAMAS-1 cable (1972) and provides additional capacity for the growing demand for telephone service in the Bahamas. There is also a standard "A" Earth Station, and a new satellite linking Switzerland with the Bahamas was launched in 1998. Many calls to the Bahamas from Europe during the hurricane were routed along this satellite as opposed to the submarine cable due to the adverse weather conditions. Today, BATELCO's modern digital network has a switch capacity for 131,000 lines of which some 109,000 are now in service and just over 98,000 of which are revenue producing. Since 1992 Batelco has increased its lines in service, by over 22,000, an increase of the order of 20%. As a result, increased service has been provided in New Providence, Abaco, Andros, Exuma, Grand Bahama, Long Island, and Eleuthera and elsewhere. By 1995, even the small fishing community at Grand Cay, Abaco had Direct Distance Dial (DDD). So does Sweetings Cay, Grand Bahama, the Current, Rum Cay and Ragged Island. By comparison to other developing countries, The Bahamas have a high fixed-line penetration in the community. The telco is pressing ahead with further modernisation including upgrading of switches. BARBADOS Cable & Wireless BARTEL's telephone system now comprises four DMS-100s, four DMS-10s and several remotes in a fully digital system. SS7 is used as the signalling system. Barbados is on the Eastern Caribbean Fibre-Optic system, and part of the microwave network. A ground station is also in use. BELIZE Belize Telecommunications Ltd operates a mixed analogue-inband and digital telephone system. Most of the country has access to private telephone services, but where these are not available yet, service is provided using payphones in community locations. Most customers are serviced by an analogue switch, notably Crossbar with some on ESS, R1 being the main signalling system in use. For data transfer, DATAPAC is the main system in use and offers speeds of between 300bps and 9600bps. At present, DTN - Data Transport Network is being phased in, offering higher data speeds. Until last year, Belize had a direct satellite link with the UK. All transit calls go via MCI, AT&T being the secondary carrrier and Telmex being the tertiary carrier. CCITT system 5 is the international switching system in use, with signalling being digitally encoded onto E1s at the switching centre. Cellular service uses the AMPS standard, and paging is available. Belize was once on the US numbering plan, but suceeded from it a long time ago. It was given country code 501. JAMAICA Cable and Wireless Jamaica has operated a completely digital (switching and transmission) network since 1992. Its central office switching capacity is supported by numerous Outside Plant Modules (OPMs). These OPMs are small remote exchanges linked to larger host exchanges by fibre optic cable or digital microwave radio. OPMs are currently being installed at an average rate of 30 per year, mainly in rural communities, where mountainous terrain renders traditional methods of service provisioning both difficult and expensive. Jamaica's international telecommunications traffic is shared by two submarine fibre optic cable systems and an earth station with access to an INTELSAT Atlantic Ocean satellite. Under an extensive development programme started six years ago, the number of telephone main lines in service has tripled to 453,102 at the end of November 1998. The company has set itself a target of 500,000 main lines by the year 2000. In early 1997, the Company began deploying Wireless Local Loop (WLL) technology as part of its strategy to provide basic telephone service at a much faster rate, particularly in rural areas. Cable and Wireless Jamaica is also currently working to increase the capacity of the island's cellular network and will shortly begin the phased introductioin of digital service. PANAMA Services in Panama are operated by Cable&Wireless Panama. A mixed network of analogue and digital switching is present at the moment. Many iniatives have been taken by Cable&Wireless to increase teledensity and the number of lines has increased dramatically this year. R1 is the main signalling system in use, although digital systems are beginning to surfice. Digital cellular services are now available. TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO The telephone company for Trinidad and Tobago is Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago, abbreviated TSTT. The company operates a fully digital network, and has done since 1997. The thirty-seven digital switches include 1 DMS 200 Toll Switch, 12 DMS 100 Line Switches, 14 DMS Remote Switching Centres and 10 Outside Plant Modules (OPMs). The Company's network comprises 37 exchanges offering service to approximately 190,000 customers. TSTT maintains two Standard A Intelsat earth stations at Point Lisas and Matura. The Point Lisas Teleport provides an external satellite route out of Trinidad and Tobago. It is equipped with a full auto-track facility, stand-by power and other ancillary equipment which is linked to TEXTEL House and to Piarco International Airport by digital microwave radio. A Digital Microwave System also connects TEXTEL house and the Eastern Caribbean Microwave Station at Morne Bleu. TEXTEL House, Morne Bleu and Matura have been equipped with modern digital multiplexing systems. ....]Cellular Phones in the Caribbean The cellular phone industry in this region is similar to that of the US, predominantly AMPS (analogue) with digital making an entry in the form of TDMA and PCS. Cable & Wireless have introduced digital cellular services in the Cayman Islands, Panama and Barbados. For many islands, cellular services are under the control of the monopoly telco with government regulation. ....]Operating Companies Cable&Wireless is the dominant player in the Caribbean, it is main telco in the region and it's position was inherited as it was the British international telephone company. Since then, it has been granted licenses by the governments of this region to provide telephone services. In most cases, telcos in this region are monopolies. Except for Cable&Wireless; MCI and AT&T are major international carriers. Other telcos do exist, such as Belize Telecom, Bahamas Telecom (Batelco), Puerto Rico PRT, St. Eustatius EUTEL, St. Maarten Telem and Skantel St. Kitts and Nevis. CONCLUSION ---------- I hope that this fairly detailed guide has left you with a better knowledge of the Caribbean phone system. Who knows, it might even come in useful sometime, you could impress people with your k-rad 809 knowledge. If you have any comments or additions to this guide, email me at the following address: inno6@hotmail.com Any I'll probably reply. gtg, calls to make..... "tHaNk-y0u aNd gOoDbYe... CHEEP!..." =8-0-9 INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS= westar - 0wned: 809 |=| ||------|=|------|| |=| /---------------\ | | _ [ |Nicaragua Tel |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|~\ \ |0wned by 809 | | \ \/ | | | \ \ |_______________| | \___________\] Banana Hut HQ "So, NynexPhreak, what's a guard tone?" [Smart guy... CCU] . : | +-> installing freebsd <-+--------------------------------------- --- --- This message contains non-ASCII text, which can only be displayed properly if you are running X11. What follows may be partially unreadable, but the English (ASCII) parts should still be readable. HEH. ==[OpenBSD - How to install and use by JonP.] What you should know. BSD is not one of the most friendlist unices available, FreeBSD and OpenBSD are not for the inexperienced, especially OpenBSD as the only friendly setup tool available to you is called Vi (and in the installition its ed). Another problem people have with BSD is hardware, it doesnt support as much hardware as linux, and might not do for a long time. The Install. Backup all your important stuff, or if your like me(young, stupid and lame) you won't have anything important and you will be safe. The first thing to do is to get yourself a copy of OpenBSD by FTP or CD. FTP is not such a bad choice as OpenBSD is not very big and the CD set costs £20. The files you NEED to get are: base25.tgz (base system) etc25.tgz (config files) bsd (GENERIC kernel) floppy25.fs (boot floppy) (this is only relevant to version 2.5 of OpenBSD). recommended extra files are: man25.tar.gz (man files) comp25.tar.gz (programming stuff) and all the x*.tgz if you want X How to Install. Start by making the boot floppy using RAWRITE in dos/windows or 'dd' in UNIX, e.g: C:\TOOLZ> rawrite floppy25.fs A: or in Linux dd < floppy25.fs > /dev/fd0 boot the the target computer, you will then have to go through the install process (sometimes painfull) now read: ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/OpenBSD/2.5/i386/INSTALL.i386 from the OpenBSD docs as the install process can be a bitch, this file also contains all the information you will need about hardware et al. --[Things to After the install] 1. Add a user. Add a user for general use and IRC etc using the adduser(8) command: # /usr/sbin/adduser this is a simple menu based adduser command which any fewl can work out. If you want the user to be able to use SU then you need to add them the "wheel" group. NOTE: logins can seem to take a long time as it needs to decrypt those long blowfish encrypted passwds 2.1 configure the system. With BSD based systems, things are usally changed in the /etc/rc.* files. If you wish to add your a program to run at start up, add it to /etc/rc.local. Another important file is /etc/rc.conf. this contains configuration options for your system, and example of an rc.conf file is: sendmail_flags=NO # set to "-bd -q30m" for normal uses httpd_flags="-DSSL" # starts httpd with SSL support ... ipfilter=NO ipnat=NO # ipfilter must be YES for this to work. all the options in /etc/rc.local are well commented, so any kiddie like me can work it out. 2.2 Kernel Configuration. Options in the OpenBSD kernel can be set using the program syscntl. for example: # syscntl -w net.inet.ip.forwarding=1 net.inet.ip.forwarding 0 -> 1 However, u may wish these things to be automatic, so by simply adding: net.inet.ip.forwarding=0 in /etc/syscntl.conf. 3. Install extra software. 3.1 Packages. Packages are precompiled programs for OpenBSD which are easy to get and use. 2 packages which you will want to get are pgp and ssh. the packages can be found from the FTP sites and easy to install, for example: # pkg_add ftp://ftp.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/[ver]/packages/[arch]/filename # pkg_add ftp://ftp.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/2.5/packages/i386/pgp-2.6.3-intl.tar.gz 3.2 Ports. The ports collection are a very BSD thing. The ports.tgz file from the OpenBSD ftp site contains a large directory tree containing Makefiles, patches, etc needed to compile programs for OpenBSD. To install a package goto the directory for the port you need, for example: # cd /usr/ports/archivers/unzip, # make # make install the Makefiles will search for a local copy of the source, if it is not found it will go off to a ftp site to get it. --[things you will want to do] 1. Set up PPP PPP can also be annoying in BSD, so save yourself time and use this file: ----------8< /etc/ppp/ppp.conf ------------------ # PPP.CONF default: set log Phase Chat LCP IPCP CCP tun command set device /dev/cuaa0 # 0=COM1 1=COM2 etc set speed 115200 # baud rate set dial "ABORT BUSY ABORT NO\\sCARRIER TIMEOUT 5 \"\" AT OK-AT-OK ATE1Q0 OK \\dATDT\\T TIMEOUT 40 CONNECT" # Assumes PAP or CHAP myisp: set phone [isp phone number] set login set authname [user name] set authkey [passwd] set timeout 120 set ifaddr 10.0.0.1/0 10.0.0.2/0 255.255.255.0 0.0.0.0 add default HISADDR enable dns ------------8<------------------------------------ to dial just do: # ppp -dial myisp 2. Set up NAT (if you want to be a gateway) NAT is quite easy to setup if you just wish to forward all from ppp0, infact the command to do it is commented out in /etc/ipnat.rules ,so just change it so it reads: (the default line in it only maps ports 10000 - 20000 map ppp0 10.0.0.0/8 -> ppp0/32 NOTE: ip forwarding is not setup in the default kernel, to enable type: # /usr/sbin/sysctl -w net.inet.ip.forwarding=1 then add net.inet.ip.forwarding=1 to /etc/sysctl.conf, and enable ipfilter in /etc/rc.conf. 3. Set up firewalling Firewalling in BSD is quite easy, it is done by adding rules to /etc/ipf.rules and enabling ipfirewalling in /etc/rc.conf. the firewall rules are based on simple commands like this: pass out from any to any #allows all outgoing packets pass in from any to any #allows all incoming packet block in log on ppp0 proto tcp from any to any port=telnet #blocks and logs all telnet connections from ppp0 block in log on ppp0 from 192.168.0.0/24 to any block in log on ppp0 frmo 0.0.0.0/32 to any # stop spoofing block in log on ppp0 proto tcp from any to any block in log on ppp0 proto udp from any to any # disallow ALL incoming tcp & udp connections pass in on ppp0 proto tcp0 from any to any port=80 # allow web access to all 4. other networking stuff Networking in OpenBSD is done much the same as Linux for example: # ifconfig ne2 192.168.0.2 netmask 255.255.255.0 up # route add -net 192.168.0.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 ne2 however, the networking information entered in the install program is kept so the network should be fully functional after the install. 4. SSH SSH is automatticly setup when you download and install the ssh package from the openbsd archives. --[The End] . : | +-> optical phiber technologys <-+------------------------------- --- --- ----------------------------------------------------------- | The Basics to Fiber Optics by: Tradeser | ----------------------------------------------------------- Sections ---------------------------------- 1. What Is Fibers Optics? 2. Where Are Optical Fibers Used? 3. How Are Optical Fibers Made? 4. How do Optical Fibers Work? 5. Morse Code 6. ASCII-8 ---------------------------------- ---------------------------------- Where Are Optical Fibers Used? ---------------------------------- Two inventions on the 1960s and 1970s made fiber optics possible. During this time, scientist invented lasers. Lasers are powerful sources of a special kind of light. Other researchers developed optical fibers. An optical fiber is a flexible thread of a very clear glass--thinner than a cat's whisker and up to six miles long. Laser lights can pass through the length of optical fiber ans still shine bright. Because optical fibers can serve as pipelines for light, they also are called light guides. In the mid-1970s, these inventions were teamed together. Now pulses of light flash through optical fibers carrying information and messages over great distances. This important new technology is called fiber optics. Glass fiber are replacing copper wires for may reasons. The fiber are replacing copper wires for many reasons. The fibers are not as expensive for telephone companies to install. They weigh a lot less than copper wires--making them easier for workers to handle. A single four-and-one-half-pound spool of optical fiber can carry the same number of messages as two hundred reels of copper wire that weigh over sixteen thousand pounds. The fibers are better, too, because light is not affected by nearby electrical generators, motors, power lines, or lightning storms. These are often the causes of noisy static on telephones or information errors in computers systems connected by copper wires. As electrical signals pass through copper wire, they become weakened. Devices called repeaters are used to strengthen the electrical signals about every mile along each line. In fiber optic systems, repeaters are needed only every six miles or so to boost the light signal. Experiments have shown that this distance can be stretched many more miles. However, the most important reason for using glass fibers is that they can carry much more information than copper wires. A single pair of threadlike glass fibers can transmit thousands of telephone calls at once. A cable as thick as your arm and containing and containing 256 pairs of copper wires would be needed to handle the same number of conversations. Pairs of fiber (or wires) are used for two-way communications. One fiber carries your voice to the listener at the other end of the line. The other member of the pair transmits the other person's reply to you. Optical fibers are less expensive, easier to install, and more dependable than copper wires. With light from lasers, they can transmit thousands of times more information than electricity in copper wires. The new technology of fiber optics is a better and faster way to communicate. ---------------------------------- Where Are Optical Fibers Used? ---------------------------------- All over the world, the copper wires of telephone trunk lines are being replaced be modern glass optical fibers. One of the first attempts to use an optical fiber system in the United States was in 1977 in Chicago. There, two offices of the Bell Telephone Company and a third building for customers were connected successfully by twenty-four light-carrying glass fibers. The fibers were threaded through telephone cabled already under the city streets. The total length of the fibers was about 1.5 miles. In 1978, Visa-United Telecommunications at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida, was the first to use fiber optics commercially in the United States. Telephones throughout the 28,000-acre park are liked by fiber optic trunk lines. Video transmissions by glass fibers are made to many individual hotel rooms on the property from one location. Lighting and alarm systems also use optical fibers. American Telephone and Telegraph has in service a fiber optic line that connects Boston, New York City, Washington, D.C., and Richmond, Virginia. The truck line is part of a project 780 miles long. The light cable used is the thickness of garden hose. Nevertheless, it can carry eighty thousand calls at once. By July 1988, American Telephone and Telegraph laid a fiber optic cable beneath the ocean between North America and Europe. The cable is called TAT-8 because it is AT&T’s eighth transatlantic telephone cable. TAT-1, a copper cable was completed in 1956 and could carry fifty-one calls at a time. TAT-7, the last copper cable, was laid 1983. It can handle about eight thousand calls at one time. Even With TAT-8, a second fiber transatlantic cable, TAT-9, probably was put down between California and Hawaii. Now Satellites are used more for these communications. Glass fibers are ideal for military defense. In addition to their other advantages, the fibers are easy to hide from an enemy. Metal detectors cannot locate them, for example. Also, the fibers are almost impossible to secretly tap or jam. [That’s right almost. Every book I read on fiber optics said "almost" Gee, I wonder why?] Thus, vital messages are more likely to get through. Light-carrying fibers usually are not affected by radiation. And they can be used safely near ammunition storage areas of fuel tanks because they do not create sparks as electricity can in copper wires. The North American Air Defense Command is located deep inside Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado. Its computers, linked by optical fibers, process radar information from around the globe. Army field communications systems also depend on optical fibers. ---------------------------------- How Are Optical Fibers Made? ---------------------------------- The glass used to make optical fibers must be very pure. Light must be able to pass through the length of the fiber without being scattered, or losing brightness. Though glass in a eyeglass lens look perfect, a three-foot-think piece of this kind of glass would stop a beam of ordinary light. Tiny particles of iron, chromium, copper, and cobalt adsorb or scatter the light. The glass in an optical fiber is nearly free of impurities and so flawless that light travels through it for many miles. If ocean water were as pure, we could be able to see the bottom of the Mariana Trench, over thirty-two thousand feet or six miles down, from the surface of the Pacific. The optical fiber has two parts, a glass inner core, and the outside cover cladding. In the core light travels through this highly transparent part of the fiber. The core of an optical is surrounded be an outer covering called the cladding. The cladding is made of a different type of glass from the sore of the fiber. For this reason, the cladding acts like a mirror. Light traveling through the core of the fiber is reflected back into the core by the cladding -- much like a ball bouncing off the inside of a long pipe. In this way, light entering one end of an optical