Qwest's Wholesale customers can initiate trouble reports for Wholesale Products and Services via electronic or manual interfaces enabling you to initiate, change, and cancel trouble reports to Qwest. Qwest will update you on the status of your trouble report through final disposition. You are responsible for all maintenance and repair contact with your end-user. Prior to issuing a trouble report to Qwest, you must isolate your end-user's trouble to the Qwest provisioned product or service.
If your end-users experience problems with their local circuits or services, provisioned with Qwest provided products and services, their first point of contact is you, their local service provider. Qwest will direct your end-users who call our repair centers in error to contact their local service provider. Qwest provides repair services to you, for the Qwest Wholesale Products and Services you purchased, in substantially the same time and manner as we repair similar services for ourselves, our end-users, our affiliates, and any other party. The maintenance and repair information presented in this overview includes the following Wholesale Products and Services:
To help make securing repair assistance efficient and easy for you, this web page summarizes some of key aspects of Qwest's Maintenance and Repair Process, including:
Definitions of Terms
Maintenance and Repair support services are available throughout Qwest's 14-state local service territory. Organized geographically, our Maintenance Control Centers and Repair Call Handling Centers manage restoration of service on a non-discriminatory basis across all our territory.
Branding
Qwest technicians will use unbranded maintenance and repair forms while interfacing with your end-users. Upon request from you, Qwest will use branded repair forms provided by you. Qwest technicians will not discuss your products and services with your end-users. Such inquiries will be redirected to you.
All Qwest maintenance and routine test parameters and levels are in compliance with Telcordia's General Requirement Standards for Network Elements, Operations, Administration, Maintenance and Reliability. Product and service specific maintenance and test requirements can be found in Qwest's Technical Publications.
UNE, Resale and Interconnection related maintenance and repair activity applicable charges may apply as defined in the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) 1 Tariff, Sections 5 and 13, Intrastate Tariffs, and your Qwest Interconnection Agreement.
Wholesale rates for this product or service, including tariff references and any applicable discounts, are provided in your current Interconnection, Resale, Commercial, or other governing agreement.
The following table illustrates the charges that may apply to your trouble report:
Maintenance and Repair Charges
| Applicable Charge | Scenario | Impacted Products |
| Trouble Isolation Charge (TIC) | CLEC contacts Qwest to report trouble. CLEC authorizes TIC (either through CEMR or with the repair attendant). If, after dispatching a Field Technician, Qwest determines that the trouble is not in the Qwest network, a TIC will be applied. TIC does not apply if the trouble is found in the Qwest Network. | POTS |
| Maintenance of Service Charge | CLEC contacts Qwest to report trouble. CLEC has performed trouble isolation testing and provides test results, if applicable, to Qwest. If trouble is found in Qwest's network, no charges will apply. If no trouble is found in the Qwest network and Qwest dispatched a technician to an unattended Qwest building or the end-user's premises, the Maintenance of Service Charge will be applied. Maintenance of Service Charge is applicable per technician for the period of time worked. (Technician can refer to Central Office Tech and/or Field Technician). Basic Maintenance of Service Charge applies when a Qwest technician performs work during standard business hours. Overtime Maintenance of Service Charge applies when a Qwest technician performs work on a business day outside of standard business hours or on a Saturday. Premium Maintenance of Service Charge applies when a Qwest technician performs work on a Sunday or Qwest recognized holiday. MSCs are identified in your Interconnection Agreement. | Designed Services |
| Dispatch | CLEC contacts Qwest to report trouble. CLEC has performed trouble isolation testing and provides test results to Qwest. If trouble is found in Qwest's network, no charges will apply. If one or more technicians are dispatched and no trouble is found in Qwest's network, a dispatch charge (in addition to the Maintenance of Service Charge) will be applied. Dispatch charges will apply for each additional dispatch request when no trouble is found in the Qwest network. | All UNEs and Designed Services |
For information regarding how to view current Qwest Maintenance and Repair charges for your organization prior to receiving a bill, you may refer to the Qwest Maintenance and Repair Invoice Tool User Guide.
