Telecom for dummies

Worldwide telecom spending was over $4 trillion in 2004, and virtually all 12 million businesses in the U.S. buy phone and other telecom services Our book shows people at small and medium-sized businesses how to make sense of telecom lingo and get the best deals Includes an overview of the major players in the telecom industry and an easy-to-understand explanation of the existing telecom infrastructure Helps people pinpoint the telecom services best suited to their business needs, understand billing, and troubleshoot problems Covers emerging industry trends, such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), and how they can help businesses cut costs

Author Notes

Stephen Olejniczak is Director of Operations for ATI, a long distance company. As a manager and trainer, he has worked with service providers, sales forces, and corporate customers for 13 years.

Introduction	p. 1
About This Book	p. 1
Conventions Used in This Book	p. 2
What You Don't Have to Read	p. 2
Icons Used in This Book	p. 2
Foolish Assumptions	p. 3
How This Book Is Organized	p. 3
Where to Go from Here	p. 5
Part I The ABCs of Telecom Service	p. 7
Chapter 1 A Buyer's Scoop on Telecom	p. 9
Assessing Your Telecom Services As They Are Now	p. 10
Identifying Your Carriers	p. 10
Knowing Why Your Company Needs Telecom	p. 13
Introducing Dedicated Long-Distance Circuits	p. 15
Finding People to Help You Make the Right Choices	p. 17
Planning for Growth	p. 20
Troubleshooting All Things Telecom	p. 22
Chapter 2 Making (And Living with) Telecom Decisions	p. 23
Analyzing How Many Phone Lines You Need	p. 24
Locating Your Phone System: What's in Your Closet?	p. 25
Putting a Name with a Face: Identifying Your System	p. 26
Getting the Least You Need to Know about Your Phone System	p. 33
Deciding whether to Get Dedicated or Stay Switched	p. 34
Understanding and Preventing Fraud	p. 37
Negotiating the Best Telecom Deal	p. 40
Chapter 3 Getting Around the Telecom Neighborhood	p. 43
Identifying Your Telecom Neighborhood	p. 44
Understanding Your Call Types	p. 46
Blocking International Calls	p. 52
Part II Reviewing Telecom Products and Prices	p. 53
Chapter 4 Understanding Dedicated Service Requirements	p. 55
Understanding the Language of Dedicated Service	p. 56
Understanding Your Responsibilities When You Get a Dedicated Circuit	p. 57
Taking Responsibility for the Inside Wiring	p. 61
Chapter 5 Meeting Toll-Free Service, the Red-Headed Stepchild of Telecom	p. 65
Taking a Peak at Toll-Free Service Basics	p. 65
Accepting Financial Responsibility for Wrong Numbers	p. 68
Coming to Terms with the Toll-Free Life Cycle	p. 69
Evaluating Your Business's Toll-Free Needs	p. 72
Identifying Your Carrier's Available Toll-Free Services	p. 83
Realizing the Cost of Enhanced Toll-Free Services	p. 85
Chapter 6 Getting the Non-Accountant's Guide to Your Phone Bill	p. 89
Relying on Your Contract	p. 89
Reviewing the Summary Pages	p. 90
Negotiating the Best Makeup for Your Per-Minute Cost	p. 95
Receiving Your Invoice Your Way	p. 101
Knowing about Billing Issues	p. 103
Handling Your Billing Disputes	p. 107
Part III Ordering and Setting Up Telecom Service	p. 111
Chapter 7 Ordering Regular Phone Lines and New Long-Distance Service	p. 113
Ordering a Phone Line	p. 114
Changing Your Long-Distance Carrier if You Have Regular Phone Lines	p. 121
Casual Dialing	p. 127
Moving Your Phone Number	p. 130
Understanding the Porting Process	p. 131
Chapter 8 Ordering Dedicated Service	p. 133
Ordering the Circuit's Configuration	p. 134
Evaluating Out-of-Band Signaling	p. 140
Understanding Local Loop Pricing	p. 146
Evaluating Your Local Loop Choices	p. 149
Speeding Up Order Processing?	p. 150
Ordering a Carrier-Provided Loop Circuit	p. 150
Ordering a Customer-Provided Loop Circuit	p. 152
Ordering a Circuit Without a Local Loop	p. 157
Preparing for the Installation	p. 160
Chapter 9 Ordering Toll-Free Service	p. 165
Reserving New Toll-Free Numbers	p. 166
Migrating a Toll-Free Number	p. 169