fiber is trapped inside the sore until it comes to the other end. Optical fibers are manufactured in "clean rooms." The air in these rooms is filtered to keep out the tiniest particles of dust. Even smallest specks of dirt could ruin the fiber as it is made. Workers in these areas usually wear jump suits or lab coats and caps made from lint free fabric. An optical fiber start out as a hollow glass tube. The tube is mounted on a machine that rotates it. A special gas is fed into the tube. A flaming torch moves back and forth along the tube, heating it to nearly 1,600 Celsius. With each pass of the torch, some of the hot gas inside forms a fine layer of glass on the inner wall of the tube. A series of different gases can be fed into the tube. With this method, layers of several different kinds of glass are added to the inside wall. When the addition of glass is complete, gas still inside the tube is gently sucked out. Now, the heat from the torch is increased to 2000 Celsius. The hollow tube collapses into a solid glass rod called a perform. The perform is the size of a broomstick -- about as big around as a fifty-cent piece and a yard long. The perform is cooled and carefully inspected. Light from a laser used to make sure the core and cladding of the glass preform are perfect. Next, the perform is placed in a special furnace where it is heated to 2,200 C. At this temperature, the tip of the perform can be drawn or pulled like taffy into a wisp of an optical fiber -- thinner than a human hair. Usually, as soon as it is drawn, the fiber passes through a tiny funnel where it is coated with fast-drying plastic. The coating protects the fiber fro being scratched or damaged. The fiber from a draw may be up to sic miles long. It is wound onto a spool for ease of handling and storage. Glass is usually thought to be brittle, unbendable, and easily broken. Amazingly, optical fibers are flexible and strong as threads of steel. The fiber can be tied into loose knots without breaking and light still passes through from end to end. ---------------------------------- How Do Optical Fibers Work? ---------------------------------- Whenever you talk to someone else the sound of your voice travels to their ears as a pattern of vibrations or waves in the air. Light and electricity also move in waves. To get an idea what waves look like, tie one end of a long rope to a post or tree. Hold the other end of the rope and walk away until the rope is stretched out, but still slightly slack. Now yank the free end of the rope up and down repeatedly. A series of bumps or waves travels down the rope. You can change the pattern of the waves. You can make small waves by giving weak, up-and-down yanks on the rope. Or you can make big waves by giving strong, up-and-down yanks on the rope. The height or tallness of the waves depends on the strength you use to yank the rope up and down. The distance between the top of one wave and the top of the next wave is called the wavelength. Another way to vary the waves is to change their speed. You can yank the rope up and down only once in a second or many times in a second. The number of waves reaching the tree or post each second is the frequency of the waves. Why do pulses or waves of light streaking through an optical fiber go farther, better, and faster than electricity pulsing through copper wires? Lasers used in fiber optic systems are made from tiny crystals of a material called gallium arsenide. These lasers are as small as a single grain of salt and easily could fit through the eye of a needle. Nevertheless, they can produce some of the world's most powerful pinpoints of light. Light from a laser is unlike ordinary light. Laser light is all of the same frequency and wavelength. And all of it is traveling together in the same direction -- like bullets aimed from the barrel of a gun at once target. The results is a brilliant source of very pure light. Laser light can shine through miles of optical fiber without being boosted as often as an electrical signal. The laser light used is fiber optic telephone or communications systems is infrared. The frequency if infrared light is just below what people can see with their eyes unaided. Infrared light is used in communications systems because it can travel long distances through optical fibers with less loss of power. Another source of light that is also used with optical fibers for communications is light emitting diode or LED. LED's are less costly that gallium arsenide lasers. However, lasers can transmit more information at high speeds that LED's. Copper wires can carry a few million electrical pulses each second. but the number of light pulses as optical fiber can carry is much greater. It is limited by how many pulses of light each second today's best lasers can produce. Recent experiments done at AT&T Bell Laboratories combined the output of several lasers to achieve as many as 20 billion pulses per second! This far outshines the number transmitted by copper wires. How do telephones connected by optical fibers work? In the mouthpiece of a telephone, the pattern of sound waves of your voice is first changed into a pattern of waves of electricity moving through copper wire. In a fiber optic system, a special electronic device called an encoder measures samples of the waves of electricity eight thousand times each second. Then, each measurement of the waves is changed into a series of eight ON-OFF pulses of light. The pulses of light are a code that stands for the strength or height of the waves of electricity. This is called a binary code because it uses only two signals or digits; zero for when the light is OFF and one for when the light is ON. The word "binary" means two. Each zero or one is called a binary digit or bit. And each pulse of ON-OFF light stands for one piece or bit of information. Eight bits grouped together are a byte. The specks of ON-OFF light flash like tiny comets through optical fiber carrying your message in binary code. At the other end of the line is another device called a decoder. The decoder changes the pulses of light back into electrical waves. The receiver of the telephone then changes the electrical waves back into the sound waves of your voice. The coded pulses of light in a fiber optic system can carry so much information so rapidly that many telephone conversations can be stacked in an optical fiber. They are then unscrambled at the other end of the line. Because a fiber optic system uses coded pulses of ON-OFF light, it is ideal to link together computers. Computers "speak" this binary language. They not only count in binary, computers also store and handle huge amounts of information as a code of zeros and ones. The entire 2,700 pages of Webster's Unabridged Dictionary can be transmitted from one computer to another over optical fibers in six seconds! Morse Code is a binary code you may already know. Instead of zeros and ones, Samuel Morse, used dots and dashes to send any message by telegraph. The dots and dashes can stand for any letter of the alphabet or any decimal number. Here are two binary codes. One international Mores Code and the other is a computer code known as the America Standard Code for Information Interchange or ASCII-8. ---------------------------------- Morse Code ---------------------------------- . = DOT - = DASH .- A -... B -.-. C -.. D . E ..-. F --. G .... H .. I .--- J -.- K .-.. L -- M -. N --- O .--. P --.- Q .-. R ... S - T ..- U ...- V .-- W -..- X --.. Z .---- 1 ..--- 2 ...-- 3 ....- 4 ..... 5 -.... 6 --... 7 ---.. 8 ----. 9 ----- 0 .-.-.- Period (.) --..-- , ..--.. ? ........ Error -...- Double Dash (=) ---... : -.-.-. ; -.--. ( -.--.- ) -..-. / .-..-. " ...-..- $ .----. ' .-.-.. Paragraph ..--.- Underline (_) -.-.- Start Signal .-... Wait .-.-. End of Message (EOM) -.- Invitation to transmit ...-.- End of Work ...-. Understood/Acknowledge Other Morse signals used ..-.- Interrogatory ....-- Emergency silence ..-..- Executive follows ----- Break-in ...---... Emergency (SOS) -..-..-.. Distress signal relay ---------------------------------- ASCII-8 ---------------------------------- 11100001 A 11100010 B 11100011 C 11100100 D 11100101 E 11100110 F 11100111 G 11101000 H 11101001 I 11101010 J 11101011 K 11101100 L 11101101 M 11101110 N 11101111 O 11110000 P 11110001 Q 11110010 R 11110011 S 11110100 T 11110101 U 11110110 V 11110111 W 11111000 X 11111010 Z 01010001 1 01010010 2 01010011 3 01010100 4 01010101 5 01010110 6 01010111 7 01011000 8 01011001 9 01010000 0 01001110 Period (.) 01011111 ? 01000001 ! 01001100 ,(comma) 01000010 "(quotation mark) Morse Code and ASCII-8 may seem awkward. But Morse Code made possible sending messages quickly by telegraph over long distances as early as 1845. Today, computers linked by optical fibers can send vast amounts of any kind of information, including pictures. And they can do it faster than the human mind can think. . : | +-> nodal disaster recovery procedure <-+------------------------ --- --- 1.0 Scope: This document presents the procedures, equipment and personnel required by ntl Teesside to deal with a nodal disaster occurrence. A nodal disaster will have been deemed to have occurred when >1000 customers have lost Catv or when >100 customers have lost telephony service in the same nodal area. Examples of nodal disaster causes are : 1. Damage to cabinet by vehicle or vandalism. 2. Failure of higher order transmission card. 3. Failure of Catv optical equipment. 4. Damage to fibre optic or Catv trunk feeder cable. 5. Widescale Northern Electric outage. N.B. Damage to a fibre optic or Catv feeder cable will be deemed to be an outage even if it is non-service affecting. 2.0 Safety: This procedure does not necessarily detail all the precautions necessary to meet the requirements of the Health & Safety At Work Act 1974. Attention should be paid to any appropriate safety precautions and this procedure should only be carried out by trained personnel. In all cases of a disaster occurring all relevant health and safety practices must be followed. The need for signing and guarding is paramount. 3.0 Glossary: Catv-Cable television services. Telco-Telephony services. NCC-Network Control Centre. 4.0 General information: It is envisaged that a "dummy run" will take place during the year to ensure that all relevant personnel attend site and that the procedure is followed. Equipment: In order that the Maintenance and Service Department can deal with, and respond to, any disaster scenario it will be necessary to have spare equipment readily available to replace damaged / faulty equipment in the field. All types of cabinet will be held in the hard standing area of the warehouse, except the Type 3 cabinets which will be held in the Maintenance Warehouse area, all of which will be readily available should the need arise to replace a damaged cabinet. There will be a trailer available to enable transportation of a cabinet to the disaster scene. This trailer will also be kitted out to allow fibre splicing to take place in a clean and safe environment. In some cases it may not be possible to replace the Type 3 cabinet immediately i.e. the plinth is damaged. In these cases it will be necessary to transport the hot rack from the test/store area to site and feed service from it. In these cases the on Site Manager / Supervisor will make a decision on where the best site for the temporary rack would be. The distribution and fibre cables should be pulled back and fed direct to the hot rack from the chamber. This will allow the plinth to be changed out without fear of damage to any of the cables. In cases where the plinth has to be replaced , due to the fact that curing of the base takes 3 days, security will be arranged for the temporary site allowing the release of technical staff. Maintenance-designated drums of 144 and 96 fibre, which are longer in length than the maximum pieces in the network, are held in the Warehouse for use in the case of damage to a trunk route. 48 and 8 fibre is held in the hard standing area of the stores, and is readily available should the requirement be for smaller size fibre. In some cases it will be necessary to provide temporary service using mechanical splicing techniques. This decision will be taken by the on-site Supervisor / Manager. The permanent cable will be pulled in and cut over at the earliest opportunity. In the case of a fibre breakdown, the Catv services should be provided using the diverse route where possible. This will provide the customer with a degraded service in some instances. In such cases, Customer Services and Dispatch should be notified via the NCC. Backboards, complete with housings, jumpers and passives have been built up and are held in the Maintenance Stores area for deployment when required. All Catv electronics are held on a technician basis and are readily available. Telecom electronics will be held in a "hot" rack in the headend, fully configured, tested and ready to be deployed when required All sundry items, e.g. Pouyet & Krone strips, interface cabling etc. will be held in the maintenance store in sufficient volumes to fully fit out a Type 3 cabinet. After any disaster situation, a full list of equipment used should be passed to either a Hub supervisor or the Network Operations Manager. This will enable all equipment used in a disaster scenario to be replaced as soon as possible. In order to maximise the response to a major mains electrical loss four supplementary generators will be held in the Maintenance Stores area. This will allow Service Technicians or non-Maintenance personnel to aid the Network Technicians in running generators at the Type 3 cabinets in the affected areas. Responsibilities: The requirements of this procedure shall be carried out by departmental technicians, the Hub Supervisor, Network Maintenance, Network Build and Kelly Communication staff. During normal working hours, adequate resource will be readily available for all scenarios. In-house Maintenance department staff will be supported by Network build staff and Kelly communications staff. Out of hours, the on-call technicians will be able to call on an on-call splicer and an on-call Kelly cabling team. There is also an on-call Supervisor / Manager who in all cases will be informed. He will attend site and assume responsibility for controlling the situation. Each technician has a full list of staff telephone numbers should extra support be required. NCC staff will provide administration and testing support in any recovery situation, and they will also provide a central contact point for any enquiries during the outage period and supply Customer Services, Dispatch and any relevant Directors with hourly updates. Frequency: The requirements of this procedure shall be carried out for every nodal disaster that occurs. 5.0 Procedure : 5.1 The NCC will normally be the first place to identify a major outage constituting a disaster recovery situation. In all cases a Hub Supervisor or the Network Operations Manager shall be informed immediately. 5.2 A Network Technician will then be deployed to confirm and investigate the disaster scenario, and the Hub Supervisor or Network Operations Manager shall put the relevant personnel on standby for disaster recovery. 5.3 Upon confirmation of a disaster having occurred, the relevant personnel and equipment required should be sent to site. This should occur for all cases, both in and out of normal working hours. 5.4 The technician on site shall feed all the relevant information regarding the outage back to the NCC to allow NCC personnel to inform all the relevant departments with details of the outage. This information should include as a minumum : a) Area affected. b) Services affected. c) No. of customers affected (estimated if need be). d) Estimated outage duration. 5.5 This information should be updated hourly to the NCC and passed by them to the relevant departments. Any enquiries regarding the outage from any source should be directed to the NCC, thus allowing the Network Technicians to concentrate on recovering the situation. Under no circumstance should any of the field technicians be contacted direct. 5.6 On clearance of the outage, all details should again be passed to the NCC for entry in the event log, and to enable NCC personnel to inform all relevant departments of the clearance. . : | +-> Installation and Maintenance Guide for PDMX- E Shelf <-+----- --- -- - +-> for Back to Back MUX P-phone Delivery <-+----- --- -- - 1.0 Scope: The aim of this document is to provide all the information necessary to enable Installation and Maintenance of the P-Phone delivered via Back to Back MUX. 2.0 Glossary: LCME-Line Concentrator Module Enhanced, this is the Switch hardware peripheral that a P-Phone terminates on. MDF-Main Distribution Frame, this is located in the Switch Room and presents the P-Phone line cards from the LCME. CPE-Customer Premises Equipment. POTS-Plain Old Telephone Service. LC-Line Card, this is a NTBX21BC the card that supports a P-Phone. DMS-Digital Multiplex System. (The Switch). MBS-Meridian Business Set, this is the P-Phone. SRT-Station Ringer Test, this is a software tool that tests the signalling to the P-Phone and all its hardware functions. 3.0 General information: The P-Phone is a Nortel Product that is connected to the Switch via a Line card in the LCME. Lines and features are presented on Keys and Lamps. It was developed to present Console and feature working in a more user-friendly way thus capturing some of the business market being lost to the PABX and Key-System providers. In order to deliver this Service from a Street Cabinet, a Back to Back MUX configuration is required, and the Nortel PDMX-E multiplex shelf is used to this end. Any queries relating to this document should be raised with Network Engineering in the first instance. Responsibilities: The requirements of this procedure shall be carried out by personnel carrying out the Installation or Maintenance of P-Phone delivery via a back to back MUX. Frequency: The requirements of this procedure are to be followed for all Installation and Maintenance activities associated with P-Phone delivery via back to back MUX. 4.0 References: Further detail can be found in the associated Nortel PDMX-E Product Handbooks: Installation and Commissioning Handbook Product Description Handbook Phone unit description Configuration Software Tool 5.0 Procedure: P-Phone delivery is possible via copper cable up to a distance of 4 km from the LCME or 4 km from the P-Phone MUX in a street cabinet. The P-Phone line is terminated in the LCME on a NT6X21BC line card. This line card is presented via structured cabling from the LCME to the MDF in the Switch room. The termination on the MDF is jumpered to the Headend MUX MDF and thence to the Back to Back MUX port which delivers the Service to the equivalent port in the street cabinet. From here it is delivered to the Customer Premises by a standard copper drop, and once again terminated onto a MDF. The P-Phone is then jumpered from this MDF to the User position. P-phone delivery via back to back MUX 6.0 Installation and Commissioning: The PDMX-E Installation and Testing can be broken down into three stages: 1. Headend installation. 2. Street Cabinet installation 3. Back to Back MUX commissioning 6.1 Back to Back MUX Installation: 6.1.1 Equipment Installation - Headend. Install shelf, wire power connector and Management cable (Fig 1). Note, each power supply is separately fused (3A). Insert CENCA and two POSUP cards (no straps to set). Also insert the first MEGIF (type 261) and connect the coax plug to the DDF. Set links on PHONE card to ‘TO EXCHANGE’ (see Fig 3). Insert PHONE card (see Fig 5 for card positions) and connect the MDF 6 pair cable. Configure shelf:- Install the correct configuration file (Ref Appendix 2): Menu: ‘File Open’ or ) Menu: ‘Download’ Set Shelf I.D. to allocated value Menu: ‘Remote, communications’ Set ‘Q’ Interface address to <0-255> as per Network Management tables Disable alarms due to cards not yet fitted. 6.1.2 Equipment Installation - Street Cabinet. Install shelf, wire power connector and Management cable (Fig 2) Note, each power supply is separately fused (3A). Insert CENCA and two POSUP cards (no straps to set). Also, insert the first MEGIF card (type 261) and cable to allocated SMA ports. Set links on PHONE card to ‘TO PHONE’ (see Fig 3) and insert into required slot. For Business Nodes, wire 5 PHONE cables (6-pair each) to the allocated ‘E’ side positions. For Residential Nodes, wire 3 PHONE cables (6-pair each) to the allocated ‘E’ side positions. Configure shelf:- Install the correct configuration file (Ref Appendix 2): Menu: ‘File Open’ or ) Menu: ‘Download’ Set Shelf I.D. to allocated value Menu: ‘Remote, communications’ Set ‘Q’ Interface address to <0-255> as per Network Management tables Disable alarms due to cards not yet fitted. 