PRI outbound call to disconnected number.

[matto123]

We have a Merlin Legend R7, PRI emulating 5ESS for long distance (both in and out). Recently got a complaint - user dialed a number and heard click-click and dead air. Calling that number from a pots or cell gets a message that the number is disconnected or not in service or invalid or not assigned (varies per telco used).

My question: Is this a problem with the carrier, or is it the Legend that must handle this?

 

[SYQUEST]

When a phone system is using Primary ISDN, there is much information communicated between it and the CO switch. The status of a station is one of them. Therefore, when testing or troubleshooting working/non working DID numbers, you have to check the switch and verify what the DID is doing and its status: assigned, unassigned, ACD, Voice Mail, etc. There is an option in the Legend/Magix for how you want the unassigned DID numbers handled. So you might want to review your settings. The Feature Reference document does explain the options available. Different CO switches may give different end user recordings, SIT, reorder depending on the "cause code" sent in the call set up sequence.

Hope this helps!

....JIM....

 

[matto123]

Jim,

Your explanation sounds more like when someone calls us on a DID line.

What I am talking about is when we call out on the PRI and hit a disconnected number. What is the standard/proper way this is handled? Does the far-end send back a code that the Merlin should be handling? Or is my carrier doing something that is not standard?

How do I get this resolved so that the end-users get something more intelligent than a click to tell them that they have dialed a bad number?

 

[dagwoodsystems]

What you're experiencing has nothing to do with Magix, and everything to do with how the carrier handles the call.

The proper response would be for the carrier to play the "standard North American Disconnect Tone" toward the caller.

I hate to sound like an old man, but standards are adhered to pretty loosely these days...especially by CLECs (who often use software-emulated switches or "soft switches" in lieu of true Class 5 switches like DMS-500 or 5ESS).

Tim Alberstein

http://www.dagwoodsystems.com

 

[SYQUEST]

Sorry, I misread the post. Who is the service provider of the PRI service? I would open a trouble ticket with them. "Click-click and dead air" doesn't seem to be in any standards I have seen for disconnected / unassigned numbers.

....JIM....

 

[matto123]

In my case the carrier is Lightyear.

Had someone with a Qwest PRI give it a try (828-753-6723) - all he got was dead air!

 

[SYQUEST]

You should be getting a non completion recording regardless of the provider. The number, 828-753-6723, posted above does not exist. There is no 753 code in the 828 NPA in North Carolina! Lightyear Network Solutions should know better. Open a trouble report with them and escalate it! If they don't comply, file a report with the PUC and FCC about not adhering to telecommunications standards and causing confusion to customers.

Does this happen on all unassigned numbers and office codes? Or do you get a recording on some and not others?

....JIM....

 

[dagwoodsystems]

I once had lunch with Sherman Henderson. I happened back in August 2001 when I was one of the lead techs for Accelerated Networks.

He gave an all-day tour of Lightyear's NOC, which I found to have a certain amount of pizazz. It ended in a conference room where curtains magically parted to reveal an elevated overlook of the NOC floor. The room was darkened somewhat--perhaps to emphasize the enormous video screens of the Lightyear network in real-time.

Pretty time is over; show me the gear! Personally, I found some startling shortcomings to their setup (lack of proper grounding comes right to mind). That plus some of the employees were SO young that the possibly of anyone knowing a thing about five nines or GR-303 was pretty much NIL. Couple that with an apparently relaxed attitude about backups and mid-afternoon reboots...well, you get the picture.

Even if I dismiss the old "you got to see where the bodies were buried" adage, customer complaints stacked up pretty quickly in those early days--enough to make me to wonder if they would ultimately survive as a CLEC.

Well they DID make it in the end (apparently without knowing what the North American Numbering Plan was), yet my company did not. Welcome to the telco biz, everybody. Now turn and run away as fast as you can!

Tim Alberstein

http://www.dagwoodsystems.com

 

[SYQUEST]

I think I would avoid service from them. Certainly, there are better providers in Kentucky than Lightyear!

....JIM....