Troubleshooting T1 Circuits

The great thing about technology is that we can doimmediately because you still do not have outbound
things we may never have imagined. The vastness ofcall capability. Timely reporting of service failures will
new technology affords us communication systemsfacilitate quick repairs and even quicker system
that make our lives easier and offer unlimited businessrecoveries.
capabilities. But the complexity of our new abilities alsoWhen you have intermittent problems with your T1
means we have to know how to troubleshoot andlines such as periods of echo-ear, dropped calls, or
maintain an intricate collection of equipment andfading in and out be sure to track the time of these
hardware. Troubleshooting your T1 line is somethingcalls, the exact nature of the problems, and the length
everyone needs to know.of the occurrences. After you have developed a "call
Because T1 lines carry both data and voice informationsample" log of 4-5 issues, make your report to your
and are among the most complex components ofcarrier, again getting the above stated information.
your communication system you need to know howYour carrier will alert your agent to all issues you
to handle outages, disruptions, and failures. The mostreport.
important thing to remember is that your carrier isAs with voice problems, you need to report directly to
available to you 24/7. Before business hours, theyour carrier any data outages. You carrier can then
weekends, late at night-your carrier is ready for yourperform internal tests to "clean the loop" of any data
call. When you do have to contact your carrier there istransmission problems.
some important information you need to get: the nameYour carrier and agent work together to ensure a
of the representative taking your call, the time, and theseamless voice and data experience for your
ticket number. Whenever you directly contact yourcompany. Write out all carrier reporting protocols and
carrier get this information and write it down.send them to all your employees. Also make sure to
In the event of a total failure, it is essential to contactkeep them posted or on file. Delayed reporting is a
your carrier immediately. You should be aware thatmistake and all employees with high level system
your T1 line carries a fail-safe feature. Inbound calls areresponsibilities must avoid such costly delays. With
remotely call forwarded to a predeterminedgood monitoring and maintenance you will get the most
destination. But this time of event needs to be reportedfrom your T1 line.