6.2 Circuit Testing: Perform a ‘Station Ringer Test’ on all 6 lines, using a Maintenance Test Line from the LCME at the headend MUX MDF, and a (test) P-phone at the Cabinet ‘E’ side. 6.3 Management: Add icons fro each newly installed MUX pair Upload shelf config to Element Manager Ensure Alarms are enabled for installed cards Run a stability test for 24 hours, then check that no G704 slips have occurred. Fig 4 PHONE Card Connections Channel (SubUnit No.)PairColoursPHONE Card pin Nos. 1aWhite - BlueA2 bBlue - WhiteC2 2aWhite - OrangeA4 bOrange - WhiteC4 3aWhite - GreenA6 bGreen - WhiteC6 4aWhite - BrownA8 bBrown - WhiteC8 5aWhite - GreyA10 bGrey - WhiteC10 6aRed - BlueA12 bBlue - RedC12 Fig 5 PDMX-E Card Allocations 7.0 Maintenance Guide for PDMX-E Shelf. In order to faultfind on a P-phone line, a limited number of checks can be made whilst the line is ‘live’, noting that speech maybe monitored at the 2 Mbit/s interfaces. If a fault persists at card or line level, a process of substitution can be used to identify at which end the fault lies. To this end, a spare PHONE port and PDMX-E Highway Timeslot are available for Maintenance use, at each end of a back to back MUX. This allows the speech circuit to be carried over physically different parts. This process of substitution should be carried out prior to card replacement in order to minimise the disruption of traffic on the same card(s). For longer-term, intermittent faultfinding, a P-phone protocol analyser may be required in conjunction with logging provided by the DMS100. 7.1 Typical Faults and Consequent Alarms. General With a call in progress, disconnecting the Headend MUX line to the LCME will not terminate the call, neither will a disconnection of the Phone. Loss of 2 Mbit/s between the back to Back MUXs will result in all calls being cleared down. During loss of transmission, the supply to the P_Phones, and hence the lamps on the main phone and any add-ons will be lost, and are not updated when the transmission fault is cleared. Typical LCME / Exchange connection Voltages:- Voltage LCME open circuit *~53.2 V LCME connected to PHONE card~50.6 V LCME connected directly to P-PhoneOn-hook: ~49 V Off-hook: ~ 46 V * Note: the ‘open circuit’ condition also occurs if there is a MUX transmission fault eg loss of 2 Mbit/s, incorrect card configuration etc. Typical P-phone Drop Voltages and currents (single phone) CurrentVoltage at T3 CabinetVoltage at 1 km dropVoltage at 2 km drop Supply voltage to shelf---~52 V------ No phone connected---~52 V~52 V~52 V On hook10 mA~48 V~46 V~44 V Off hook16 mA~46 V~43 V~40 V If phone works only when the mains adapter is connected, reverse ‘a’ and ‘b’ leg. The ‘a’ leg (LJU pin 2) must be more POSITIVE than ‘b’ leg (LJU pin 5). To confirm reliable operation after clearing a fault, repeat the Station Ringer Test. Initially toggle between steps 15 and 16:- 15.Press dial pad key *All LCD are on 16.Press dial pad key #All LCD are off and make sure all icons illuminate, including all those on the add-on units, each time for step 15. Then go through steps 17-27 several times. These MUST give reliable operation. Finally undertake the complete set of tests to allow sign-off of the installation. This must include removing the mains adaptor power and proving the basic functions of the phone. ---o0o--- Appendix 1 - CST Local Configuration Tool - (Overview) Connect PC (running CST software) to CENCA RS232 port. This overrides the ‘Q’ bus management interface. Run the CST software - Enter for Password at the System Manager screen Select Remote - Connections, which gives Remote Control window. Check options are set to the following :- Set System Address to Shelf I.D. value = <0-255> Comm port = Baud rate = <9600> Select Password = At ‘System Access Password, press (no Password) Note, A ‘layer 2: No Response’ signifies that a Connection has not been established to the CENCA port (eg can occur if the Laptop has powered down). Under Setup check User Class is set to System Manager (else options relating to parameter changes and File access will be greyed out). Upload config (under File menu) to obtain views of shelf as currently configured. In the case of a new CENCA card, open the correct configuration file (Ref Appendix 2), and download to the shelf. Once connection to the shelf is established, can view:- Alarms (select Units). Remember to use ‘Refresh’ to update Objects - Units to find status of cards and configurations Objects - Connection points and / or Network Connections Clock Sources etc Appendix 2 - Configuration Files for PDMX-E A back to back P-Phone MUX is configured as BUSINESS or RESIDENTIAL each with 2 ends, giving FOUR configuration files. HEADENDCABINET FullyBUSINESSbusall_h.cfgbusall_c.cfg Config’d shelfRESIDENTIALresall_h.cfgresall_c.cfg For initial PDMX-E configuration, only the first MEGIF and PHONE cards are required. Under ‘Objects, Units’ delete all unwanted units (and allow the Cross Connects to be automatically deleted). Note:- When upgrading a system with additional cards, Cross Connects will be added from the Network Control Centre, and held in the Element Manager. Thus, NCC will be responsible for the management of Cross Connects on a per-shelf basis. To provide for the eventuality of a faulty CENCA card being replaced, and if NO remote management is available, a configuration with a fully configured set of Cross-Connects may be downloaded onto the shelf. This will provide Cross Connects for all cards currently fitted, until the Config from the Element Manager can be downloaded. The Highway and Cross Connect allocations can be found on the related spreadsheet ‘p_highws.xls’ Installation and Maintenance Guide for P-Phone Console Delivery via Back to Back MUX 1.0 Scope: The aim of this document is to provide all the information necessary to enable Installation and Maintenance of the P-Phone Console delivered via back to back MUX. 2.0 Glossary: LCME-Line Concentrator Module Enhanced, this is the Switch hardware peripheral that a P-Phone terminates on. MDF-Main Distribution Frame, this is located in the Switch Room and presents the P-Phone line cards from the LCME. CPE-Customer Premises Equipment. TDR-Time Domain Reflectometer. This equipment can display cable faults/discontinuities. TIMS-Transmission Impairment Measurement Set. POTS-Plain Old Telephone Service. LC-Line Card, this is a NTBX21BC the card that supports a P-Phone. MAP-Maintenance and Administrative Position. DMS-Digital Muliplex System. (The Switch). MBS-Meridian Business Set, this is the P-Phone. M5212-ACD P-Phone with Headset capability. M518-18 key add-on for the P-Phone. SRT-Station Ringer Test, this is a software tool that tests the signalling to the P-Phone and all its hardware functions. CLI-Calling Line Identity. BLF-Busy Lamp Field, this is a key and lamp appearance on the P-Phone for monitoring the status of line extensions. TLS-Terminating Line Select, this is a feature on the DMS that enable calls to be answered in the order of longest waiting first. CXR-Call Transfer. Back to Back P-phone Service Delivery 6. Installation Testing: The Installation testing can be broken down into four stages: 1. LCME line commissioning. 2. Back to Back MUX commissioning 3. Call testing. 4. Dial Plan testing. 6.1 LCME Line Commissioning: Jumper the LCME port at the Switch MDF and Transmission MDF to the allocated PDMX-E shelf/port. Check the line with a test phone at the Transmission MDF. (The audio levels are checked here when the CPE is commissioned). 6.2 Back to Back MUX Commissioning: (Refer to the Installation and maintenance Guide for PDMX-E Shelf) 6.3 Commissioning of P-phone Drop to Customer Premises: Measure Loop Resistance from the Type 3 ‘E’ side to the Customer’s LJU (or MDF). This will be approx. 200 ohms per loop km. Also, check that the insulation resistance to earth is greater than 1M ohm. Record the results in the Installation chart. For drops more than 2 km, perform either an ‘analog’ or ‘digital’ line test. Analog Line Test. The following attenuation and noise measurements must be carried out with a TIMS test set at each end:- Measure the insertion loss @ 8 kHz. (Limit = 20 dB) Perform a background noise measurement, with a ‘C’ filter (or ‘Impulse Filter’). Limit: 20 dBmC Perform an impulse noise measurement, with threshold set to -60 dBm, using ‘Impulse Filter’ for 15 mins. Limit: 300 hits. Digital Line Test. This is described in Section 6.4 under ‘Line Soak Test’. A P-phone signalling analyser is used to log test messages across the Network, and confirms the reliability of the circuit over the final drop. With an In-Service test line connected at the Headend, connect the P-phone to the Customer’s MDF (or LJU) and check the line voltage for a reading between 48V and 40V (dependent upon drop distance and number of add-ons). On-hook to Off-hook reduces this by 3-4 Volts. Record these readings. Perform an Audio Level check on the line. All audio level measurements to be taken at the Headend MUX MDF, and to be recorded on the Installations Results chart. Note, P-phone line impedance is 900 ohms, so test equipment must also be 900 ohms for terminated tests. To confirm DMS line levels:- a.Connect a TIMS or equivalent to the P-Phone pair at the Customer end. b.Access the LTPMAN level of the MAP terminal by typing: >MAPCI;MTC;LNS;LTP:LTPMAN and pressing the Return key. The MAP screen will display:- c. Send a 1000 Hz tone at 0dB from the MAP terminal by typing: >TONEGEN and pressing the Return key. d. Measure the received level at the Headend MUX MDF (into 900 ohms termination, or thro’ term across the installed circuit). The measured level will be -5 dBm (into 900 ohms) plus/minus 1dB. Record the results on the appropriate chart. e. Disconnect the tone by typing: >RLSCONN and pressing the Return key. f.Send a 1000 Hz tone at -10 dBm from the TIMS and note the received level at the MAP terminal by typing: >LOSS and pressing the Return key. The measured level will be -10 dBm (into 900 ohms) plus/minus 1dB. Record the results on the appropriate chart. g. Exit from MAP TERMINAL by typing: > QUIT ALL and pressing the Return key. Make test calls (1579, 123 etc) and check for good voice quality on a two way call, including other P-phone lines if used in the same Centrex Group. Remove mains adaptor power and confirm that the Phone’s basic functions still operate. Perform the Station Ringer Test (as detailed in Section 6.4 below) 6.4 P-phone Commissioning - Customer Premises STATION RINGER TESTING With the P-phone connected and powered by the local PSU, perform a Station Ringer Test. This is enabled on all P-phone lines, and is accessed by dialling 1578 + 7-digit DN. This confirms the P-phone hardware functions and allows the User to check for 100% signalling reliability to/from the DMS over the back to back MUX. Below is an extract from the NTP showing how to initiate a test sequence. Perform the test in two parts: Perform the complete test sequence (steps 1 - 38) to confirm all hardware functions of the Phone operate correctly. Repeat steps 5 to 27 several times to confirm that no digits are missed, or incorrect icons are lit. These indicate the reliability of the main signalling messages to/from the phone. If incorrect responses are observed, these indicate that there may be a wiring fault (high res), a double jumpered connection (open circuit ‘tails’ should be avoided), or interference on the line. These must be investigated until reliable operation is obtained. If a more thorough test is required, or as part of a reported fault investigation, a T-Metrics Protocol Analyser and Laptop software can capture and record all signalling sequences. This is used in the Line Soak Test as detailed below. The Station Ringer can be activated by dialling: 0158 and the 7 digit DN STATION RINGER TEST : STEPACTIONRESPONSE 1.Establish off hook conditionAll LCD flash 2.Establish on-hook conditionAll LCD wink 3.Establish off hook conditionAll LCD are on 4.Establish on-hook conditionAll LCD are off 5.Press dial pad key 1.LCD 1 is on 6.Press dial pad key 2.LCD 2 is on 7.Press dial pad key 3.LCD 3 is on 8.Press dial pad key 4.LCD 4 is on 9.Press dial pad key 5. LCD 5 is on 10.Press dial pad key 6.LCD 6 is on 11.Press dial pad key 7.LCD 7 is on 12.Press dial pad key 8.LCD 8 is on 13.Press dial pad key 9.LCD 1 and 8 are on 14.Press dial pad key 0.LCD 2 and 8 are on 15.Press dial pad key *All LCD are on 16.Press dial pad key #All LCD are off 17.Press feature key 1.LCD 1 is on 18.Press feature key 2.LCD 2 is on 19.Press feature key 3.LCD 3 is on 20.Press feature key 4.LCD 4 is on 21.Press feature key 5.LCD 5 is on 22.Press feature key 6.LCD 6 is on 23.Press feature key 7.LCD 7 is on 24.Press feature key 8.LCD 8 is on 25.Press feature key 9.LCD 9 is on 26.Press feature key 10.LCD 10 is on 27.Press feature key 11.LCD 11 is on 28.Continue feature key press for all add on units.Relevant LCD will be on. 29.Press RLS key LCD 2 and 8 are on 30.Press HOLD keyLCD 1 to 5 are on Dial tone on speaker only 31.Establish off-hook conditionAll LCD flash on main set only. Dial tone on handset only. 32.Establish on-hook conditionAll LCD wink on main set only. Dial tone removed from handset. Dial tone on speaker only. LCD 12 is on. 33.Press HOLD keyLCD 6 to 11 are on. Buzz Tone on speaker. Dial tone removed from speaker. LCD 12 is off. 34.Press HOLD keyAll LCD are off. Ringing tone on speaker. 35.Press Vol UP keyRinging tone Volume increases. 36.Press Vol DOWN keyRinging tone volume decreases 37.Press HOLD keyRinging stops. LCD 2,3,4 wink indicating that a circuit test is running . No further keys should be pressed as this may affect the circuit test results. Any keys pressed during the circuit test will not be acknowledged; that is , lamps are not changed. LCD 1-8 are on , the circuit test is done, passed. LCD 1, 2 and 8 are on, circuit test done , failed. LCD 1, 2 and 8 wink indicating that the circuit test is done, not run, or has timed out. The LCD display window will show a result of the Station Ringer Test. A Full Pass will show 10/10 Or another figure out of 10. 38.Press HOLD keyWill exit from S.R.T. NOTES: If at any stage you wish to exit from the S.R.T then pressing the HOLD key 6 times will end the test. LINE SOAK TEST For Customer line commissioning where the drop length is more than ~3 km, and particularly where the cable is shared with 20 or more POTS lines, a thorough test should be performed to confirm the reliability of the Phone’s functions (ie signalling). This test uses a T-Metrics Protocol Analyser and Laptop software which can capture and record all signalling sequences. Transmission Engineering will assist if required. Perform a line Soak Test for at least 12 hours. Use the T-Metrics TM-950 (plus laptop) at the Headend MDF (representing the Switch) to inject messages into the Back to Back MUX. Use the TM-500 (plus laptop) to receive the test messages at the Customer’s MDF. Examine the log to ensure that no more than 2 errors occurs per hour over the test duration. (Errors are flagged as either a missed message, or as ‘Parity Error’. These are indicated for messages in EITHER direction). The analyser operates in a through mode (high impedance) so does not affect the operation of the installed phone line. An example log output is shown in Fig. 5 below. 7. Call Testing: Call testing is made to ensure that the translations are set-up correctly on the Switch and that CLI is passed to and from the P-Phone. It also tests the Transfer capability of the Set. a.Make a call from Key 1 on the P-Phone to BT line. Ensure CLI is passed. b.Make a call from Key 1 on the P-Phone to a BT line but withhold CLI by prefixing the BT number with 141. Ensure that CLI is withheld. c.Make a call from a BT line to the P-Phone passing CLI. Ensure that CLI is displayed on the P-Phone. d.Make a call from a BT line to the P-Phone withholding CLI. Ensure that CLI is withheld on the P-Phone. e.Make two calls into the P-Phone from a BT line and ensure the calls can be transferred to another line. One internal transfer and one external transfer. Check that the P-Phone displays transfer information. 8. Dial Plan Testing: Obtain a copy of the dial plan for the customer group and make enough calls to prove the datafill is correct for the customer group and NCOS. Maintenance Specification for P-Phone Console delivery via Back to Back MUX. Fault finding can be carried out from the MAP terminal in the Switch and the following steps detail the procedure to be carried out and the responses expected on the MAP terminal. These test should be used in conjunction with the Line up tests detailed in the Installation Document. This procedure can be separated into 2 Stages: 1.Posting the line on the MAP terminal. 2.Diagnosing the line. Section 1 Posting the line card. The line can be ‘posted’ by two means, either by directory number (DN) or by line equipment number (LEN). a.Login to the Map terminal. b.Access the Line Test Position (LTP) menu by typing: >MAPCI;MTC;LNS;LTP and pressing the Return key. The Map terminal will show the screen below: c. Post the Line Card by typing: >POST L HOST len and pressing the Return key where len = Line Equipment Number or >POST D dn and pressing the Return key where dn = Directory Number The MAP terminal will display the following: Determine the STATE of the line to be diagnosed, the above line is IDL (IDLE). Below is a list of the possible STATES a line can be in and the description of the STATE: IDL IDLE CPB CALL PROCESSING BUSY MB MANUALLY BUSY INB INSTALLATION BUSY LO LOCK-OUT LMB LINE MODULE BUSY SZD SEIZED Section 2. Diagnosing a Line . The line card can be diagnosed two ways. 1.By diagnosing LC only the Line Card will be tested. 