Intermittent loss of PRI Connection. 2

[intermg]

If anyone can help it would be amazing!
What we have is a Norstar MICS with a PRI Enabler card with service through ATT IPFlex going through a Cisco 2821. Let me know if you need more information than this.

The problem:
At least once every other day or two we will lose the ability to make calls out or receive calls for about 5-10 minutes, but typically the internet seems unscathed and we can surf the web with no problems.

The call to ATT:
"Your PBX is losing connection to the Cisco the T1 connections havn't went down" "It could be the cabling or the PBX Call your vendor and work it out."

The call to our Phone Guy:
Jiggling wires, messes with PRI Enabler card causes no symptoms, so the problem must be within the card or the signal from ATT. No real solution just more questions.

The history:
We came from POTS and a single T1 to a bonded t1 with voice/data. We are located out in the boonies of Tennessee which flooded earlier this year. ATT's phone equipment is located next to a creek, which became a river and took a beating. After the flood subsided and when the power would shut off we would lose ring tones and dial tones on the POTS lines and the T1 would go down, then come back once the power was restored. We believe or hope they fixed this issue but still could be there.

What we are looking for:
We are looking for some kind of troubleshooting steps or tips to nip this in the butt or to tell if there is an internal solution(one we can control) or an external solution(one ATT has to fix). Let me know if there is anything I can add to this to make the picture clearer.

Thank you,
Marcus

 

[curlycord]

What Alarms and Events do you get in Maintenance?


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curlycord

http://www.curlycord.com

 

[intermg]

No clue I will see if there is and event or alarm. I want to say there isn't one.

Marcus

 

[intermg]

Actually I did find an Alarm from about a week ago it was an Alarm: 75. Haven't heard of any since though.

 

[gforce9]

There are several things in the mix here....any one could be involved. You have a DS1 from the Cisco 2821, correct? As well as the alarm stats in the Norstar, I presume there are stats in the Cisco. If you can access the Cisco logs, do it. If your problem is a DS1 level issue, you have a good chance of seeing it in one of those two places, provided it is a local DS1 issue. If it is a q.931 issue, you may not see it in either the Norstar or the Cisco. This complicates matters significantly. When you call AT+T to test, they are only looking at the DS1 level. If it is a q.931, SIP, H.323 issue, they will say 'no trouble found'. You may have to get a good DS1 + q.931 test set in-between the Norstar and Cisco (or between yours and their eq) to see where things are going awry. If you don't do that, you may end up wasting time and lots of money replacing equipment at your site when the problem is somewhere else. Gather as much info as you can and report back.....

 

[intermg]

Thanks guys. I will keep you posted at what is found.

 

[Phonehed]

I can't believe no one has asked this question yet:

Which MICS software version are we talking about please???

If you're below 6.1 and/or if you have a release 01 NVRAM pack, look no further, there's your problem!

Phonehed in Dallas

 

[curlycord]

I believe reason is because it was working fine untill carrier/type changed.


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curlycord

http://www.curlycord.com

 

[Phonehed]

Well, until we know for sure which software version it is, I don't know how anyone can possibly offer up ANY realistic solutions.

Phonehed in Dallas

 

[ptstechnician]

Don't you love when you have no problems with a Norstar, till you change carriers and they says it must be the Norstar!!!

 

[intermg]

Sorry to take so long to reply.

I highly doubt it is software. We have version 5 I think. Reason being it lasted several weeks after install without this issue. Several as in 3 weeks. Once this started happening we would get to the occasional interrupt in service maybe once a week to 3 times a day just depends and was random. Also when the ladies came in to check the messages there would be an alarm: 75 sitting on the phone every morning.

So an update: Called ATT, they ran a "test" to wait for the interruption to happen again over a 24 hr period. Since then all the symptoms above have been resolved. No more Alarm 75 in the morning and the phones haven't went down for a week. I think they may have fixed it and didn't note it, which will tick me off. At least it is working though right? Anyway we have them checking the cable pairs to the building, to make sure they aren't corroded, defective, etc.

So it as for the moment it seems like ATT's problem.

 

[gforce9]

That is most interesting. I ran into a PAC/Bell guy from the old days. He said they were under obligation to have no more than xx% trouble. When a call came in and it was their issue, they would fix it and call it 'no trouble found'. You have a fairly complicated setup at that site and it makes troubleshooting way more difficult......let's hope it was their issue and it's gone......