Handling Toll-Free Rejection	p. 173
NASCing (Migration by Other Means)	p. 175
Ordering Switched Toll-Free Numbers	p. 178
Ordering Dedicated Toll-Free Numbers	p. 179
Using a Hot Cut to Activate Your Dedicated Toll-Free Numbers	p. 183
Resolving Activation Issues on Migrated Toll-Free Numbers	p. 186
Resolving Common Dedicated Toll-Free Migration Scenarios	p. 187
Chapter 10 Activating Your Dedicated Circuit and Toll-Free Numbers	p. 193
Requesting a Hot Cut or Parallel Cut	p. 194
Inviting the Right People to the Installation	p. 194
Preparing for the Installation	p. 198
Writing an Installation Journal	p. 200
Installing the Circuit	p. 201
Identifying Installation Problems	p. 205
Troubleshooting Continuity Issues	p. 206
Part IV Taking Care of Your Telecom System	p. 209
Chapter 11 Maintaining Your Telecom Services	p. 211
Understanding Troubleshooting Basics	p. 212
Getting the Most from Your Carrier's Troubleshooting Department	p. 220
Managing Your Trouble Tickets	p. 229
Troubleshooting International Calls	p. 231
Resolving International Fax Issues	p. 231
Chapter 12 Troubleshooting Switched Network Issues	p. 233
Doing Background Work Before You Begin Troubleshooting	p. 234
Starting the Troubleshooting Process	p. 235
Getting Switched Toll-Free Troubleshooting Basics	p. 245
Troubleshooting Toll-Free Issues from Canada, Alaska, and Hawaii	p. 253
Troubleshooting International Toll-Free Issues	p. 257
Chapter 13 Troubleshooting Your Dedicated Circuits	p. 259
Identifying the Level of Your Problem	p. 260
Categorizing the Nature of Your Problem	p. 263
Opening a Trouble Ticket for Your Dedicated Circuit	p. 267
Managing Your Dedicated Trouble Ticket	p. 271
Getting the Basics of Dedicated Outbound Troubleshooting	p. 272
Following a Dedicated Troubleshooting Shortcut	p. 284
Validating the Circuit You Are Testing	p. 286
The Basics of Dedicated Toll-Free Troubleshooting	p. 287
Handling Dedicated Toll-Free Quality Issues	p. 292
Part V What's Hot (Or Just Geeky) in the Telecom World	p. 293
Chapter 14 Transferring Data, Not Just Voice Content	p. 295
Understanding Your Data Transfer Requirements	p. 296
Transmitting Data the Old-Fashioned Way	p. 296
Processing Constant Transmissions between Locations	p. 297
Understanding a Frame Relay Network	p. 300
New and Improved Transmission for Multiple Locations	p. 304
Chapter 15 Riding the Internet Wave: VoIP	p. 309
Understanding VoIP Basics	p. 310
Understanding IP Protocols for VoIP	p. 311
Ordering VoIP Service	p. 316
Hearing VoIP Quality Issues	p. 321
Part VI The Part of Tens	p. 325
Chapter 16 Ten Acronyms and What They Really Mean	p. 327
Getting to Know Your LEC	p. 327
Understanding ANIs	p. 328
Getting Firm with an FOC	p. 328
NASCing Your Numbers	p. 328
Getting an RFO	p. 329
Getting Your Hands on a CSU	p. 329
Making Sure You Get a CFA	p. 329
Being a Part of the PFM	p. 330
Getting Your CICs	p. 330
Chapter 17 Ten Troublesome Telecom Traits to Avoid	p. 331
Finger-Pointing Your Way into a Corner	p. 331
Expecting a Credit After an Outage	p. 332
Ignoring the Facts: Fraud Is Not Free	p. 332
Not Accepting Admitting Defeat When an Order Turns into a Project	p. 332
Having Expectations That Go Beyond Reality	p. 333
Expecting Mother Theresa	p. 333
Not Paying Attention to Smaller Companies	p. 334
Forgetting to Do the Math	p. 334
Falling for the Standard Interval Shield	p. 335
Demanding to Sue or Take Legal Action	p. 335
Chapter 18 Ten Places to Go for Hints and Help	p. 337
Calling Your Long-Distance Carrier	p. 337
Smooth Talking with Your Telecom Salesperson	p. 338
Talking to Your Hardware Vendor	p. 338
Visiting the Local Calling Guide Industry Web Site	p. 339
Using the Magic 8 Ball	p. 339
Going to Manufacturer Web Sites	p. 339
Searching the Internet	p. 339
Using Your Escalation List	p. 340
Taking Your Questions to Another Hardware Vendor	p. 340
Starting Over	p. 341
Appendix Making a Loopback Plug	p. 343
Index	p. 347

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Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Table of Contents