2.By diagnosing I the Line Card and the P-Phone are tested. a.The line must first be posted as per Section 1, and then you can diagnose the card. Firstly BUSY the Line by typing: >Bsy and pressing the Return key. The posted line will now show MB under the STATE. b. Diagnose the Line by typing >Diag I and pressing the Return key. The MAP screen will show the following response if the Diag is successful: c. Return the line to service by typing: >RTS and pressing the Return key. The line STATE will return to IDL. d. Diagnose the Line Card only by typing: >DIAG LC and pressing the Return key. The MAP screen will show the following response if the DIAG is successful: e. Return the line to service by typing: >RTS and pressing the Return key. The line STATE will return to IDL. If any of the above tests fail then refer to NTP 295-1001-594 LINE MAINTENANCE Guide. DATAFILL FOR A TYPICAL CONSOLE qlen 2642136 --------------------------------------------------------- LEN: HOST 00 1 08 22 TYPE: SINGLE PARTY LINE SNPA: 164 DIRECTORY NUMBER: 2642136 LINE CLASS CODE: M5212 SET WITH TWO M518 ADDONS CUSTGRP: CCT_ST1 SUBGRP: 0 NCOS: 1 RING: Y CARDCODE: 6X21BC GND: N PADGRP: EBSLN BNV: NL MNO: Y PM NODE NUMBER : 224 PM TERMINAL NUMBER : 279 OPTIONS: LNR KSMOH NAME PUBLIC COMCAST CDC TEES CFF 2046 I 1 2 3 4 5 CFB F 2137 A 1 2 3 4 5 CFS Y 10 10 10 Y 3 TLS INCOMING AR NOAMA $ AUTODISP N $ CXR CTALL Y 45 STD INSPECT KEY DN --- -- 1 DN 2642136 2 DN 2642137 3 DN 2642138 4 DN 2642139 5 DN 2642140 7 DN 2642112 8 DN 2642113 KEY FEATURE --- ------- 1 CFF 2046 I 1 2 3 4 5 1 CFB F 2137 A 1 2 3 4 5 1 CFS Y 10 10 10 Y 3 1 TLS INCOMING 1 AR NOAMA $ 1 AUTODISP N $ 10 CXR CTALL Y 45 STD 11 INSPECT 12 BLF 1642642309 13 BLF 1642642307 14 BLF 1642642441 15 BLF 1642642303 16 BLF 1642642278 17 BLF 1642642308 18 BLF 1642642310 19 BLF 1642642304 20 BLF 1642642323 21 BLF 1642642451 22 BLF 1642642452 23 BLF 1642642385 24 BLF 1642642386 25 BLF 1642642388 26 BLF 1642642213 27 BLF 1642642258 28 BLF 1642642214 29 BLF 1642642263 30 BLF 1642642219 31 BLF 1642642231 32 BLF 1642642216 33 BLF 1642642251 34 BLF 1642642238 35 BLF 1642642335 36 BLF 1642642333 37 BLF 1642642223 38 BLF 1642642374 39 BLF 1642642370 40 BLF 1642642372 41 BLF 1642642261 42 BLF 1642642275 43 BLF 1642642428 44 BLF 1642642246 45 BLF 1642642244 46 BLF 1642642380 47 BLF 1642642382 --------------------------------------------------------- P-phone over Back to Back MUX Fault Finding Guide General With a call in progress, disconnecting the Headend MUX line to the LCME will not terminate the call. Also, disconnecting the P-phone during a call will not clear the call. Loss of 2 Mbit/s between the back to Back MUXs will result in all calls being lost. During loss of transmission, the supply to the P-Phones, and hence the lamps on the main phone and any add-ons will be lost, and are not updated when the transmission fault is cleared. Typical LCME / Exchange connection Voltages:- Voltage LCME open circuit *~53.2 V LCME connected to PHONE card~50.6 V LCME connected directly to P-PhoneOn-hook: ~49 V Off-hook: ~ 46 V * Note: the ‘open circuit’ condition also occurs if there is a MUX transmission fault eg loss of 2 Mbit/s, incorrect card configuration etc. Typical P-phone Drop Voltages and currents (Phone only) CurrentVoltage at T3 CabinetVoltage at 1 km dropVoltage at 2 km drop Supply voltage to shelf---~52 V------ No phone connected---~52 V~52 V~52 V On hook10 mA~48 V~46 V~44 V Off hook16 mA~46 V~43 V~40 V If phone works only when the mains adapter is connected, reverse ‘a’ and ‘b’ leg. The ‘a’ leg (LJU pin 2) must be more POSITIVE than ‘b’ leg (LJU pin 5). To confirm reliable operation, repeat the Station Ringer Test. Initially toggle between steps 15 and 16:- 15.Press dial pad key *All LCD are on 16.Press dial pad key #All LCD are off and make sure all icons illuminate each time for step 16. Then go through steps 17-27 several times. These MUST give reliable operation. Finally perform the complete set of tests to allow sign-off of the installation. This must include removing the mains adaptor power and proving the basic functions of the phone. ---o0o--- Fig 5. Example Log from Protocol Analyser (at start of Station Ringer Test) Station Ringer Test, 2151, at start of SRT test routine T-METRICS INC File Name: D:TEST1.LOG Msg # Time Hex Sta. / CO Message MBS 1 code 51 17:41:42.98 0 00 Feature Key 1 52 17:41:43.18 8 AD Clear Display 53 17:41:43.21 8 8D Disable Display 54 17:41:43.24 8 B5 Locate Cursor at Position 16 (or 24) 55 17:41:43.27 8 9C Enable Display Cursor 56 17:41:43.30 8 9D Enable Display 57 17:41:43.33 8 9B Enable Digit Echoing 1 58 17:41:43.36 8 60 Key 1 On 59 17:41:43.39 8 0F Alert-Off 60 17:41:43.42 8 6C Voice-On 61 17:41:43.45 8 9C Enable Display Cursor 62 17:41:43.48 8 9D Enable Display 63 17:41:43.51 8 BB Resume Digit Echoing 64 17:41:51.81 0 15 Dial Pad 0 65 17:41:52.14 0 08 Dial Pad 1 66 17:41:52.41 0 0A Dial Pad 5 67 17:41:52.61 0 0D Dial Pad 8 68 17:41:52.62 8 8C Disable Display Cursor 69 17:41:52.64 8 9C Enable Display Cursor 70 17:41:52.66 8 9D Enable Display 71 17:41:52.69 8 BB Resume Digit Echoing 72 17:41:52.72 8 60 Key 1 On 73 17:41:52.75 8 0F Alert-Off 74 17:41:52.78 8 6C Voice-On 75 17:41:52.86 0 09 Dial Pad 2 76 17:41:53.10 0 0E Dial Pad 6 77 17:41:53.36 0 0C Dial Pad 4 78 17:41:53.57 0 09 Dial Pad 2 79 17:41:53.77 0 08 Dial Pad 1 80 17:41:53.98 0 0D Dial Pad 5 81 17:41:54.19 0 08 Dial Pad 1 82 17:41:54.37 8 8C Disable Display Cursor 83 17:41:54.46 8 08 Soft Reset 84 17:41:54.50 9 08 Aux 1 - Soft Reset 85 17:41:54.53 8 AD Clear Display 86 17:41:54.56 8 9B Enable Digit Echoing 1 87 17:41:54.59 8 9D Enable Display 88 17:41:54.62 8 9C Enable Display Cursor 89 17:41:54.65 8 A5 Locate Cursor at Position 0 90 17:41:54.68 8 60 Key 1 On 91 17:41:54.71 8 61 Key 2 On 92 17:41:54.74 8 62 Key 3 On 93 17:41:54.77 8 63 Key 4 On 94 17:41:54.80 8 64 Key 5 On A Typical Installation Record Procedure For Creating, Deleting and Modifying Mailboxes Remotely. 1.0 Scope The aim of this document is to provide a detailed procedure for the creating, deleting and modifying of mailboxes, changing of passwords and printing off reports. 2.0 Glossary Mailbox - The area of hardware disc storage and the software processes associated which constitute a Voice Message handling service for an individual user in its basic form. In its more enhanced form it can be used to build complete Voice handling structures such as Tree mailboxes, Rotational mailboxes, Broadcasting mailboxes or Fax handling mailboxes ncluding Guaranteed fax functionality. Voicemail - The Centigram system comprising the hardware ie. CPU, Linecards, Hard and Floppy drives and the software Operations and Applications which drive it. Tutorial - There is a tutorial which welcomes all new mailbox users to the Voicemail system, firstly explaining how the mailbox works and then guiding them around the set-up of the mailbox using voice prompts. The voice prompts tell the user which keys to press and when, it also invites the user to record their name and a suitable greeting which will be used to answer calls which are forwarded to Voicemail. 3.0 General information The Console interface is structured as a menu tree, the Main Menu at the top feeding into sub-menus. You step down through the sub-menus by choosing one of the letters in brackets to enter the next level and you exit back out by choosing X to save and exit or Q to exit without saving your changes. Responsibilities: It is the responsibility of the persons who make manual changes to the Voicemail System to ensure that the SMS database is updated and reflects the actual database on the Voicemail. An audit of the Mailbox data on the Voicemail system should be run on the last working day of the month and checked against the SMS database. Frequency: The requirements of this procedure are to be followed for every Voicemail System change carried out. 4.0 Procedure: Preparation. Set up a PC / Laptop with a Terminal file called VMS.TRM holding the following settings:- VT100 Mode 9600 baud 8 bits 1 stop bit No parity Xon/Xoff Phone number of modem dial 01xxx xxxxxx Choose the correct modem type. Click on Phone Click on dial to initiate access Important:- Always remember when you are finished and have logged out of the Voicemail System that you have to click on hangup otherwise the modem will not clear down. You would be advised to save your terminal file for subsequent use, it will save you configuring the terminal settings again. Once you have established access hit the carriage return (from now on specified as c/r) and follow the prompts as follows:- PROMPT RESPONSE LOGIN: root c/r The Voicemail console boots up and presents you with the Main Menu as follows:- MAIN MENU (M) Mailbox maintenance (R) Report generation (S) System maintenance (X) Exit Typing m enters the :- MAILBOX MAINTENANCE MENU. (B) Mailbox block inquiry. (C) Create new mailboxes. (D) Delete mailboxes. (E) Mailbox dump. (I) Inquire about mailboxes. (K) Copy/Delete/Enable mailbox greetings. (C) List Maintenance. (M) Modify mailboxes. (P) Set passcode/ tutorial. (R) Rotational mailboxes. (S) Search for mailboxes. (U) UI mailbox mappings. (V) UI extension mappings. (W) Mailbox disk speech usage. (X) Exit. To Modify Mailboxes. Enter m Prompt Enter mailbox to modify : 16xxxxxxxx or 1325xxxxxx New mailbox number (new value or c/r to leave unchanged) New name : (new value or c/r to leave unchanged) New Department code: (new value or c/r to leave unchanged) New access code : (new value or c/r to leave unchanged) New Receptionist day treatment : (new value or c/r to leave unchanged) New mailbox's extension number : (new value or c/r to leave unchanged) New mailboxes pre-dial extension index (new value or c/r to leave unchanged) New Attendant extension number : (new value or c/r to leave unchanged) New Attendant pre-dial extension index: (new value or c/r to leave unchanged) New FCOS : (new value or c/r to leave unchanged) New LCOS : (new value or c/r to leave unchanged) New GCOS : (new value or c/r to leave unchanged) New NCOS : (new value or c/r to leave unchanged) New TCOS : (new value or c/r to leave unchanged) New RCOS : (new value or c/r to leave unchanged) New message speech quality (18,24,32,0) : (new value or c/r to leave unchanged) New name and greeting speech quality: (new value or c/r to leave unchanged) New Internal Outdial Index : (new value or c/r to leave unchanged) New Billed Outdial Index : (new value or c/r to leave unchanged) New Unbilled Outdial Index : (new value or c/r to leave unchanged) New billing number : (new value or c/r to leave unchanged) New billing dialling order : (new value or c/r to leave unchanged) New message waiting type £ 1 : 17 New message waiting type £ 2 : (new value or c/r to leave unchanged) New message waiting type £ 3 : (new value or c/r to leave unchanged) New fax retrieval access type : (new value or c/r to leave unchanged) Default telephone number for fax retrieval : (new value or c/r to leave unchanged) New call placement access type : (new value or c/r to leave unchanged) New time zone offset : (new value or c/r to leave unchanged) Lists with change rights : (new value or c/r to leave unchanged) Lists with review rights : (new value or c/r to leave unchanged) Prompt Enter Mailbox to modify : If there are further mailboxes to modify enter the next mailbox number, and follow the above procedure again. Else:- c/r takes you to MAILBOX MAINTENANCE MENU NB:- If you wish to leave the system at this point x exits to the MAIN MENU. A further x exits the system and logs out. To Delete Mailboxes: From the MAIN MENU type m to enter the MAILBOX MAINTENANCE MENU. Enter d Prompt Enter Mailbox to delete : 16xxxxxxxx (or 1325xxxxxx) Delete UI mailbox mappings (y/n) : y Delete (y/n) : y ****Mailbox 16xxxxxxxx deleted**** Mailbox to delete : If there are further mailboxes to delete enter the next number and repeat the above process. Else:- c/r c/r to the MAILBOX MAINTENANCE MENU. NB:- If you wish to leave the system at this point x exits to the MAIN MENU. A further x exits the system and logs out. To Set Passcodes / Tutorial. From the MAIN MENU type m to enter the MAILBOX MAINTENANCE MENU. Enter p Prompt Enter Set passcode for mailbox : 16xxxxxxxx or 1325xxxxxx New passcode : Tutorial y/n : n Clear bad passcount y/n : y Set passcode for mailbox : If there are further passcodes to change enter the number and repeat the above process. Else:- c/r c/r to the MAILBOX MAINTENANCE MENU. NB:- If you wish to leave the system at this point x exits to the MAIN MENU. A further x exits the system and logs out. Create New Mailboxes. From the MAIN MENU type m to enter the MAILBOX MAINTENANCE MENU. Enter c Prompt Enter Mailbox to create : 16xxxxxxxx or 1325xxxxxx Configure UI mailbox mappings ? y Name : (Enter mailbox owner's name) Department code : c/r Access code : c/r Receptionist day treatment : c/r Receptionist night treatment : c/r Mailbox's extension number : c/r Mailbox's extension pre-dial index : c/r Attendant extension number : c/r Feature class of service : c/r Limits class of service : c/r Group class of service : c/r Network class of service : c/r Tenant class of service : c/r Restriction class of service : c/r Enter a temporary passcode : c/r Tutorial y/n : y Enter the message speech quality : c/r Enter the name and greeting speech quality : c/r Enter Internal Outcall Index : c/r Enter Billed Outcall Index : c/r Enter Non-Billed Outcall Index : c/r Message waiting type £1 : 17 Message waiting type £2 : c/r Message waiting type £3 : c/r Fax retrieval pager access type : c/r Default telephone number for fax retrieval : c/r Call placement pager access type : c/r Time zone offset : c/r Lists with change rights : c/r Lists with review rights : c/r ****Mailbox 16xxxxxxxx created**** Configure mailbox mappings : y Extension number : c/r Switchgroup number : c/r Tenant number : c/r IN permission y/n : c/r Greeting for no answer : [0-4] c/r Greeting for line busy : [0-4] c/r Greeting for call forward : [0-4] c/r NB:- For standard greetings c/r sets the default value but if conditional greetings are required use the following: No answer = 2 Line busy = 3 Call forward (All calls) = 4 Prompt Enter Mailbox to create : If there are further mailboxes to create, enter the next mailbox number and follow the above procedure again. Else:- c/r takes you to MAILBOX MAINTENANCE MENU NB:- If you wish to leave the system at this point x exits to the MAIN MENU. A further x exits the system and logs out. Reports. From the MAIN MENU type r to enter the REPORTS MENU. Enter r Note: Method of Producing Reports. The best method of producing reports generated by the Voicemail System from a remote location is to use the Terminal "Transfers" Receive Text File to catch the data as you request it, save it to either a Network directory file or A: drive floppy file and use the Accessories "Write" application to convert it to readable print for output to a printer. The following details the step by step procedure to capture a Mailbox Data report: Reports Menu. (A) Call detail recorder. (B) Billing. (C) Configuration. (D) Pre-extension dial strings. (E) LCOS. (F) FCOS. (G) GCOS. (H) NCOS. (I) System information. (J) Phonebook report. (K) Redundancy verify report. (L) Log file. (M) Mailbox data. (P) Phoneline exceptions. (R) Pager access codes. (S) Statistics. (T) Receptionist treatments. (U) Unified integration. (V) Offline verify. (X) Exit. Note:- At this point use Vms.trm Transfers to catch the data. Click on 'Transfers' at the top of the screen. Click on 'Receive Text File' Set the drive, directory and filename to the following format:- p:/switch/public/voicemai/aud9602.txt for Networked Pcs. a:/aud9602.txt for Remote Pcs saving to floppy. Click on OK The receive file is now ready to catch any data requested and 'stop' and 'pause' should be seen at the bottom of the page along with the number of bytes stored. Enter m For Mailbox data. Report Output Routing Menu: (C) Console (screen). (P) Console with pause. (1) Vmsprint. (F) File........ (A) Append to file........ (X) Exit. Enter c Console screen. The report Mailbox data report is output and captured in the text file. Users will note that the number of stored bytes is displayed at the bottom of the screen. Enter c/r to continue. At this point users may: a)Choose other reports from the Reports Menu and repeat the above process. b)Stop the 'Receive Text File' running and exit to the convert and print stage. a) Example of saving another two reports:- Enter e LCOS report. Enter c Console (screen). Enter c/r continue. Enter f FCOS report. Enter c Console (screen). Enter c/r continue. b) Click on 'stop' at the bottom of the screen to close the text file. NB:- If you wish to leave the system at this point x exits to the MAIN MENU. A further x exits the system and logs out. Click on the 'Accessories' icon in windows and double click on 'Write'. Click on 'File Open'. Find and double click on the text file which has just been created. eg. p:/switch/public/voicemai/aud9602.txt for Networked Pcs. a:/aud9602.txt for Remote Pcs saving to floppy. A prompt box opens up : "Do you want to covert this file to write format ?" Click on 'CONVERT' Click on 'File Save'. Click on 'File Print'. ***You will now have a soft and hard copy of the report/s requested*** References: Centigram Reference and Configuration Manual. Appendix 1 - Procedure for Creating a Rotational Mailbox. This can be split into 4 distinct steps after logging on to the system:- STEP 1 - Create the Rotational Mailbox with FCOS, LCOS 17. STEP 2 - Create the Child Mailboxes with FCOS, LCOS 6. STEP 3 - Create a Distribution List for the Rotational Mailbox to access the Child Mailboxes. STEP 4 - Choose the type of Rotation required (time, date or per-call) for the Rotational Mailbox in the Rotational Mailboxes menu. PROMPT RESPONSE LOGIN: root c/r PASSWORD: xxxxxx The voicemail console boots up and presents you with the main menu:- EXAMPLE OF STEP 1 MAIN MENU (M) Mailbox maintenance (R) Report generation (S) System maintenance (X) Exit Typing M enters the :- MAILBOX MAINTENANCE MENU. (B) Mailbox block inquiry. (C) Create new mailboxes. (D) Delete mailboxes. (E) Mailbox dump. (I) Inquire about mailboxes. (K) Copy/Delete/enable mailbox greetings. (L) List maintenance. (M) Modify mailboxes. (P) Set passcode/ tutorial. (R)Rotational mailboxes. (S) Search for mailboxes. (U) UI mailbox mappings. (V) UI extension mappings. (W) Mailbox disk speech usage. (X) Exit Creating a Rotational Mailbox To create a rotational mailbox enter C Prompt Enter Mailbox to create: 16xxXXXXXX or 1325XXXXXX Configure UI mailbox mappings? y Name: (Enter mailbox owner's name) Department code: Access code: Receptionists day treatment: Receptionists night treatment: Mailbox's extension number: Mailbox's extension pre-dial index: Attendant extension number: Feature class of service: 17 Limits class of service: 17 Group class of service: Network class of service: Tenant class of service: Restriction class of service: Enter a temporary passcode: Tutorial Y/N: n Enter the message speech quality: Enter the name and greeting speech quality: Enter Internal Outcall index: Enter Billed Outcall index: Enter Non-Billed Outcall index: Message waiting type £1: 17 Message waiting type £2: Message waiting type £3: Fax retrieval pager access type: Default telephone number for fax retrieval: Call placement pager access type: Time zone offset: Lists with change rights: Lists with review rights: ***** Mailbox 16xxXXXXXX created ****** Configure mailbox mappings: y Extension number: Switchgroup number: Tenant number: IN permission y/n: OUT permission y/n: Greeting for no answer : [0-4] Greeting for line busy: [0-4] Greeting for call forward: [0-4] Where no response above is entered press c/r. This has created a Rotational mailbox, you now have to create its Child mailboxes. These Childmailboxes are the mailboxes where the callers leave their messages, they are accessed in turn distributing the callers from the Rotational mailbox evenly. EXAMPLE OF STEP 2 The Childmailboxes are created exactly the same way as the Rotational mailbox except that the FCOS and LCOS are set to 41 (Centrex Max, this allows up to 73 messages to be left) if messages are to be left in the Child Mailboxes, or FCOS / LCOS 6 if they are to be Greeting Only. NB: Both the Rotational mailbox and the Child mailboxes MUST have the same GCOS. EXAMPLE OF STEP 3 A distribution list must now be set-up to allow the operation of the Rotational mailbox. Creating a distribution list. From the Mailbox maintenance menu: Enter L (List Maintenance Menu) List Maintenance Menu. (C) Create/ Modify or show Distribution lists (D) Delete distribution lists (F) Find and /or delete mailboxes from all lists (X) Exit Enter C Prompt Response Mailbox: Enter the rotational mailbox number Distribution List: 1 (S)orted or )u)nsorted list ? S Check for duplicates before add (y/n) y (A)dd (D)elete, or (S)how list ? A Member: Enter the childmailbox number. The VMS will give back the response (mailbox number)- added to list. Use the (A)dd command for the remaining child mailboxes. Strings of mailboxes can be added by separating the numbers by commas or a hyphen. e.g. 16xxxxxxxy, 16xxxxxxxz, 16xxcccccd-16xxccccck. You must now return to the mailbox maintenance menu by typing X twice. EXAMPLE OF STEP 4 MAILBOX MAINTENANCE MENU. (B) Mailbox block inquiry. (C) Create new mailboxes. (D) Delete mailboxes. (E) Mailbox dump. (I) Inquire about mailboxes. (K) Copy/Delete/enable mailbox greetings. (C) List maintenance. (M) Modify mailboxes. (P) Set passcode/ tutorial. (R) Rotational mailboxes. (S) Search for mailboxes. (U) UI mailbox mappings. (V) UI extension mappings. (W) Mailbox disk speech usage. (X) Exit Type R to go to the Rotational Mailboxes Menu:- Per-call Rotation. Prompt Response Mailbox # to be rotated: Enter the rotational mailbox number. Period (hours): . (period) Index Number: c/r Hourly Rotation. Prompt Response Mailbox # to be rotated: Enter the rotational mailbox number. Period (hours): The HOURS (0-255) that one child mailbox greeting plays before rotating to the next child mailbox. Start date (MM-DD-YY): The MONTH, DAY and year when the cycle starts, in the format shown. Start time (HH:MM am/pm): The TIME at which the cycle starts; for example, "9:00am". Press X twice to return to the main menu. This procedure is now complete and you can record your greetings in your rotational and child mailboxes. Appendix 2 - Procedure for Creating a Tree Mailbox. This can be split into 4 distinct steps after logging on to the system:- STEP 1 - Create the Tree Mailbox with FCOS, LCOS 15. STEP 2 - Create the Child Mailboxes using virtual numbers (they do not relate to lines, which means they do not need mappings or real telephone numbers) using FCOS/LCOS 6 . STEP 3 - Create a Distribution List for the Tree Mailbox to access the Child Mailboxes. PROMPT RESPONSE LOGIN: root c/r PASSWORD: xxxxxx The voicemail console boots up and presents you with the main menu:- EXAMPLE OF STEP 1 MAIN MENU (M) Mailbox maintenance (R) Report generation (S) System maintenance (X) Exit Typing M enters the :- MAILBOX MAINTENANCE MENU. (B) Mailbox block inquiry. (C) Create new mailboxes. (D) Delete mailboxes. (E) Mailbox dump. (I) Inquire about mailboxes. (K) Copy/Delete/enable mailbox greetings. (L) List maintenance. (M) Modify mailboxes. (P) Set passcode/ tutorial. (R)Rotational mailboxes. (S) Search for mailboxes. (U) UI mailbox mappings. (V) UI extension mappings. (W) Mailbox disk speech usage. (X) Exit Creating a Tree Mailbox To create a tree mailbox enter C Prompt Enter Mailbox to create: 16XXXXXXXX or 1325XXXXXX Configure UI mailbox mappings? y Name: (Enter mailbox owner's