How do you determine if a line is being used?

[buzzy77]

I'm a newbie to voice/pbx infrastructures. My background is in data networking. We have a large organization with many buildings/pbx's. All our MAC's are done thru StationCM.

We're billed $32/per month for each line. My question is this : if a phone number is assigned to a jack it's considered "live" and we're billed for it...now let's say this jack has nothing plugged into it, we'll continue to pay for this line forever!

How do you determine if there is any actually any "voice traffic" on a line? is there some sort or report that I can run that will indicate which lines have had "zero" traffic in the past month?

thanx in advance!

Blair

 

[kwing112000]

Are these all telco lines from a provider or do they come out of a PBX? usually you can get detailed billing from the telco and see what lines have made calls out. Incoming i am not sure.

Kevin Wing
ACSS Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Communications
ACS- Implement IP Office
ACA- Implement IP Office
Carousel Industries

 

[buzzy77]

They come out of a PBX and back to the telco...

 

[SYQUEST]

Who is StationCM?
Who owns the PBXs?
Is the $32.00/month/line a fee on a service contract?

If the lines are actually station lines on the PBXs, then the SMDR feature would provide usage info for each one, but some PBXs may not provide station-to-station usage. Some PBXs also provide inventory info of stations/trunks, etc.

....JIM....

 

[trvlr1]

Can you tell us what type of PBX this is? Then we might be able to give you a better idea of what to look for. I assume these lines are analog and not a T-1 where you pay per line costs for the number of lines you want to use, if so, are these your 911 lines that may not be used much at all unless there is an emergancy?

 

[Bob3470]

Its up to you to keep records somehow. While working for the telco I have come across quite a few jacks that were not being used that had DT and they were being billed. At a stockbrokers I was doing some work and there was a jack under a desk covered with garbage (old shoes and papers). It had DT and a number. I tracked it down and the guy had a private number but he had retired close to 3 years earlier. If I had not bothered with it who knows how long they would have kept paying the bill. Theres lots of unused lines out there. You used to be able to get traffic study by the telco. They were not cheep. I dont know if they still do them.

 

[OzzieGeorge]

This sounds like a managed solution where you pay on a per point basis for the phones in your business and the provider owns the PABX or whatever is being used to provide the service. Ask for a monthly printout of calls on an extension by extension basis and work it out from there. you can then either learn how yourself or get a technician to "peg out" those showing no activity and if no one screams out about a dead line for a month you can then have it ceased!

 

[SNSSMIS]

Ask your TELCO to provide the SLA (service location) for every line that is ties to your customer account.
Your accounts payable should have bills for every line and circuit you pay for.
As Bob3470 said, it is up to you to track them down.
It took me a least a year to complile a database with all circuits and numbers.
By doing so realized a huge cost savings by removing data and voice lines no longer used. Some that have not been used for 15 years.
In addition... look at your phone bills. They tag all kinds of charges on behalf of other companies. Stuff you did not ask for. Alot of charges... $$$

 

[buzzy77]

I was way off on my original description of our setup (hence the term "newbie")

turns out that our buildings have "access nodes" in the basement where all our phone lines terminate...our buildings connect back to the CO where the carrier has (5) Nortel DMS-100 switches....our TSO's use a program called "Station CM" to program the Moves, Adds and Changes on the switches...

According to the carrier, they can do a "Busy Line study" on each line for 5 bucks a pop...unfortunately, we have 13000 lines so this is an expensive proposition....

Blair

 

[SNSSMIS]

If you have that many lines from the CO you need to convert to CENTREX and pay less than $5 per line. CENTREX is also managed with CENTREXMATE. Basically a direct connection to TELCO database with line information and reporting.
If you are paying that much for lines from the CO, you are paying too much.
With a 200 min line cost $12 a month per line.
Nodes is a term used by Mitel and other PBX. More than likely connected using PRI ISDN Nodes, Fiber or T1 between buildings.
Call in your TELCO and/or vendor and get a handle on your system.

