ACS AND auto DST

[aarenot]

Reality is the ACS no longer has auto DST change feature. Just disable the failed feature, and revert to changing the time manually. It is not really that big a deal to change the time twice a year for DST change. The clocks probably get off in time enough to need to be reset twice a year anyway.
If you offer the customer an email with directions how to disable the failed feature, and how to change the time manually, or the option to schedule a billable service call to upgrade the system to the latest release of the R6, or R7 including a charge for the software delivery itself to cover the cost of the card you have to buy to provide the service, they will probably choose to handle it themselves following your email instructions.

This change in DST did not happen in 2007, it happened in 2005, and Avaya knew about it then. They chose not to address it in all the software they sent out since 2005 with full knowledge that the feature was failed when it shipped, yet they did not document the end of support for the feature in 2007. They should have fixed the documentation in 2005 to reflect the product they shipped, or fixed it, but they did not.
The current systems in the field no longer have the auto DST feature plain and simple. If they wish to purchase the upgrade, and the service call to upgrade it great make some money. Done deal.

 

[dphoneguy24]

aarenot

I agree that what's the big deal if you disable it. But, in the case where we are installing new sites going forward, don't you think that if Avaya has the patch available (which it is - the "k" patch) that they should offer business partners the 8MB card? Do you know where a person can get one at a reasonable cost? $150 seems a little much to me from Smart Modular.

 

[telecomtekperson]

If you are an avaya business partner, you7 canget a card for free from Teir III

 

[aarenot]

I will get the works going to get the free one from Tier 3. Know what the T3 requirements are to get one?

For all systems shipped after 2005 at least, Avaya should provide the card to the ACS certified tech, and pay for the service call. Their ACS documentation says it has the feature, and the feature was knowingly failed come in a few weeks. I do not consider that being up front with their documentation. It is not like they did not know the documentation overstated the auto DST capabilities, for systems after the date of the DST law change.

They could have fixed this in 2005, and stopped sending out the units with the failed feature.

 

[dagwoodsystems]

I worked in manufacturing before, and I remember that the group writing our manuals were always struggling to keep up. In some cases, our writers weren't technical at all. And when they got to a rough spot, they'd simply copy and paste in something that an engineer wrote. Some of our engineers held onto reality by a thin thread, so you can imagine what some of the passages in our manual looked like.

So while Avaya's manual may be misleading, I've at least got an explanation as to why it could be. However, I'm with you on the other points.

I find the way Avaya handles this sort of stuff rather irritating. When I goof, I've got to go back and fix it myself. When Avaya goofs, it's all about "Hey, screw it. That's the Channel Partner's problem...not ours". Oh sure, they'll send me a replacement board or PCM card as necessary, but won't pay for my time to go fix it.

I replaced a TON of 016TR (617F34) boards during the THREE year period that Avaya was in denial about the problems these boards had. And of course, they'd NEVER heard of the kind of things I had complained about from ANYONE, which is why I had to replace these cards (with older ones) out of my own pocket.

By and large, I'm still a fan of Avaya. But the way they do many things today goes against my grain.

But I'm not bitter...

 

[aarenot]

If you do not get paid for it, do not deal with the DST issue. Also, charge a fee for software delivery, this is to pay for the PCMCIA card. It is reasonable to charge for the software as well, since you incur cost to aquire, and deliver it, i.e. the card you have to buy.

Simply send an email telling the customer how to disable the auto DST, and how to change the time manually. I have been turning off the auto DST feature on every partner I touch for a long time now. That is my solution. Also it is true to say that Avaya does not support auto dst on their current installed software, and would require scheduling a billable service call, and software fee to update the software.

No brainer!