 

[intermg]

That makes sense for sure. Why would they want to violate their own contract? Still pretty sad when a company has to lie to keep you with them. Pretty sure this is one of many in the list of why big telephone carriers are being outpaced by smaller VOIP companies and ISPs.

 

[trvlr1]

Call your telco and insist they come out to the site to do tests. If they sit at the C.O. they do not test all the equipment they have installed, only by putting an external loop back to their equipment from your premises, can they test it all. They may be hesitant to come out, but you have to insist, there may be a charge if they find nothing, but it is the only way you can be sure.
On the other hand, if this is really intermittent, they still may not find the problem ......

 

[Phonehed]

Well, you rookies are all welcome to chase your tails around in circles till you're blue in the face on this but I think eventually you're going to find that I did offer up the correct solution, only to be completely ignored!

Guess there's only so much you can do for those who refuse to take any expert advice.

I'm sure that system will be plagued with oddball problems until you upgrade to a software version that's actually compatible with PRI.

Good luck!

Phonehed in Dallas

 

[luv2ski]

Well, you rookies are all welcome to chase your tails around in circles till you're blue in the face on this but I think eventually you're going to find that I did offer up the correct solution, only to be completely ignored!

Guess there's only so much you can do for those who refuse to take any expert advice.

I'm sure that system will be plagued with oddball problems until you upgrade to a software version that's actually compatible with PRI.

Good luck! "

If you choose to check here

http://www.tek-tips.com/tipmasters.cfm?pid=799

you will notice a couple experts did answer. Also only release i ever worked on and was a drop dead have to do it was first release of 4.0.Not everybody is going to have upgrade .I have had system work fine with 1 t1 but start to have software issues after 2nd t1 was installed.I knew prior to 2nd t1 install that there was a upgrade but why do it if there was no issue to correct.Also was working for manufacturer and we just loved to give stuf away but in the field we only did it if you needed it...Not just to do it.

Pat




6 months until ski season starts...sadly i must resign myself to the warmer weather"this will include a normal 8-5 work day, 5 days a week"

 

[Phonehed]

The fact that the so called "experts" didn't give the correct answer is what's so disappointing.

Even the gurus in the Nortel ITAS center would be the first to tell you that they can't help you with ANY PRI issues until you upgrade to 6.1 or higher with a release 2 NVRAM pack because of the MANY known issues and conflicts with previous versions!

At least no one can say they couldn't find the correct answer on this board but if they can't take great advice from people who have actually seen this happen time and time again, then that's their loss and their customer's loss!

The theory that you can just slap a band aid on one of the many symptoms until a real technician comes along behind you to solve the problem for you is certainly not what I'd call expert or professional advice!

I'm sure when that system crashes and they can't get the PRI back up again to save their lives, Intermg (or most likely someone else with his company, long after he's gone,) will find out the hard way that they should have taken >>>NORTEL'S<<< advice (not MY advice, I merely pointed it out)!

I'm sure the customer will be real impressed too when they find out that they paid for countless unnecessary service calls and that it could have all been avoided had they been given the correct advice to begin with!

Mark my words! That system will be plagued with squirelly little problems from now on, many of which will seem totally unrelated to any PRI issues, and it will NEVER be right until you do that upgrade!

Good Luck!

Phonehed in Dallas

 

[curlycord]

The so called "experts" didn't give the correct answers because not enough info was given or asked yet.

Sorry your so dissapointed we did not give the correct answers.....YET.
We dont always simply resolve issues with just one post and we are not always on the money, we make mistakes too and often post on the fly as we have our job as well.

So you know us "rookies" or "so called experts" have asked plenty of times "what software?" and have suggested the right software in the past....and BTW so you know in future 6.1 has flaws as well so you need to recommend 6.1MR and up since MR has fixes.

Had you showed some patience it would have come out sooner or later what exact version they have.

http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=1620031&page=1

Notice it was a polite response to a question? that was asked by a so-called pro?.

So we expect the same courtesy and hope that your drop the issue instead of ranting on about it.

Thank you!!!!



As for intermg

Yes it is correct that you should upgrade to 7.1 if you get further issues but glad to see so far it was carrier side and seems resolved.

You can get your verion in porgramming via Maintence/Version and note the SP code and see this thread to match it:

http://www.tek-tips.com/faqs.cfm?fid=6693

Or look at the 2 piece software and note all the #'s on it.















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curlycord

http://www.curlycord.com

 

[ptstechnician]

Wow - lets all just get alone! My past experience is calling Telco, tell them to take down the circuit after hours for testing and that usually fix's the problem.