name) Department code: Access code: Receptionists day treatment: Receptionists night treatment: Mailbox's extension number: Mailbox's extension pre-dial index: Attendant extension number: Feature class of service: 15 Limits class of service: 15 Group class of service: Network class of service: Tenant class of service: Restriction class of service: Enter a temporary passcode: Tutorial Y/N: n Enter the message speech quality: Enter the name and greeting speech quality: Enter Internal Outcall index: Enter Billed Outcall index: Enter Non-Billed Outcall index: Message waiting type £1: 17 Message waiting type £2: Message waiting type £3: Fax retrieval pager access type: Default telephone number for fax retrieval: Call placement pager access type: Time zone offset: Lists with change rights: Lists with review rights: ***** Mailbox 16XXXXXXXX created ****** Configure mailbox mappings: y Extension number: Switchgroup number: Tenant number: IN permission y/n: OUT permission y/n: Greeting for no answer : [0-4] Greeting for line busy: [0-4] Greeting for call forward: [0-4] Where no response above is entered press c/r. This has created a Tree mailbox, you now have to create its Child mailboxes. These Childmailboxes are the mailboxes where the callers leave their messages, they are accessed by the caller when they press a digit specified in the Tree Mailbox. EXAMPLE OF STEP 2 The Child mailboxes are created exactly the same way as the Tree Mailbox except that the FCOS and LCOS are set to 6 (Greeting Only). NB: Both the Tree mailbox and the Child mailboxes MUST have the same GCOS. The default GCOS is 1 and so a carriage return in the Creation menu will set them the same. EXAMPLE OF STEP 3 A distribution list must now be set-up to allow the operation of the Tree mailbox. Creating a distribution list. From the Mailbox maintenance menu: Enter L (List Maintenance Menu) List Maintenance Menu. (C) Create/ Modify or show Distribution lists (D) Delete distribution lists (F) Find and /or delete mailboxes from all lists (X) Exit Enter C Prompt Response Mailbox: Enter the tree mailbox number Distribution List: 1 (S)orted or )u)nsorted list ? U Check for duplicates before add (y/n) y (A)dd (D)elete, or (S)how list ? A Member: Enter the childmailbox number. The VMS will give back the response (mailbox number)- added to list. Use the (A)dd command for the remaining child mailboxes. Strings of mailboxes can be added by separating the numbers by commas or a hyphen. e.g. 16xxxxxxxy, 16xxxxxxxz, 16xxcccccd-16xxccccck. You must now return to the mailbox maintenance menu by typing X twice. This procedure is now complete and you must record your greetings in the Tree and Child Mailboxes. Appendix 3 - Voicemail Batch Commands. >login c/r >root c/r >"routes" c/r Note:- If the system is accessed via the ethernet card , a Terminal Type Menu appears. Choose 'N' c/r The system boots up into the Console mode. >Q c/r >"QNX y/n ? " y c/r # When the # sign becomes the prompt batch commands may be entered. Script to create a range of mailboxes. Note:- Variables are enclosed by " " Prompt Entry # acreate m1="first mailbox number" m2="last mailbox number" fc="mailbox type" lc="mailbox type" mw1=17 Then individual mailbox mappings have to be created for the above mailboxes as follows:- # mm_create"mailbox number" "extension number" 0 both 0 "greeting1 greeting2 greeting3" Where:- Residential mailbox is type 20 and greetings 1,2,3 are values 0 0 0 Basic Bus. mailbox is type 30 and greetings 1,2,3 are values 0 0 0 Callmanager mailbox is type 40 and greetings 1,2,3 are values 0 0 0 Example. # acreate m1=16xxxxxxxx m2=16xxxxxxxx fc=40 lc=40 mw1=17 # mm_create 16xxxxxxxx 016xxxxxxxx 0 both 0 0 0 0 # mm_create 16xxxxxxxx 016xxxxxxxx 0 both 0 0 0 0 Script to create a single mailbox. Prompt Entry # acreate m1="mailbox number" fc="mailbox type" lc="mailbox type" mw1=17 id="sms account no." (at=attendant ext. no. if required) # mm_create"mailbox number" "extension number" 0 both 0 "greeting1 greeting2 greeting3" Where:- Residential mailbox is type 20 and greetings 1,2,3 are values 0 0 0 Basic Bus. mailbox is type 30 and greetings 1,2,3 are values 0 0 0 Callmanager mailbox is type 40 and greetings 1,2,3 are values 0 0 0 Example. # acreate m1=16xxxxxxxx fc=40 lc=40 mw1=17 at=01xxxxxxxxx # mm_create 16xxxxxxxx 016xxxxxxxx 0 both 0 0 0 0 Script to delete a mailbox. Prompt Entry # mm_delete "mailbox number" "extension number" 0 # adelete m1="mailbox number" Example. # mm_delete 16xxxxxxxx 016xxxxxxxx 0 # adelete m1=16xxxxxxxx Script to set/reset a passcode and tutorial. Prompt Entry # asetpass m1="mailbox number" pw=162534 tt="y/n" Script to modify a mailbox. Prompt Entry # amodify om="old mailbox number" fc="new fcos" lc="new lcos" # amodify om="old mailbox number" nm="new mailbox number" # amodify om="old mailbox number" at="attendant telephone number" Scripts to create a Tree Mailbox Structure For Information Services.. There are 3 stages to the creation of a tree mailbox structure:- 1. Create the tree mailbox and mapping using FCOS 15, LCOS 15, GCOS 15. 2. Create the child mailboxes using virtual numbers (they do not relate to lines which means they don't need mappings nor real telephony numbers) using FCOS 6 , LCOS 6, GCOS 15. 3. Set up the distribution list on the tree mailbox to point to the child mailboxes. Scripts are as follows:- Tree Mailbox. Prompt Entry # acreate m1="mailbox number" fc=15 lc=15 gc=15 mw1=17 id="sms account no." -t # mm_create "mailbox number" "extension number" 0 both 0 0 0 0 Child Mailboxes. Prompt Entry # acreate m1="mailbox number" fc=6 lc=6 gc=15 mw1=17 id="sms account no." -t Repeat the above line for every child mailbox required. Tree Mailbox Distribution List. # dcreate m1="mailbox number" +c dl=1 dm="child mailbox number", "child mailbox number", "child mailbox number",etc or # dcreate m1="mailbox number" +c dl=1 dm="child mailbox number"- "child mailbox number" Note:- dl is not digit1, it is the letter L. Switch Faults/Queries Procedure 1.0 Scope: This procedure details the actions to be taken when a fault or query is raised regarding the DMS100 and the steps to be carried out until the problem is resolved. 2.0 Glossary: None. 3.0 General information: As ntl move away from involvement with outside agencies for provisioning, datafill etc. of the DMS100 Switches, the reporting procedure and fault finding routes need to be changed. All 1st and 2nd level maintenance will continue to be carried out internally, but 3rd line assistance will be requested to Data Engineering (within ntl) or ComTel. Any emergency work will be carried out internally, with the assistance of Nortel's ETAS. Responsibilities: The requirements of this procedure shall be carried out by (ntl Teesside) NCC, Assignments (Provisioning) and Switch staff. Frequency: The requirements of this procedure shall be carried our whenever a fault or query is raised concerning the DMS100 Switch. Notes: All timescales detailed are maximum times. If it is realised earlier that the reported problem is beyond scope of the relevant department, the fault should be escalated at the earliest opportunity. ComTel will assume ownership of any fault or query passed to them until closure, even if the fault is passed back to ntl Teesside. ntl Teesside staff should also ensure that ComTel is advised of any problems escalated to Nortel's ETAS. 4.0 Procedure (see also Appendices 1- 3): During Normal Working Hours: 4.1 All faults or queries, in the first instance, will be reported to the NCC, either by the MAP terminal or an outside agency i.e. Business Customer Services, Switch etc. 4.2 The NCC will investigate all received problems/queries and attempt to determine the problem and if possible resolve it. If after 30 minutes from the first report no resolution has been found, the fault should be escalated depending on the suspected type of fault or stage of the work order. Install Problem: 4.3 If the received problem is encountered on an install, it should be forwarded onto Assignments after being logged on the NCC Database (or Remedy) and given a unique event (i.e. reference) number. A phone call, followed by an email detailing the actions taken to date by NCC staff, should then be made to Assignments. 4.4 If, after 1 hour and 30 minutes from the first report, a resolution has not been found within Assignments, the problem should be passed onto Data Engineering. Assignments should call make a phone call to Data Engineering advising them of the problem, then email Data Engineering and the NCC with details of all actions taken up to that point. 4.5 If, after 3 hours and 30 minutes the data Engineering group cannot resolve the problem, it must be passed back to the NCC by phone call along with a follow up email detailing all actions taken to date. 4.6 Upon receipt by NCC staff, they will raise the problem with ComTel by phone and follow up with an email. Reference numbers will be exchanged and the NCC will request updates at half-hourly intervals. Feature Problems: 4.7 If the problem is suspected to be feature related, it should be forwarded onto Assignments after being logged on the NCC Database (or Remedy) and given a unique event/reference number. A phone call and follow up email detailing actions already carried out by NCC staff, should be made to Assignments. 4.8 If after 1 hour and 30 minutes from the first report a resolution has not been found within Assignments, the problem should be passed onto Data Engineering. Assignments should make a phone call to Data Engineering advising them of the problem then email Data Engineering and the NCC with details of all actions taken up to that point. 4.9 If, after 3 hours and 30 minutes the data Engineering group cannot resolve the problem, it must be passed back to the NCC by phone call and follow up email detailing all actions taken to date. 4.10 Upon receipt by NCC staff, they will raise the problem with ComTel by phone and follow up with an email. Reference numbers will be exchanged and the NCC will request updates at half-hourly intervals. Data Problem: 4.11 If the problem is suspected to be data-related it should be forwarded onto Assignments after being logged on the NCC Database (or Remedy) and given a unique event/reference number. A phone call, followed up by an email detailing actions already carried out by NCC staff, should be made to Assignments. 4.12 If, after 1 hour and 30 minutes from the first report, a resolution has not been found within Assignments the problem should be passed onto Data Engineering. Assignments should call make a phone call to Data Engineering advising them of the problem, and follow up with an email to Data Engineering and the NCC detailing all actions taken up to that point. 4.13 If, after 3 hours and 30 minutes the data Engineering group cannot resolve the problem, it must be passed back to the NCC by phone call and followed up with an email detailing all the actions taken to date. 4.14 On receipt of the email, NCC staff will raise the problem with ComTel by phone and email. Reference numbers will be exchanged and the NCC will request an update at half-hourly intervals. Any Other Problem: 4.15 If any other problem is suspected e.g. hardware, then it should be forwarded onto a Switch Technician after being logged on the NCC Database (or Remedy) and given a unique event/reference number. A phone call, followed up by an email detailing actions already carried out by NCC staff, should be made to the Switch Technician. 4.16 If, after 1 hour and 30 minutes from the first report a resolution has not been found, the problem should be categorised. If the problem is considered to be E1 then the technician should inform the NCC that it requires ETAS involvement. If the fault is not categorised as E1 then the Switch Technician should call make a phone call to the NCC advising them of the problem and follow up with an email detailing all actions taken up to that point. 4.17 On receipt of the email, the NCC will raise the problem with ComTel by phone and issue a supporting email. Reference numbers will be exchanged and the NCC will request an update at half-hourly intervals. 4.18 If, after 3 hours and 30 minutes from the first report ComTel are unable to provide a resolution, the fault must be passed back to the NCC who will then raise a Nortel CSR and make the originating Switch Technician the point of contact. Outside Normal Working Hours Install Problem: 4.19 If the problem is on an install, it should be forwarded onto Assignments, after being logged on the NCC Database (or Remedy) and given a unique event/reference number. A phone call, followed up by a supporting email detailing actions already carried out by NCC staff, should be issued to Assignments. 4.20 If, after 1 hour and 30 minutes from the first report a resolution has not been found within Assignments, the problem should be passed back to the NCC. Assignments should then issue a supporting email to the NCC detailing all actions taken to date. 4.21 Upon receipt by NCC staff, they will raise the problem with ComTel by phone and supporting email. Reference numbers will be exchanged and the NCC will request an update at half-hourly intervals. Feature Problems: 4.22 If the problem is suspected to be feature-related, it should be forwarded onto Assignments after being logged on the NCC Database (or Remedy) and given a unique event/reference number. A phone call, followed up by a supporting email detailing actions already carried out by NCC staff should be issued to Assignments. 4.23 If, after 1 hour and 30 minutes from the first report a resolution has not been found within Assignments, the problem should be passed back to the NCC. Assignments should then issue a supporting email to the NCC detailing all actions taken up to that point. 4.24 Upon receipt, NCC staff will raise the problem with ComTel by phone and email. Reference numbers will be exchanged and the NCC will request an update at half-hourly intervals. Data Problems: 4.25 If the problem is suspected to be data-related, it should be forwarded onto Assignments after being logged on the NCC Database (or Remedy) and given a unique event/reference number. A phone call, followed up by a supporting email detailing actions already carried out by NCC staff, should be issued to Assignments. 4.26 If, after 1 hour and 30 minutes from the first report a resolution has not been found within Assignments, the problem should be passed back to the NCC. Assignments should then issue a supporting email to the NCC detailing all actions taken up to that point. 4.27 Upon receipt, NCC staff will raise the problem with ComTel by phone and email, exchange reference numbers and request half-hourly updates. Any Other Problems: 4.28 If any other problem is suspected e.g. hardware, it should be forwarded onto the on-call Switch Technician after being logged on the NCC Database (or Remedy) and given a unique event/reference number. A phone call, followed up by a supporting email detailing actions already carried out by NCC staff, should be issued to the Switch Technician. 4.29 If, after 1 hour and 30 minutes from the first report a resolution has not been found, the problem should be categorised. If the problem is considered to be E1 then the technician should inform the NCC that it requires ETAS involvement. If the fault is not categorised as E1 then the Switch Technician should call make a phone call to the NCC advising them of the problem, and follow up with a supporting email detailing all actions taken up to that point. 4.30 Upon receipt, NCC staff will raise the problem with ComTel by phone and email, exchange reference numbers and request half-hourly updates. 4.31 If, after 3 hours and 30 minutes from the first report ComTel are unable to provide a resolution, the fault must be passed back to the NCC. The NCC will then raise a Nortel CSR and make the originating Switch Technician the point of contact. . : | +-> Telephony Network Synchronisation Overview <-+--------------- --- --- 1.0 Scope: This document describes the synchronisation network employed by ntl and details the problems associated with synchronisation within a transmission network and the solutions available to rectify them. The methods employed to provide standby and diversity of timing signals are also described. Refer to diagrams: o:\telco\synchronisation\Sync overview.vsd o:\telco\synchronisation\Sync traceability.vsd 2.0Glossary: PDH-Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy SDH-Synchronous Digital Hierarchy VC-12-Virtual Container - 12 ITU-T-International Telecommunications Union - Telecomms G.803-ITU-T standards defining SDH networks and timing G.811 -(Timing requirements at the outputs of a PRS) G.812-(Timing requirements at the outputs of a SRS) PRS-Primary Reference Source SRS-Secondary Reference Source UTC-Universal Timing Co-ordinate GPS-Global Positioning System DCD-521-Telecom Solutions Digital Clock Distribution system STM-4-Synchronous Transport Module - 4 (622Mbit/s) GPP -Global Peripheral Platform DDF -Digital Distribution Frame DASS2-Digital Access Signalling System No.2 Q.931 -European standard for Primary Rate ISDN 3.0 Introduction: As a network service provider, ntl Teesside is required by the regulatory authorities to provide a certain level of service within the network. The required level of service can be affected by many factors, such as equipment failure, equipment reliability, poor or inadequate maintenance and unresponsive actions to network problems. All of the above factors can be addressed by individual companies or departments to improve the level of service by the equipment manufacturers or the responsible departments. However, lack of forward planning in the area of network timing can have a major impact to the quality of service provided and is subsequently over looked as the cause of outages and network faults. The ability to provide accurate timing within the network and maintain a high level, or an acceptable reduced level, is the key that will alleviate many problems already seen by other operators who have not realised the real cause. 3.1 Plesiochronous Networks. Within existing networks of PDH multiplexers phase variations in the signal may take place. That is the time between when a digital pulse transition is expected (the ideal) and when it actually occurs. Two problems identified with this phase variation are known as jitter and wander. Industry standards distinguish between these impairments at the arbitrary frequency of 10Hz. Jitter is a short term (fast-change) phase deviation from the network reference and is normally small in magnitude. The frequency of these phase oscillations is greater than or equal to 10Hz. Jitter is typically present in the network as a result of network coding and decoding, and also caused by noise etc. introduced by the timing recovery process. Wander is a long term (slow change) variation of jitter, it tends to be larger in magnitude than jitter and at a lower frequency, typically below 10Hz. Wander is caused by a variation in transmission speeds as a result of various transmission media and network element connections. SDH systems also suffer from these timing problems and their effects can be even more damaging in SDH networks than in PDH networks. 3.2 The Effects of Jitter and Wander on a PDH / SDH Network. The effect of short and long term clock variations caused by jitter and wander respectively can cause loss of data due to unrecoverable frame slips. The PDH system adjusts the timing of multiplexers to accommodate these timing variations in one ‘bit’ steps. However, in SDH systems, the smallest unit is not a bit, but is one byte, hence steps of one byte are used to correct timing variations. Due to the size of a byte compared to a bit the adjustments are, at times, excessive and can lead to phase ramps occurring. Large pointer movements are visible due to increasing time variations being quantised into ‘byte steps’ which are not by nature smooth variations. 3.3 Bit changes in PDH systems vs. Byte changes in SDH systems. Within the PDH network multiple 2Mbit/s signals are multiplexed into higher order bit rates (8 / 34 / 140Mbit/s) and transported at the appropriate line rate. The 2Mbit/s signal can be used to pass timing which is transmitted transparently through each network node. The clock rate at each network node is not tied to the clock rate of the 2Mbit/s signal. The reception and generation of the clock signal passes through the multiplexing equipment without being rechecked. Due to this factor, it can not be guaranteed that all clocks are derived from the same timing source within the PDH network. Hence, a means to allow for gradual slip must be introduced. This is known as timing justification, or ‘bit stuffing’. The external signal is adjusted into the SDH payload in the same manner as PDH using ‘bit justification’. However, once aligned into the VC-12, the signal is only aligned within the SDH payload through SDH pointers. In a well designed SDH network, pointer correcting movements are rare and the incoming signal can be considered aligned by the initial bit justification. However, in the case of PDH the alignment is continued using bit justification for every step in the multiplex hierarchy. Once within the SDH payload any slip is not accommodated through one bit stuffing, but is based on the lowest component being one byte. Thus, pointer movements become more disruptive than the traditional bit movements. 