 

[buzzy77]

unfortunately, this is one of those government contracts so we're stuck with the costs. The lines are Centrex...

Blair

 

[trvlr1]

How about plugging a phone in to the line you think may be still live and see if you get anything? Calling another number should give you the extension or the full number depending on the set up, you can then request its removal if you do not need it.

 

[buzzy77]

I guess the point I'm trying to get across in this thread is that we may have hundreds of "orphaned" jacks with numbers assigned to them. The jacks themselves may be hidden in various cublicle throughout many buildings..the thought of going thru thousands of cubicles looking for unused jacks gives me nightmares...

The only realistic option is have the carrier do a "busy line" study on a range of phone numbers we supply them..

Blair

 

[SYQUEST]

If you have no inventory of the lines in each building, then an easier way to do this would be to go to the MPOE terminal in each building with a test set and ID each and every pair for working service. Even though this is time consuming, it is easier than poking through cubicles... Then start from your list of known used lines, and by process of elimination you can identify the unused lines you want to disconnect. Although I would think your Telco would have a cable assignment record for the terminal in each building, showing the Binding Post number with TN for each assigned pair. Having something like that could help as a starting point. Whatever process you use, it will take time...

Been there, done that!

....JIM....

 

[SNSSMIS]

Again, Ask the Telephone Company for a complete list of numbers and circuits and the Service Location Address.
You take that information sent electronically from TELCO and begin the process of sorting by location.
It is not rocket science. As Syquest said, get a butt set and begin checking every pair at the Demarc.
Hopefully the numbers at the location will start to make sense. How on earth could company pay a phone bill and not know who to charge? That includes government, they are not that stupid. Start with the finance department accounts payable. I bet they know who to charge for each line.
Sounds like you need to a competent telephone technician or sub the job out.

 

[OzzieGeorge]

Service location is of little interest to you, Useage is! you really need a history of useage to give you an idea of whether a service is worth preserving. That said you should also contact essential services and ascertain what connections they have. For example the lift phones may never have been used but if someone gets stuck in a lift and can't get help then there will be ramifications. Also if you have alarms which dial up the monitoring company and you cease those, there could be ramifications!

The best advice is cover your backside. Recommend to management that you get the telco to sort it out (then do as much as you can). That way you have covered yourself bothways!

 

[jknichols]

All I can say is, with 13,000 lines and no (reliable) documentation, you have your work cut out for you. Unless you actually go thru and actually make a call from each and every phone, how can you tell if you missed one where the user is out on extended sick leave. Aside from the previously mentioned elevator phones and alarm panels, don't forget the postage meter that has to call out every couple of months, or the accounting computer that still has a MODEM. How about remote maintenance for the HVAC system, etc.

 

[OzzieGeorge]

The process of "pegging out" lines is the way to go. It will mean that you are paying for a service for longer than you would like to but it gives you the ability to let it back in straight away. If you are going down this track buy a cable tracer (not that expensive). That way when someone tells you their line has gone dead but can't tell you their number, you can just go to where you pegged out the lines find it and let it back in yourself! Leave the pegs in for about 3 months (covers anything that is done on a Quarterly basis). Check all lift phones and have alarms or other services check they haven't been disconnected then sit back and wait.

Another tactic you can use is to globally email all staff and let them know that if they don't email their number back to you it will be disconnected then wait for the flood of emails (best to set up a new mailbox for this tactic)

 

[SNSSMIS]

what is important is a published number and who is paying for it.

 

[Mountainbear]

It sounds like unless you can find documentation from the previous telco administrator, you have a nightmare on your hands. One thing you can do is solicit all your internal staff via email/internal newsletter, to forward all known, working telephone numbers. This will eliminate a large part of your job. There will of course be the dial up modem, and power fail jack (with it's own number) that nobody knows about.
Some one will have to go to each demarcation site and identify each line. Even a "busy" monitor will not catch a power fail jack, dedicated alarm line or pay phone that is never used.
whatever you do, document for the next administrator, or even for yourself.