Renewing Maintenance Contract

[breakbuddy1]

We are in the process of renewing our yearly maintenance contract on several of our Meridians (81, 61 and 11's)and would like to get some advice on a couple of topics:

Our current vendor is always wanting to perform a port count and several other queries when we renew-

is there a way that we can do this ourselves?

what exactly are they looking for? as a customer what can we print to give to these vendors queries?

can i create some sort of visitor log in that will enable them to query only specific overlays without damaging/ gather any other type of info on our pbx?

thanks for the help,
bb1.

 

[johnpoole]

port count is usually pulled from ld 81

cnt

and at the feat sets..

trunks are usually done in 21 ltm.. what i look for is response time and repair stock on hand.. i don't want to have a down switch and wait for delta to get me a new cpu. i would expect a crash kit on site.. as well as some maint stock.. i stock 20 of each type set on site for repair at this site. but they pay for 40 hours a week plus my trunk..

john poole
bellsouth business
columbia,sc

 

[kprintz]

you can do it yourself but then your vendor is relying on your honesty. If I was a vendor, I'd want to inventory the PBXs myself (not that your not honest).

Depending on the level of coverage you have with them, they would be looking for port counts of; digital and analog set, d-channels, tty ports, aml, trunks (universal and E&M), PRIs, etc.

If you are set up with multi user log on, you can assign them a unique user name and password which can be restricted to access only the overlays you wish. You can also run a query to see which overlays they accessed when they logged into your PBX.

One word of caution; restricting a maintenance vendor's access to overlays could be counter productive if you have an issue which requires them to access an overlay you have resticted.

 

[mikeyb123]

Maintainers in the UK usually send someone out to site to look at the switches that they are going to be taking over.

It's not getting any smarter out there. You have to come to terms with stupidity, and make it work for you.

 

[johnpoole]

we will not give a price without dial in access and a level 2 password.. it's to risky making a commitment without checking for known problems..rev levels of all the cards, non supported add on's etc.. if the maint contract includes sets we usually have a tech visit the site... i don't think i would want a vendor that would give you a maint price blind, they either don't know the job or on the way out of business

john poole
bellsouth business
columbia,sc

 

[Firebird Scrambler]

If you use Procomm Plus, then I have a useful script file that will obtain all of the main listings that would be required. It will save you from having to remember which overlays to get the prints from. Just let me know if you would like a copy.

All the best

Firebird Scrambler
Meridian Programmer in the UK

http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/firebird_scrambler

 

[johnpoole]

btw that's a killer script, if you don't have procomm it's well worth the price

john poole
bellsouth business
columbia,sc

 

[asodoma]

I work for a vendor. For maintenace, my company charges a per port charge. Something like $2.50/port/month. Maybe that's why they want to know...

Al

 

[Firebird Scrambler]

I've sent out a message to "Asodoma" today

All the best

Firebird Scrambler
Meridian Programmer in the UK

http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/firebird_scrambler

 

[Wiremonkey01]

Hey firebirdscrambler,

is there any chance I could get a copy of your Procomm Plus script to collect inventory information? A script like that would come in very handy this February when we start working on a maintenance contract for our 61c.

Thanks

M Russell
Telecom Analyst
Sisters of Mercy Health System.

 

[Firebird Scrambler]

Hello "WireMonkey01" My script will do the Inventory. I normally have it deleted as you need to have "MTC" enabled on your TTY port. Having this opened can cause the other listings to get garbage" on the printouts.

All the best

Firebird Scrambler
Meridian Programmer in the UK

http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/firebird_scrambler