3.4 Effects of SDH networks with respect to timing distribution. The accuracy of SDH network element clocks are required to be within ±4.6 in 10-6. Also, cascaded network elements result in timing impairments being accumulated. A maximum of 20 network elements is defined as the limit for timing synchronisation before an external timing source is required. 3.5 Synchronisation Architectures. The synchronisation network delivers timing to all parts of the network within the acceptable limits of degradation. G.803 defines the structure and performance limits for such a synchronisation network. The whole concept is to pass timing from a Primary Reference Source (PRS) to secondary references within the network, which then distribute the timing onwards to the network elements. However, transmitting the timing to secondary references may mean passing through network elements which have lower quality clocks, thus the timing is degraded. Currently, UK national network operators use triplicate caesium clocks calibrated to the Universal Timing Co-ordinate (UTC) as the PRS and it was from these national operators that ntl Teesside derived the SRS via the external network interconnects to the DMS100 switch. It is now possible to use the Global Positioning System (GPS) to derive the PRS for a network operator which is directly traceable to the UTC. 4.0 Synchronisation of the ntl Network. The ntl synchronisation network must be planned using the rules laid down by the ITU-T in the standards G.803, G.812 and G.811. The network must have at least one Primary Reference Source (PRS) from where all network elements derive and can trace their timing. The main site for the PRS will be the Luton switch site. Here, the PRS clock signal will be distributed using a DCD-521 (Digital Clock Distribution Network Synchronisation System). The DCD-521 will derive the clock signal from a number of timing sources. These sources will be:- 1GPS (Global Positioning System) 2BT i/c (Timing derived from the BT Interconnect) 3MCL i/c (Timing derived from the MCL Interconnect) 4Internal Rubidium Clock The DCD-521 will use all four timing sources to compare and decide which is the best quality source to use. The other references can be used in the event that the primary reference, the GPS signal, fails or becomes inadequate. To achieve network synchronisation at the switch sites the PRS clock signal is transmitted via the STM-4 ring using the external clock input and output ports on the SMA-4 multiplexers and will be the input reference clock signal for DCD-521 systems situated at those sites (fig 1 below). The DCD-521 clock outputs will feed clock signals to each of the DMS100 switches and to distribution amplifiers, which accepts one incoming clock signal and presents twelve separate, but identically timed, output signals. As the SDH gateway multiplexers can receive two external timing sources two sets of amplifiers will be employed to provide redundancy at this point. Further redundancy methods are described later. Additional distribution amplifiers are employed to distribute PRS timing signals to the equipment used to provide back to back Advanced Business Services, such as C-MUX and PDMX-E multiplexers. These headend multiplexers and the DMS100 Switches each produce a degraded clock signal which becomes the Secondary Reference Source (SRS) within the synchronisation network. Each set of distribution amplifiers are mounted in separate equipment racks at the headend (Figure 2). Figure 2 4.1 Timing signal redundancy. Various methods of redundancy and diverse timing signal paths are employed within the network synchronisation plan. Methods range from duplication of equipment to prioritisation of several timing sources within the equipment. 4.1.1 DCD-521 redundancy methods. Input redundancy. The input of the DCD-521 system has several redundancy/standby options available. Two input modules, and associated cards, fitted in the DCD-521 each receive a timing signal from the two output signals supplied by the GPS receiver. Both cards are operational and will provide a clock source for the DCD-521 should either one fail. Timing signals provided by both BT and Mercury interconnect equipment, derived from the UTC, are also connected to each of the DCD-521 input modules and cards, thus providing second and third priority clock sources. In the event of a failure of all of the above inputs the DCD-521 has two Rubidium clock sources which will provide a ‘holdover’ clock signal during the duration of the input failure. The Rubidium atomic oscillators will provide a clock source with an accuracy of 1.0x10-9 over a twenty year period. The holdover stability in a 24 hour period is ± 2.0x10-11 at 25oC. Output redundancy. Several output cards and modules are available in each DCD-521 which are arranged such that they supply separate, identical clock signals to SDH gateway multiplexers, CMUX back to back service multiplexers and PDMX-E multiplexers. As the distribution amplifiers supplying clock signals to the gateways are duplicated there is also duplication of the DCD-521 output cards and modules to feed the amplifiers. Each of the output cards are backed up by a ‘hot standby’ card should a failure occur. At Luton, there is one hot standby card available to back-up two output cards, whereas Manchester has one hot standby for four output cards. Middlesbrough has one to one hot standby cards for all output cards except those supplying the gateway amplifiers, which again has duplicated cards, amplifiers and gateway clock inputs. 4.1.2 Gateway multiplexer diversity. The GPT SMA-1 gateway multiplexer can receive clock signals from several sources in addition to providing it’s own ‘holdover’ clock signal. The two clock signals provided by the duplicated amplifiers are connected to the External Sync ports 1 & 2 and are given 1st and 2nd priority. Synchronisation from the DMS100 switch is provided from a GPP tributary port and is configured as priority 3. 4.2 Synchronisation of customer’s circuits. The synchronisation signal received by the headend gateway multiplexer from the distribution amplifier is passed around the SDH network therefore synchronising the primary node SDH multiplexers to the same signal. This synchronisation of the SDH network (highlighted in red on the following diagrams) is to be considered independent of the synchronisation of the traffic (highlighted in blue) which is transported over it. The synchronisation plan for the customer’s equipment and/or network is determined by the circuit’s traffic path and whether or not it is intrinsic to the SDH transmission structure. The factors which determine the synchronisation plan are therefore based upon the type of service being used, i.e. private circuit or Switch based, and the data rate at which the circuit operates. (n x) 64kbit/s Private Circuits. As 64kbit/s private circuit services employ back to back primary multiplexers and the circuits are demultiplexed at the headend to enable cross-connection from one nodal area to another, the traffic path has effectively been extracted from the SDH network (and SDH synchronisation) and an external clock signal must be applied to both of the headend back to back multiplexers. The headend multiplexers become the ‘master’ clock sources for both ends of the private circuit and the primary multiplexers at the cabinet are configured as the ‘slave’ equipment. Customer’s equipment connected to the cabinet multiplexer must also be considered as ‘slaves’ at both ends of the circuit (Figure 3). Figure 3 Basic Rate ISDN. BRI circuits are also deployed using back to back multiplexers and must be synchronised to the DMS100, therefore a PRS clock signal is again distributed to the headend multiplexer. The cabinet multiplexer and the customer’s equipment being configured as the slave destination (Figure 4). Figure 4 2Mbit/s Private Circuits. As a 2Mbit/s tributary path is intrinsic to the SDH payload structure and passes from one nodal area to another via the DDF, the ntl SDH transmission network is considered to be ‘transparent’ to the private circuit which therefore does not obtain a synchronisation signal from the SDH network. The customer must provide a ‘master’ source and a ‘slave’ destination on their own network equipment (Figure 5). Figure 5 2Mbit/s switched services (DASS2, Q.931). As all 2Mbit/s ports on the DMS100 switch provide a Secondary Reference Source, services such as DASS2 and Q.931 are synchronised independently to the SDH gateway and network, although both have the same source at the DCD-521. The customer’s equipment will be configured as the slave destination. . : +-> Telephony Network Synchronisation Maintenance Guide <-+------- --- -- - 1.0 Scope: This document is designed to aid those involved in maintenance and fault finding of the ntl telephony synchronisation network. The information contained within this guide will assist in identifying problems that may arise within the network, interpret problems reported by customers and highlight areas of the network which may become vulnerable to clock errors during problems involving extrinsic equipment, such as power failures and cable faults. 2.0 Glossary: TL1-Transaction Language 1 GPS-Global Positioning System DCD-521-Telecom Solutions Digital Clock Distribution system STM-4-Synchronous Transport Module - 4 (622Mbit/s) GPP-Global Peripheral Platform DDF-Digital Distribution Frame CSC-GPT Common Services Card PDMX-E-Nortel Primary Multiplexer EMOS -GPT SMA Equipment Management Operating System PCMOS-GPT CMUX PC Management Operating System ENEM-Nortel PDMX-E Network Element Manager CPE-Customer’s Premises Equipment VC-TS-GPT Virtual Container Transport System DNTU-Data Network Terminating Unit 3.0 Introduction: The synchronisation network design employed by ntl has maximised the use of equipment duplication and cable routing diversity by such techniques as utilising dual cards or modules and/or providing external inputs from two separate amplifier sources, where applicable. However, not all eventualities can be catered for and the following information will be of assistance in the event of synchronisation equipment or external equipment failure. As the Telecom Solutions Digital Clock Distribution units are a common source of the synchronisation network and are of major importance to the overall scheme they have the ability to be managed by a central station such as the Network Control Centre. The units may also be managed locally by a PC with VT100 interface. The management of alarms and reports, and the configuration of the units are carried out using a proprietary language known as TL1. Manuals are available which provide a full list of commands used, providing explanations for each and the possible results for each command entered. A summary of the most commonly used commands is included in this document. See section 6.0. 3.1 Summary of redundancy employed: Dual power feeds to DCD-521. Dual GPS, BT and MCL interconnect inputs to DCD-521 unit, as 1st, 2nd and 3rd priorities. Dual internal clocks as fallback. Dual Trunk SMA-4, Corporate Overlay SMA-4, BT and MCL interconnect inputs to DCD-521 units, as 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th priorities. Dual internal clocks as fallback. Dual DCD-521 outputs SMA-4, each DMS-100 and amplifiers feeding SMA-1 gateways. Corporate Overlay SMA-4 ring as back up to the Trunk SMA-4 ring. Dual inputs and outputs to/from SMA-4s. Dual inputs to DMS-100 Message Switch hardware. Two separate amplifiers to supply dual inputs to SMA-1 gateways, as 1st and 2nd priorities. GPP tributary input as 3rd priority. Input to primary back to back multiplexers as 1st priority. U-interface from DMS-100 as 2nd priority and internal clock as fallback. One additional amplifier per rack as ‘hot standby’. 4.0 Fault scenarios: For fault finding purposes the synchronisation network can be regarded as two distinct levels of operation, that of sync source (GPS, interconnect and DCD-521 input/internal clock) and that of sync distribution (DCD-521 output, distribution amps and network elements). This division of the network is based upon the topology of each level, i.e. from the DCD-521 output to the network elements generally follows a line of network ‘points’ and therefore faults occurring in any of these ‘lines’ affect only the other points on that line (see figure 1 below). The sync source level acts as a network hub and faults occurring in this level will affect more than one line in the distribution network (see figure 2 below). The following diagram is a simplified, hierarchical view of the network, designed to highlight the flow of the synchronisation signal throughout the transmission network ( see figure 3 below). Please click here to view Figure 3. 4.1 Sync source (hub) level faults: 4.1.1 Loss of GPS receiver signal: The GPS system is a very reliable clock source however the possibility remains that the GPS signal receiver may develop a fault or lose BOTH power feeds. Under these fault conditions there will be no GPS synchronisation signal available to the DCD-521 as priority one, however the system will automatically revert to the 2nd priority source, which is the BT interconnect. Therefore, the whole synchronisation network and all of the network elements will be timed from the BT interconnect and there will be no conflict of timing signals. Fault symptoms: Single burst of data errors. Reported by: Customer / TL1 terminal (See section 6.0) Action required: Restore power to GPS receiver / await return of GPS signal. 4.1.2 Loss of DCD-521 output signal: The following scenarios will occur if there is loss of BOTH power feeds to the DCD-521, if the output cards or modules fail or there is a failure in the coaxial cable connected to the output. DCD-521: Should the DCD-521 output signal become unavailable it is possible to provide a sync source derived from the BT and MCL interconnects which will be delivered to the other Switch sites and all network elements. The result of which affects only the (n by) 64k Private Circuit service and the P-Phone service. To accomplish this it is necessary to provide the SMA-4 with an interconnect tributary which will provide timing to the DMS-100 Switches and all subsequent network elements. This action occurs automatically as the DCD-521 output is fed to the DMS-100 via the SMA-4 which, upon loss of it’s external inputs, is set to automatically revert to an interconnect traffic tributary for a sync signal. Hence the DMS-100 is sync’d to the interconnect (see figure 4 below). Figure 4 Fault symptoms: Single burst of data errors. Private Circuits may develop timing conflicts and P-Phones will free run. Reported by:Customer / EMOS sync change / PCMOS sync change. Action required:Restore power to DCD-521 / Replace output card or module / Replace coax between DCD-521 and SMA-4. DCD-521: At these sites the loss of DCD-521 output does not require the network elements to be sync’d by an interconnect, as the sync signal received at the SMA-4 is still sourced by the GPS and DCD-521. However, the DCD-521 now feeds the DMS-100 directly and will require manual intervention to change the SMA-4 external sync output cables from the DCD-521 to the DMS-100. A pair of coaxial cables can be temporarily linked between the SMA-4 outputs and the DDF points, which connect to the DMS-100 (see figure 5 below). Figure 5 Loss of output from the DCD-521 also affects the SMA-1 gateways and the back to back multiplexers, but both will revert to the next priority sync source which are provided by the DMS-100 and therefore are also synchronised to the interconnect. Basic Rate ISDN services will source their sync from the Switch U-interface and POTS from the GPP tributary input. (n by) 64k Private Circuits may be affected due to the CSC not receiving the external sync signal and is now relying on U-interface timing from the DMS-100. The PDMX-E multiplexer will also lose its external timing source and will ‘free-run’. Fault symptoms:Data errors until temp coax installed. Private Circuits may develop timing conflicts and P-Phones will freerun. Reported by:Customer / EMOS: SMA-1 sync change / PCMOS: CMUX sync change. Action required: Temp coax cables to be installed / Restore power to DCD-521 / Replace output card or module / Replace coax between DCD-521 and SMA-4. 4.1.3 Loss of Trunk SMA-4 ring synchronisation: A failure of the Trunk SMA-4 multiplexer equipment or fibre ring has obvious consequences to the overall network integrity and will automatically receive attention, however the distribution of the synchronisation signal is maintained due to the use of the Corporate Overlay (C.O.) SMA-4 ring as a back-up. Outputs from DCD-521 are connected to the C.O. SMA-4 therefore providing synchronisation where the external sync outputs are connected to those DCD-521 as 2nd priority. The Trunk SMA-4 feeds the DMS-100 Switch directly and must receive manual intervention to jumper the C.O. SMA-4 to the Switch inputs at the DDF. A pair of coaxial cables are installed between the C.O. SMA-4 and the DDF block in question. 4.2 Sync distribution (line) level faults: The number of network elements affected by a fault in the sync distribution area depends upon where in the line the faulty equipment is located. For example a fault within the DCD-521 output stages may affect several distribution amplifiers and/or the DMS-100 sync inputs. 4.2.1 Loss of input signal to DMS-100: Two independent, identical sync signals are fed to the DMS-100s from each of the DCD-521 systems. The inputs of the DMS-100 are connected to both of the ‘Message Switches’, MS0 and MS1. The DMS-100 operates such that the two sync input signals do not act as main and redundant sources, but can both be thought of as live, dynamic signals used by either MS, whichever is in operation. Should the signal supplying the operating MS be disconnected due to cable failure or DCD-521 failure the DMS-100 automatically switches to internal clock. The internal clock is guaranteed to run at the same rate as the signals supplied to the MS for up to 4 hours from disconnection, however it is possible for the DMS-100 to be manually datafilled to use an interconnect traffic tributary as the sync source should this period elapse. Fault symptoms:Both inputs fail or input to operating MS fails: a) within 4 hrs - Single burst of data errors on Switch traffic. b) over 4 hrs – Errors on traffic to/from other operators. Reported by:Customer / Switch alarms. Action required:Replace faulty cable(s) / Datafill for trib sync after 4hrs. 4.2.2 Distribution amplifier failure: The JHS 140 Clock Distribution Amplifier is the only unmanaged element within the synchronisation network and is therefore reliant upon the elements which follow it in the sync signal path to report a loss of input. The amps feed a sync signal to the gateway SMA-1s, the back to back CMUX and the back to back PDMX-E. To minimise the effects of a loss of sync to the above elements a ‘hot-standby’ amplifier is installed into each of the amplifier racks. During the period that an amplifier may be faulty the outputs can be reconnected to the standby amplifier using temporary coax patch cables. A power and input signal ‘ok’ LED is present on the front of the amplifiers. Fault symptoms:Single burst of data errors. Private Circuits may develop timing conflicts and P-Phones will freerun. Reported by:Customer / EMOS: sync change / PCMOS: sync change. Action required:Patch outputs to hot-standby / Restore power to amp / Replace faulty amplifier. 