ISDN BRI help needed 1

[canadianwolf]

SYSTEM: MICS 5.0XC with isdn 2 port U link card in first trunk slot, 4 port CI card in second slot. Combo 6 port fibre expansion card.
Central office is a GTD5, the ISDN i ordered was the V configuration which aparently allows a bunch of features but not CACH/EKTS which norstar does not support...

Problem: I've just ordered ISDN microlink from the local telco, had it installed, tech said it was working fine - although my first spid didnt come up at first - but its working now.

I've connected the link to the first port on the card, programmed the card with the spids provided (XXX-542-3212-0101 / XXX-542-3286-0101), provisioned the card and both loops, programmed the loops on a set, but when i hit the line key, after a short delay the set gives me equipment busy and shows "line busy". The green link light is up on the card, in Maintenance, i've stat'd the card and it says both loops are on and not busy. In Maintenance / Link Status, i've checked and for the loop 201, Dchannel, Layer 1 is out of service, but Layer 2 is active.

I've had ISDN on a CICS 2.0r before and it worked fine but i knew from a little research (this was 6 years ago) that the spids make all the difference.

With that in mind, i played around with the spids and found I could make out bound calls on both loops if i shorten the spids to (xxx-542-3212-01). In bound calls get ring no answer - but do not ring in. I can make calls, and the Caller ID shows up correctly on outbound calls.

So my questions are:
How do the spids actually change the link, and what do the last numbers mean?

Why cant I get incoming calls?

How do i test to ensure i've got the link correctly configured?

Does the V type provision from the central office include CACH/EKTS even though my provider tells me it shouldnt?

 

[canadianwolf]

My ISDN is working now, and i figured i'd post the results here incase anyone else ever needs some info on how to make BRI work on a MICS.

In my case it was partly my settings, and mostly the Telco, but here's what i found:

The CO here is a GTD-5, but i've been told it wouldnt matter much because ISDN is 'generic' from CO to CO.

When ordering ISDN from your Telco, they should offer "IOC" (ISDN Ordering Codes) Compatibility Packages. Norstar does not support any CACH or EKTS functionality, and as i found out, it also balks at ACO (additional call offering - ISDN version of call waiting) - that setting must be turned off at the CO.

Norstar is happy with Compatibility packages M, P, S, U, V. U and V offer the most voice call features - I ordered V. The packages that absolutely will NOT work are: F, H, L, O, Q.

Spids for GTD5 and DMS series CO's are NXX-XXX-XXXX-1010 but i've been told it CAN vary depending on how the Telco set up the CO. Go with what they give you.

The Network DN's I assigned to each Spid seem to only work in my case if i set them up as BOTH call type (both voice and data), for voice calls. The MICS won't allow me to access the loops on outbound basis if they are set to either voice or data.

Once the loops are programmed with spids, network DN's, and are provisioned both as Loop 201 (in my case - your Loop might be different depending where your ISDN card is in the system) AND inside the Loop, your lines must also be provisioned; you can add the lines to sets as if they are ordinary LSDS lines. Programming is the same after that.

One note, If ACO is not turned off in the CO, a second incoming call to either busy line will get ring no answer, and there will be no indication of any incoming call other than a momentary flash on the set.

ONN Blk: didnt seem to make a difference, it works with either setting of SuprsBit or SrvcCode.

Sadly, it took my Telco a week to put me in contact with the CO tech that programmed my line, and 2 days of trying different things to make it work. Why did I go through all this? I use the through dial feature on the Nam a lot - gives callers the capability of calling me on my cell phone with out me giving out my cell number. Trunk to trunk conferencing of analog trunks audio quality is fairly poor, especially when calling a cell. The line quality of digital trunks makes trunk to trunk conferencing so clear callers can't tell, and i can hear them on my cell clearly. As an added bonus, i can use it for a DSL dialup backup if my DSL crashes, my 56k modem can dial up on the ISDN line and get 56k every time. I could use ISDN dialup, but that would be added $.

Hope this helps someone someday reduce the 'wait to get it working' time to less than a week. Setup and operation on a CICS is very similar, and i've had ISDN working on a CICS with DR2 restricted software as well.

 

[jgideon]

Thanks for posting the followup... I'm keeping it for future reference!