Networking / Beginners

Categorizing the Nature of Your Problem

Dedicated circuits can be intimidating because you are responsible for half of the hardware that makes them work. On the other hand, the majority of problems you will likely encounter originate in your long-distance carrier's switched network, far beyond the end of your dedicated circuit.

Tip The same types of call quality and completion problems that you encounter on switched calls can also affect the calls that pass through your dedicated circuit. The joy of dedicated circuits is that you can test for either problem in the exact same way: by isolating and eliminating each variable as you go through your circuit.

There might be other issues that are associated with your dedicated circuit, such as dropped calls or intermittent echoes, that you troubleshoot based on multiple call examples, but overall, the steps for resolution on dedicated circuits are the same.

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In this tutorial:

  1. Troubleshooting Your Dedicated Circuits
  2. Identifying the Level of Your Problem
  3. Identifying circuit variables in circuits that are DS-3 or larger
  4. Identifying DS-1-level circuit variables
  5. Identifying DS-0 or individual channel issues
  6. Categorizing the Nature of Your Problem
  7. Understanding dedicated call quality issues
  8. Understanding circuit failure issues
  9. Opening a Trouble Ticket for Your Dedicated Circuit
  10. Letting your channels be your guide
  11. Remembering the first rule of troubleshooting
  12. Remote made busy: RMB
  13. Installation made busy: IMB
  14. Avoiding permanent IMB status
  15. Managing Your Dedicated Trouble Ticket
  16. Getting the Basics of Dedicated Outbound Troubleshooting
  17. Step 1: Rebooting your hardware
  18. Understanding your trouble ticket options
  19. Step 2: Intrusively testing: Looping the CSU
  20. If looping the CSU fails
  21. Using a T-1 test set
  22. Step 3: Looping the NIU
  23. Getting the scoop on loops
  24. Step 4: Looping to your T-1 jack
  25. If you can't loop the T-1 jack
  26. Step 5: Looping the CFA point
  27. Following a Dedicated Troubleshooting Shortcut
  28. Validating the Circuit You Are Testing
  29. The Basics of Dedicated Toll-Free Troubleshooting
  30. Step 1: Identifying a provisioning issue
  31. Step 2: Redialing your dedicated toll-free number
  32. Step 3: Validating your dedicated RespOrg
  33. Step 4: Validating the DNIS configuration
  34. Step 5: Head-to-head dedicated toll-free testing