4.2.3 Loss of input to network elements: All of the above scenarios may result in the loss of sync input to the network elements, however faults such as cable failure or element input failure will also give the same symptoms. It is possible to investigate the integrity of the sync signal up to the input point of the element using the test equipment described in section 5.0. The following scenarios assume that the input sync signal to the network elements has failed after the distribution amplifier and that the DMS-100 sync path is secure. A loss of both external sync inputs to an SMA-1 gateway will result in the 3rd priority clock source being used. As this signal is a 2Mbit/s GPP tributary transmitted from the DMS-100, the source of the clock can still be traced back to the GPS. Fault symptoms:Single burst of data errors. Reported by:Customer / EMOS: sync change. Action required:Investigate sync signal at SMA-1. Loss of external sync input to the CMUX multiplexer results in the clock being sourced from a U interface connection back to the DMS-100, and again can be traced to the GPS. However, (n by) 64kbit/s Private Circuits which ‘break-out’ of the 2Mbit/s tributary at the headend, which do not reside in the same multiplexer as a U interface, will ‘float’ with respect to an end which is configured with a BRI service. Fault symptoms: Single burst of data errors on BRI. Intermittent bursts of errors on (n by) 64kbit/s Private Circuits. Reported by:Customer / PCMOS: sync change. Action required:Investigate sync signal at CMUX. PDMX-E multiplexers will source the clock signal from its internal clock should the external sync source fail, therefore both multiplexers of the back to back service will have floating timing. PDMX-E shelves sharing the P-Phone service with (n by) 64kbit/s data services will develop errors on the Private Circuits. Fault symptoms:Bursts of errors on (n by) 64kbit/s Private Circuits. Reported by:Customer / ENEM: sync change. Action required:Investigate sync signal at amplifier output. 4.3 Effects of faults on customer premises equipment: The synchronisation network is designed to superimpose the section of the transmission network that exists within the headend or Switch site, therefore this document deals with the implications of faults on this area of the network only. However thought must be given to the area of the transmission network which extends to the customer’s premises, i.e. the SMA-1 and back to back multiplexer within the Type 3 cabinet and CPE, such as VC-TS enclosures, DNTU etc. As the majority of telephony services are extended from the headend, or Switch site, and the equipment housed within is the first point in the transmission sequence to receive the sync signal, i.e. ‘master’ clock source, the CPE will be designated as the ‘slave’ equipment. However, 2Mbit/s Private Circuits are transparent to the transmission network, therefore the customer will designate either end of the circuit as master and slave. Please refer to o:/…/sync_doc.doc, section 4.2 ‘Synchronisation of customer’s circuits’, for more detailed descriptions of synchronisation within Customer’s Premises. 5.0 Test Equipment: To investigate the 2Mbit/s G.703 HDB3 signal and the 2MHz ‘analogue’ signal it is possible to display their characteristics on an oscilloscope. As the inputs to the CMUX+ and CMUX2 are 120ohm twisted pair and the distribution amplifier’s outputs are 75ohm coaxial it is necessary to employ a balun in the sync feed cable. To test this portion of the sync signal path a ‘reverse’ balun can be used to investigate the signal quality up to the point it is connected to the multiplexer. To ease identification of the signal it is possible to manufacture a clear plastic mask, which can be situated on the oscilloscope display. Listed below are several common commands used to configure the DCD-521 and to interrogate the DCD-521 to verify alarm and fault conditions. The command text can be typed in upper or lower case, but the number of characters, including colon separators, must be adhered to. All commands must be terminated with a semi-colon. The DCD-521 systems will be configured prior to coming into operation, but the following commands may be used should it be necessary to change-out the MIS management card or if the configuration is lost. To set date and time: (Ref. page 40 MIS-14, page 46 MIS-12) set-dat:::118:yymmdd,hhmmss; To display the condition of the management comms ports: (Ref. page 75 MIS-14) rtrv-eqpt::com-all:115; To display the system’s expected input clock signal: (Ref. page 78 MIS-14, page 36 MIS-12) rtrv-prmtr-t1::mrc-1-all:154; [Displays parameters of all inputs on MRC1] To edit the system to accept various types of input clock signal: (Ref. page 22 MIS-14, page 8 MIS-12) ed-prmtr-t1::mrc-1-1:154:1,network,analog; [Channel 1 on MRC1 set to 1st priority, network, analogue signal] The following commands can be used to interrogate the system. To display alarm log: (Ref. page 62 MIS-14, page 34 MIS-12) rtrv-log:::115::alarms; [Displays last 60 events] To clear alarm log: (Ref. page 35 MIS-14, page 42 MIS-12) set-attr-log:::117::alarms,clr; To display the performance of the input signals: (Ref. page 81 MIS-14, page 38 MIS-12) rtrv-pm-t1::mrc-1-all:141::,,,,,,; [Displays all parameters for MRC1 inputs] To display individual or all alarmed equipment: (Ref. page 47 MIS-14, page 20 MIS-12) rtrv-alm-t1::mrc-1-all:145::,,,; (MIS-14) rtrv-alm-t1::mrc-1-all:112::,,,; (MIS-12) [Displays any alarms on all inputs on MRC1] In addition to interrogative commands there are two types of automatic reports, which are displayed upon fault or alarm conditions. (Ref. page 55 MIS-14, page 55 MIS-12) * 42 REPT ALM EQPT " {Report description} " [Equipment report number 42 is minor (*)] (Ref. page 59 MIS-14, page 58 MIS-12) 26 REPT EVT T1 " {Event description} " [Input signal event number 26] A typical example of an alarm report produced when GPS synchronisation signal to the DCD-521 fails: S1 98-06-30 10:50:34 * 200 REPT ALM T1 "MRC-1-1:MN,LOS,NSA:\"LOSS OF SIGNAL\"" ; 1st line=S1 – main shelf, date and time 2nd line=Report 200 is an alarm on the T1 (UK=E1) input. 3rd line=MRC card 1, input 1 has minor alarm. Not service affecting. A cleared alarm also produces a report: S1 98-06-30 10:53:38 A 205 REPT ALM T1 "MRC-1-1:CL,LOS,NSA:\"LOSS OF SIGNAL\"" ; NTL Internal Guide To the Callmanager VMS General information: Before setting up the Voicemailbox, the new user should write down the following three pieces of information and have them to hand when going through the initial tutorial or changing user options:- 1. Write down a passcode of between 4 and 6 digits that is easy for you to remember. 2. Write down the name you wish to be greeted by. 3. Write down the text of your greeting. eg "Hi, this is John Smith on Monday the 4th of March, I am not available to take your call at present but I do check my mail regularly and if you would like to leave a detailed message including your name and number I will get straight back, thank you." Also prepare the following Conditional Greetings for recording. Although they are not asked for in the tutorial, you will be able to customise your mailbox to use Conditional Greetings instead of a single Primary Greeting whenever you feel ready:- a) No answer greeting. b) Busy greeting. c) All calls transfered greeting. Responsibilities: The requirements of this guide should be followed by anyone wishing to enable, access, retrieve or modify Callmanager Voicemailbox messages. If there are any queries relating to this document they should be raised with the Switch Support Engineer. Frequency: The requirements of this guide should be followed as necessary by the Voicemailbox user. To Set Up A Mailbox From The Initial Tutorial Initial Preparation:- 1. Decide on a passcode of between 4-6 digits and write it down for reference during the tutorial. 2. Decide on a suitable greeting and write it down for reference during the tutorial. When you initially log in to your new mailbox a tutorial will take you through the steps needed to set up the necessary features which uniquely identify your box and prepare it for use. The steps required are as follows:- Dial 1711 to access the Voicemail system and step through the tutorial. The Voicemail system will ask you to enter a passcode of between 4 and 6 digits that you will use every time you log in to the Voicemail system. The Voicemail system will ask you to record a greeting/message detailing that you are unavailable and asking the caller to leave a message including their name and number. The Voicemail system will ask you to record your name so that it can greet you by name when you log in. ______________________________ Step by step example:- Dial 1711 Listen to the tutorial introduction. Press 8 Enter user options. Press 7 Set up passcode. ABCD # Enter between 4 and 6 digits terminating with a #. Press 8 Enter user options. Press 4 "greeting" # Record greeting after the tone terminating with a #. Press 7 Playback to review. Press 9 Save and exit. (If you are not satisfied with the recording, press 3 to discard it and re-record after the tone terminating with a #. Follow by pressing 7 to review and 9 to save as above). Press 8 Enter user options. Press 6 "name" # Record your name terminating with a #. Press 7 Playback to review. Press 9 Save and exit. (If you are not satisfied with the recording, press 3 to discard it and re-record after the tone terminating with a #. Follow by pressing 7 to review and 9 to save as above). Press 9 Exit the Voicemail system. The Voice mailbox is now ready to accept messages when you forward your calls to it. Forwarding Calls to Voicemail. When you are unavailable to take your calls, they may be forwarded to the Voicemail System to be answered and any messages stored for later retrieval. To forward your line to the Voicemail System see below:- 1. All calls *70 1711 2. Busy calls *76 1711 3. Unanswered calls *77 1711 To remove the call forwarding see below:- 1. All calls #70 2. Busy calls #76 3. Unanswered calls #77 The Voicemail System will send a "Message Waiting" signal to your telephone to alert you that there are messages awaiting your attention. The method used depends on the type of telephone you use and will be one of the following:- 1. Stuttered dial tone. 2. Periodic ring notification. 3. Message waiting lamp. Once your tutorial is set up and you have activated the call forward of your choice your mailbox is ready to accept and process messages. Anyone ringing your line while call forwarded will be answered by the Voicemailbox and will hear your personal greeting and invited to leave a detailed message after the tone or press 0 for the Operator/Attendant. They will have the opportunity to review their message, discard and re-record their message, append to their message, save their message and exit the system. Whether you have been alerted by Message Waiting or whether you just want to ring up your mailbox remotely to see if any messages have been left the method is explained on the next sheet Accessing Your Voicemailbox. Callmanager Voicemailbox. Access Rights. 1. Receive and play messages. 2. Auto-play unplayed messages. 3. Keep or discard messages. 4. Auto-keep messages both played and unplayed for 10 days. 5. Receive message of the day. 6. Change User Options.(Change password, name recording and greeting recording). 7. Extra security - Bad passcode lockout if over 5 failed attempts in 24hrs. 8. Transfer to an attendant operator or receptionist by pressing 0. 9. Answer messages from other mailboxes and mark them urgent, confidential, receipt requested. 10. Give messages to other mailboxes and mark them urgent, confidential, receipt requested,add comments, give to a distribution list/multiple users, give receipt message with comments. 11. Make messages for single and multiple users/distribution lists, mark them urgent, confidential, receipt requested. 12. Create distribution lists. 13. Create conditional greetings, for busy condition, for no-answer condition etc. Mailbox Parameters: 1. Maximum messages = 20. 2. Maximum length of user message = 3 minutes. 3. Maximum length of caller message = 3 minutes. 4. Maximum length of name recording = 3 seconds. 5. Maximum length of greeting recording = 30 seconds. Accessing Your Voicemailbox. There are different ways of accessing your mailbox depending on where you are ringing from, these are as follows:- From your own Comcast Line Dial 1711 "Hello (name) please enter your passcode" Key in your passcode. From Any Other Line Dial [your line number] Wait till it diverts to Voicemail. Key in * as your greeting is played. "Hello (name) Please enter your passcode" Key in your passcode. Retrieving And Reviewing Your Messages. Once you have dialled the correct access code and passcode for your mailbox the Voicemail System greets you with " You have ...x.... unplayed messages and ..y... saved messages in your mailbox". Your mailbox then goes straight into delivering your unplayed messages, urgent ones first and the time, date and originator is attached for your information. You are in the Play Menu and you step around it using the audible prompts. PLAY ANSWER GIVE KEEP DISCARD MAKE CURRENT CURRENT TO ANOTHER CURRENT CURRENT A NEW MESSAGE MESSAGE MAILBOX USER MESSAGE MESSAGE MESSAGE NB:- It is always good practice to end your greeting or message recordings by pressing # (This saves the system having to wait on a timeout to expire before prompting you to follow the next step). Answer Current Message. Record your answer after the tone and end by pressing # "...........answer........." # Pressing 7 allows you to review your answer. If not satisfactory, you can discard it by pressing 3 and re-record. (remember to terminate recording by pressing #). Pressing 2 allows you to append to the answer. (remember to terminate recording by pressing #) Pressing 9 at this stage skips the message addressing options and exits to the main menu after sending the answer. Pressing 6 allows you to enter message addressing options. MARK REQUEST MARK EXIT CONFIDENTIAL RECEIPT URGENT OPTIONS You can choose one, two or all three of the options and attach it to your message before sending and returning to the MAIN MENU by pressing 9 twice. Give To Another Mailbox User. Enter the number of the mailbox/mailboxes the message is to be delivered to:- eg. 16xxxxxxxx # for distribution to a single mailbox. 16xxxxxxxx 16xxyyyyyy 16xxzzzzzz # for distribution to multiple mailboxes. or 01 # for distribution via distribution list 01. 02 # for distribution via distribution list 02. etc. (Note:- The # is to inform the system that you have finished entering mailbox numbers,if you do not enter # the system will assume you want to input another number). Record additional comments after the tone and end by pressing # "...........additional comments........." # Review the message by pressing 7. If not satisfactory, you can discard it by pressing 3 and re-record (remember to terminate recording by pressing #). Pressing 2 allows you to append to the answer (remember to terminate recording by pressing #) Pressing 9 at this stage skips the message addressing options and exits to the main menu after sending the answer. Pressing 6 allows you to enter message addressing options. MARK REQUEST MARK EXIT CONFIDENTIAL RECEIPT URGENT OPTIONS You can choose one, two or all three of the options and attach it to your message before sending and returning to the MAIN MENU by pressing 9 twice. Keep Current Message. You can keep the current message for 10 days in your mailbox by pressing 5. Discard Current message. You can discard the message immediately from your mailbox by pressing 3. Making A Message For Another Mailbox. Enter the number of the mailbox/mailboxes the message is to be delivered to:- eg. 16xxxxxx # for distribution to a single mailbox. 16xxxxxxxx 16xxyyyyyy 16xxzzzzzz # for distribution to multiple mailboxes. or 01 # for distribution via distribution list 01. 02 # for distribution via distribution list 02. etc. (Note:- The # is to inform the system that you have finished entering mailbox numbers,if you do not enter # the system will assume you want to input another number). Record the message after the tone and end by pressing # "...........message........." # Review the message by pressing 7. If not satisfactory, you can discard it by pressing 3 and re-record (remember to terminate recording by pressing #). Pressing 2 allows you to append to the answer (remember to terminate recording by pressing #) Pressing 9 at this stage skips the message addressing options and exits to the main menu after sending the message. Pressing 6 allows you to enter message addressing options. MARK REQUEST MARK EXIT CONFIDENTIAL RECEIPT URGENT OPTIONS You can choose one,two or all three of the options and attach it to your message before returning to the MAIN MENU by pressing 9 twice. User Options And How To Change Them. User Options are the functions that you set up when you initially ran through your tutorial,namely:- 1. Your Greeting. 2. Your Name. 3. Your Passcode. In this Callmanager level of mailbox you also have two very usefull extra business features,these are:- Conditional Greetings. Conditional greetings can be used instead of one primary greeting to give more specific information to the caller depending on how the call was forwarded to Voicemail ie:- a) Forward on busy. b) Forward on no-answer. c) Forward all calls. Create and use Distribution Lists. Callmanager mailbox users are allowed to create distribution lists and use them to deliver messages to more than one mailbox user. Press 8 to enter User Options. USER OPTIONS In the User Options Menu the following options are available:- CHANGE CHANGE CHANGE CHANGE EXIT YOUR YOUR YOUR DISTRIBUTION USER GREETING NAME PASSCODE LIST OPTIONS Press 4 To Enter The Change Greeting Menu. CHANGE GREETING CHANGE CHANGE ENABLE EXIT YOUR YOUR YOUR TO THE CONDITIONAL PRIMARY PRIMARY OR MAIN PERSONAL PERSONAL CONDITIONAL MENU GREETINGS GREETING GREETINGS Press 2 To Enter The Conditional Personal Greeting Menu. CHANGE CONDITIONAL GREETINGS CHANGE CHANGE CHANGE EXIT BUSY CALL FORWARD NO-ANSWER TO PREVIOUS GREETING GREETING GREETING MENU The process for changing each conditional greeting is exactly the same and is listed below:- Press 5 to listen to your greeting. Press 7 to record your greeting after the tone (terminate by pressing #). "...........greeting........." # Press 7 to review your new greeting. If not satisfactory, you can discard it by pressing 3 and re-record (terminate by pressing #). Pressing 2 allows you to append to the greeting (terminate by pressing #). If satisfied save by pressing 9 and exit to the above "change conditional greetings" menu. When you have finished changing your conditional greetings press 9 to exit to the previous menu. Press 7 To Change The Primary Personal Greeting. Press 5 to listen to your greeting. Press 7 to record your greeting after the tone (terminate by pressing #). "...........greeting........." # Press 7 to review your new greeting. If not satisfactory, you can discard it by pressing 3 and re-record (terminate by pressing #). Pressing 2 allows you to append to the greeting (terminate by pressing #). If satisfied save by pressing 9 and exit to the previous menu. Press 3 To Enable The Primary Or Conditional Personal Greeting. Function:- Key 3 is used as a toggle to switch configuration between one primary greeting (as used in the more basic mailboxes) and three replacement conditional greetings. An announcement informs you which configuration is currently enabled after you have changed the configuration by pressing 3. eg. "Your callers now hear............" If you want to switch back to the previous configuration you just press 3 again. Recommendation:- Because conditional greetings are more 'caller friendly' by giving more specific reasons why you are unavailable to take the call they are far more likely to solicit a response. Therefore it is recommended that conditional greetings are recorded and the toggle set to play those greetings only. Once set up there should be no need to toggle back to the single announcement ever again. Press 6 To Change Name. Press 5 to listen to your name. Press 7 to record your name after the tone. Press 7 to review your new name recording. If not satisfactory, you can discard it by pressing 3 and re-record (terminate with #). If satisfied save by pressing 9 and exit to the main menu.. Press 7 To Change Passcode. Press 7 to change your passcode. "Enter 4 to 6 digits for your new passcode". "Your new passcode is ..........." Press 8 to change more user options or 9 to exit the system. Press 5 To Change Your Distribution List. "Enter a distribution list number" (This is a 2-digit number beginning with 0) eg. 01. "Press 6 to record a name for the distribution list". "Record a name for distribution list 01" (terminate with #). Press 7 to review the recording. If not satisfactory, you can discard it by pressing 3 and re-record(terminate with #). Pressing 2 allows you to append to the recording. Press 9 to save the recording and exit to the next stage. Adding,Deleting,Playing-back the members of the distribution list. Press 2 to add a member to the distribution list. "Enter the mailbox number to add" 16xxxxxxxx "Mailbox xxxxxx added" Press 3 to drop a member from the distribution list. "Enter the mailbox number to drop" 16xxxxxxxx "Mailbox xxxxxx deleted" Press 7 to play the list. "Mailbox xxxxxx , mailbox yyyyyy, mailbox zzzzzz" Press 9 to exit to the main menu. MAIN MENU. MAKE ENTER EXIT RETURN NEW USER THE TO THE MESSAGE OPTIONS SYSTEM OPERATOR Press 9 at this stage to exit the system or 0 to go to the Operator / Attendant. You are now able to use all the features available in this Callmanager Voicemailbox Package and have this guide as a quick reference. Do not be afraid to play with the Voicemailbox until you feel comfortable with it, if you do something you did n't mean to do or press the wrong key you will always have the opportunity to try again. The more you practice the easier it becomes, and you will find in time that it is a lot easier and far more convenient than an answering machine. Also a good point to remember is that if you record your greeting on a daily basis and specify the date as part of your greeting people are far more likely to leave you a message than if you keep the same one all the time. Creating distribution lists and sending one message as opposed to having to ring around multiple numbers to deliver your message can be very usefull and save a lot of time, particularly as the list becomes large. Also while ringing around, you are likely to miss a couple of contacts but the distribution list is guaranteed to deliver. . : | +-> rough guide to bt system x css <-+--------------------------- --- --- ==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--== ROUGH GUIDE TO... BT CUSTOMER SERVICE SYSTEM DEC1999 ==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--== Customer Service System (CSS) is a multi-purpose customer handling system, responsible for an unbelievable amount of activities. It was deployed in 1989 on a national level and is one of the biggest, high-spec Integrated Database Management Systems (IDMS) installations about. As one of Telecoms key computer systems, CSS is regarded as being pretty damn important. It is the largest system BT have and has been the backbone of business operations since it was developed, improving customer service as well as the effiency of BT personnel. CSS manages all aspects of the public switched telephone network from ordering & fault handling to work management and billing. It deals with engineering time through national job reporting (NJR), supports network management, call itemisation, line testing and fuck knows how many other activities. Some interesting CSS figures, from BT Labs (Aug 1995): Customers 24 million Exchange connections 28 million Bills produced (daily) 433'000 Reminders produced (daily) 175'000 Orders taken (daily) 41'000 Repairs dealt with (daily) 34'000 Lines of code 3'763'673 On-line programs 1656 Batch programs 1539 CSS Application Areas ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ There are a few sub-systems which make up CSS, all dependant on common data stores. These sub-systems are grouped into the following application areas: Accounting... The accounting function involves three primary activities - processing of accounting data generated by five feeder systems, production of monthly accounting reports, and generation of the file for the general ledger accounting system. Customer Account Management... The invoicing facilities in CSS cover the whole range of activities needed to bill customers for products and services. Comprehensive up-to-date billing information is available at both the account and installation level. Customers can also be handled in a more individual basis, e.g. full details of itemised calls, monthly and temporary service billing and flexible follow-up. Directory And Operator Services... The directory function provides both on-line and batch facilities for the management of customers phone book and directory enquiry listings supporting the delivery of new phone books and operator services. Job Recording... CSS national job reporting is an on-line process which provides facilities for different methods of time input for BT employees. It allows for inspection, reconciliation and on-screen authorisation of time records with immediate feedback in the event of input error. Marketing... Marketing data is extracted from each CSS database, consolidated on a national basis and forwarded as required to marketing systems. Materials And Stock Control... CSS maintains a national catalogue of stores items and provides information about stock availability, product forcasting, etc. Network Systems... The network systems support provisioning and fault management, they provide information and allocate facilities for directory and equipment numbering and the copper access network. Order Processing... The order-processing function uses an interrelated set of sub-systems to support the issuing and control of work on CSS. Job and activity types provide a common approach to dealing with both order and repair requests. CSS gives users the ability to modify job progression and automatically monitors and reports on possible failure to deliver to a customer commitment (orders in jeopardy). Repair Handling... The repair handling functionality brings advanced administration facilities to the reception and progression of PSTN and customer premises equipment faults. Integration with modern line test systems give CSS users the ability to test lines recorded on a CSS database. Service Provision... All incomming customer contacts with BT for PSTN products are recorded via CSS. Customer details such as names, addresses and installations are maintained along with the ability to take and progress customer orders. Comprehensive details of all BT products and services, both local and national, are also available. BT Programmes Supported ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Here follows a summary of the BT programmes supported by CSS:- Billing... CSS is involved in delivering tactical billing developments as well as strategic development, such as per second pricing and flexible billing packages for the mass market; it will interwork with BT's multi-service billing system which is designed to ensure that BT can bill it's customers in the most flexible and effective fashion. Access Network Support System (ANSS)... Changes to the network functions on CSS will assist in the successful implementation of the ANSS programme. ANSS proposes the introduction of new technologies into the access network supporting telephony and non-voice systems. Customer Service Improvement Programme... The introduction of national job recording, resource roster and appointing systems in CSS supports the company's need to respond in a more proactive way to customers requirements. Engineers will be able to work in flexible patterns which will extend both the working day and week from a customers viewpoint - the CSS system availability has been extended to support this. Further enhancements to roster management are underway. Work Manager... Work Manager manages the work load of the engineering work force. With knowledge of an engineers home address, office location, skills and time available an appropriate allocation can be made between order/repair taken on CSS and the engineer who will complete that work. Engineers are now able to initiate line tests from hand-held terminals linked to CSS. PSTN provision... Improvements in the management of orders and the service provided to customers include automatic connection to the OMC and hence the exchange. External regulation... Changes to VAT, deposits and competitor access, etc. which have an effect on CSS, are contained in this programme. Front-Office operations and automation... This programme specifically handles customer reception systems which sit on top of CSS, providing intelligent support systems for CSS users (e.g, SMART) Reducing fault and repair visits... The operations and maintenance centre (OMC) links and line test systems facilities identify the reasons for faults and in some cases fix them without the need for a visit to the customers premises. It is also possible in some cases to identify and fix faults before the customer has recognised that one exists. Cashless... This programme provides enhanced facilities for chargecard customers. Telemetry... The PSTN network is used to transfer small amounts of data. Initial use is for meter readings for utilities (electricity, etc). Number portability... This enables a customer to retain their telephone number when they transfer from one service to another. This is an OFTEL requirement. Engineering effectiveness with quality... This programme is designed to improve customer service by enabling engineers to take action if they can see potential problems arising. This programme will actively encourage the engineer to carry out work to save a fault developing in the near future. Details will be entered via CSS and forwarded to the revelant management information system. OMC... This programme supports the management of digital exchanges for all remote operations and maintenance. Direct fulfilment... Customers are provided with a next-day service for the supply of a p;ug-in telephone. The CSS Database ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ The CSS database reflects the many complex relationships between the various components and processes which constitute the provision of customer service. The database is managed by the Integrated Database Management System (IDMS). The complex relationships between real-world items (customers, lines, exchanges, bills) and processes (bill production, order handling, repair handling) are represented in the IDMS database schema. In addition, IDMS provides control for concurrent access requirements, update tracking and monitoring (transaction logging), file management and full recovery procedures which can be invoked if any type of failure occurs. Performance features include the following:- Read-only service (this service is only available on the production machines) -the contention for access to database records, resulting in long wait times for CSS users, has been alleviated by the provision of a seperate facility (the 'read-only CV' (central version)) for CSS interrogations. Transactions which need to read but not update the database do not require as much management as those which do need to update (e.g, there is no need for recovery records to be maintained). The top 20 transactions used on CSS are read-only and savings have been made by the provision of the facility to seperate out different types of access requirements. In-flight dumps - in order to ensure that data can be recovered in the event of a failure, frequent database dumps are required. In the early dats of CSS the system was taken down for 2-4 hours while these dumps were taken. The current business requirements are for 7-day, 24-hour working and a process for 'in-flight' dumps of the database is now available to allow the computer centres to take secure copies of the system while end users continue to have access. DC-shipping - the CSS transaction processing management system is IBM's CICS. IDMS itself has a transaction processing monitor which is known as IDMS-DC. To take advantage of the two products, and to make better use of machine capacity, a facility has been provided which allows the centres to dynamically shift processing from IDMS to CICS and vise versa. Some CSS transactions are developed using both CICS and IDMS-DC access commands and both versions are shipped to the computer centres. CSS Interfaces To Other BT Systems ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ The system was originally designed to be largely self-contained. However, while much functionality lies within the system, increased automation along with various company reorganisations and the ever-growing demand for management information has resulted in the number of external interfaces increasing to well over one hundred, including:- Operations and Maintenance Centre (OMC) system Work Manager (WM) Service Domain Processor (SDP) for elapsed time charging (ETC) Number Information Services/Operator Services Information System (NIS/OSIS) Financial information system (FIST) Marketing systems (IMS/ICIP/MARK) Management information systems Line test systems Bankers Automated Clearing System (BACS) SMART - frond-end customer handling system currently rolling out in the 150 channel Customer Handling Intermediate Server (CHIS) The method of data transfer can be anything from interactive messaging or electronic file transfer to a floppy disk. CSS Operations ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ CSS is designed for operation on the IBM 3090 (or compatible) series of central processors, running under the MVS operating system. The processors currently include models from IBM, Amdahl and Hitachi. Several makes of disks are in use at the various sites; these include Amdahl, EMC, IBM, Comparex and Iceberg. Originally CSS was deployed and configured individually for each of BT's 29 geographically seperate districts. The system has undergone consolidation over recent years and is now deployed at five seperate physical locations in the UK (although the system still exists as 29 images with seperate databases). Operations are controlled from two command centres and three main print centres are used. Transaction switching allows users on one CSS system to access and interact with data held on another CSS system. This significantly enhances the seamless nature of the national CSS system and national processes are introduced and managed centrally, while also giving local flexibility. There is a 30th CSS system which is used by the national table builders to build, update and distribute national build data tables. The configuration at each CSS computer centre is maintained by BT's Computing Services and Operations (CSO). They provide support for users, applications, network and technical issues, and operational database administration functions. CSO act as an interface between operational managers, users and the development groups within the systems engineering centres. The connection of the user workstation (IBM 3270-compatible terminals and remote printers) to the system is via an extensive communications network based on both SNA and TNET network protocols. Up to 60'000 terminals have access to CSS. CSS Software Environment ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ The software environment is achieved by combining standard IBM software, specifically developed BT common software (i.e, middleware), and the application software developed for each sub-system. The software environment is detailed thus:- Operating Software MVS Common System ================== ================= Database management system CA/IDMS Data dictionary IDD Programming Language COBOL II, Asm, EASYTRIEVE, 370 "C" Screen editor SDFII Job scheduler CA7 Problem reporting/management Infoman Software control/configuration management BT XMODS Tape management CA1 Job entry system JES Job control language JCL Command centre controller AOC The acronyms above mean; AOC - Automated operator Control CA - Compute Associates SDF11 - Screen definition facility (CICS component for defining layouts) Easytrieve - Report generation language supplied by Pansophic Infoman - System supplied by IBM, used by BT for all system problem reports XMODS - A BT configuration management tool Common Middleware ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Middleware is a set of reusable BT software which was initially developed to support CSS but is now used by other programmes (e.g, COSMOSS). Middleware provides a standard interface to all areas of CSS for common tasks such as sign on, screen handling, interconnection between systems, and application services. It provides consistancy between CSS functions and reduces processing by validating on-line input before it reaches the application-specific software. The major components of BT Middleware are:- Dialogue Manager... Performs the following functions; -access security vetting -input data validation -menu construction -transaction flow control -systems messaging -control of function keys (commonly referred to as the PF keys) -systems interface, performing a common means of connection to other systems over communication lines in real time, i.e, line test, WM and equifax -data level security The Middleware Message-Based Interface... The advent of client front-end customer-handling systems, such as SMART, means that these systems need to comunicate with CSS in a way which will provide fast response times and will not place undue overheads on the CSS machines. MMBI has been developed to give this flexible, responsive interface. It provides front-end systems with a degree of independence by de-coupling CSS data and function from CSS screen formats using a self- defining message protocol over the existing 3270 (terminal) interface. The client can be protected from CSS screen changes while gaining access to existing CSS functionality. MMBI also provides the ability to execute 'objects' on the CSS host, each comprising a sequence of standard business transactions. These objects are in the form of a 'script' held on the host containing logic to drive existing transactions in the required sequence. A simple script language has been developed which provides flexibility in execution, i.e, a script is able to react to the value of data items, messages, etc, returned on a screen and determine the next course of action. The MMBI approach provides performance benefits for front-end clients over 'screen-scraping' as, typically, only a single network interaction with the host is required to execute a sequence of transactions. General Messaging Interface... The GMI is a further development, to provide client/server style access to CSS. It is now possible to pass messages into middleware (and hence CSS) in the same manner as for MMBI, but via other communication protocols (e.g, Logical Unit 6.2 (LU6.2) and TCP/IP) This also enables non-screen based transactions to be developed for client/server interactions. Transaction Switching... The transaction switching development development was undertaken to realise the BT objective of a single point of contact for all customer enquiries concerning PSTN service. This initially supported the front-office project, but has been extended to support other business units using CSS. Transaction Switching enables a user to perform tasks on one of a number of linked CSS databases with only one sign-on being required. The system determines, from data entered by the user, the CSS database on which the requested transaction will be run. The facility is transparent to users who initially sign-on to their 'home' CSS system. The process relies on the ability of the dialogue manager to inspect the user input and decide whether to invoke the transaction at the 'home' system or to route the request to an 'away' system in the transaction switching network. Robotics & CSS ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ The use of PC robots has increased substantially over the last few years. PC's with terminal emulation software are used to automate large-volume repetitive operations such as order entry for discount options, direct debit, chargecards, etc. The robotic software mimics the role of a CSS user and, supplied with input data, will execute a predefined set of CSS transactions. From a single PC, CSS changes can be applied not only to the local CSS database but, via transaction switching, nationally. The main application areas are in billing, and marketing and sales. Robots can be highly seccessful when used in harmony with careful scheduling. However, their use can affect the overall performance of CSS and are therefore implemented with care. By The Way... ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ You ever manage to get 'yer greasy little paws on any of the following docs - grab and run, just grab and run... "CSS Design Evolution Feasibilty Study; Proposed Scope Of CSS" P. Harrison & J. Keech, Internal BT Report (1994). "CSS Design Evolution Feasibility Study; Design Options" CSS Design Team, Internal BT Report (1994). "CSS Evolution Strategy 1996" P. Harrison, Internal BT Report (1996). "The Essential Guide To CSS" C. Brody & F. Noble, Internal BT Document (1995). "CSS Tools Newsletter" G. Hall, Internal BT Report (1996). -- . : | +-> OUT <-+------------------------------------------------------ --- -- - Heh. Well, 1999 is over... (good). We've brought you over 200 articles this year, so we want some xmas cardz and stuff. Cometo #darkcyde on efnet and join in the eydle action. WERD To everyone who has ever helped out, or been a part of D4RKCYDE. Have a good one.... (C) D4RKCYDE 1997,98,99,Y2K. FIND US ON THE PSTN, B1TCH.