Maintenance and Repair charges will not be processed if the date on which the work was completed is 30 calendar days or more in arrears of the Qwest process date. Charges for Maintenance and Repair work will appear no later than the second bill cycle after the date the work was completed.
CLEC Roles and Responsibilities
Maintenance and Repair Trouble Administration
You are responsible for Maintenance and Repair Trouble Administration for your own end-users, providing them with the means and processes to report troubles associated with their services provided by you. This includes taking all necessary trouble information from them to resolve troubles. Qwest will not work directly with your end-users and at no time should you provide them with Qwest's contact numbers. Qwest will only accept trouble reports from your repair center and we require that you provide us with your contact name and telephone number on all trouble reports in order for us to call if access or additional information is needed.
Maintaining End-user Data
You are responsible for maintaining your end-users' account data including, but not limited to:
Single Point of Contact
We each must identify a Single Point of Contact (SPOC) to resolve service related issues, and we are both responsible for reviewing and providing updates to SPOC information as required. Qwest SPOCs are accessible 24/7. Note: Qwest's SPOC numbers should not be given to your end-users nor should you direct them to call any department within Qwest. Misdirected calls to Qwest from your end-users or a third party will be referred back to you.
Demarcation Points
The network demarcation point is the point at which Qwest's network ends and that of another carrier or end-user begins (e.g., Field Connection Point (FCP), Network Interface Device (NID), InterConnection Distributing Frame (ICDF), jack). See FCC 97-209 and Public Service Commission (PSC) 900 Tariff Section 16 for clarification. To issue an accurate trouble report, you must identify the demarcation point/network interface along with the Qwest provided circuit identification and isolate the trouble to the Qwest side of the demarcation. The specific location of the end-user premises demarcation point can be determined by working back from your end-user's telephone or station equipment. In accordance with applicable safety and privacy regulations, you may choose to use various inside wire isolation techniques. If you require binding post information to complete your repair or installation work, your technician may call Qwest's Repair Department. If available, Qwest will provide demarcation binding post information for Designed facilities and building terminal binding post information for POTS facilities through its Repair Department upon request. If binding post information is not available, the existing process for tagging the demarcation point will apply. Should you choose not to dispatch your own technician to find the demarcation point and initiate a trouble report against the network element in question, you will incur a Maintenance of Service Charge. During arepair request you, if Qwest dispatches, you can ask that the demarcation point be tagged.
Tagging of Circuits
You may request tagging a demarcation point for any Qwest Service. This request can be submitted via your normal channels for submitting service requests, through repair call handling groups, or an Electronic Gateway. This type of request is considered Additional Labor. You may be billed an applicable repair charge.
If you report a repair condition and also request tagging on this circuit, and a dispatch to the premises is required, Qwest will perform tagging at no charge to CLEC.
If you report a repair condition and also request tagging on other circuits, and a dispatch to the premises is required, we will issue an Assist Test (AT) ticket for each additional circuit tagged. You will be billed for each additional circuit tagged and charges for all tickets will be applied to one ticket. There will be no material charges since all work is being done on the Qwest side of the demarcation point.
When CLEC requests tagging, when no repair condition exists, the following parameters apply:
If you want Qwest to move or relocate the demarcation point, you must submit a service request and have an order issued before any work is performed. The technician will not move or relocate the demarcation point until an order has been issued.
General provisioning and installation dispatch information and the associated charges are described in the Provisioning and Installation Overview.
Non-Designed (POTS) Services
You may request tagging a demarcation point for any Qwest Non-Designed Service. This request can be submitted via your normal channels for submitting service requests or through repair call handling groups such as Wholesale Repair Center, RCHC, or an Electronic Gateway. There are two scenarios for tagging a demarcation point after an order has been completed:
If the circuit is for new service 30 calendar days or less of order completion, you should call the Wholesale Repair Center, or RCHC, or request a trouble ticket via the Electronic Gateway. Indicate that this is new service (within 30 calendar days), and state that you cannot locate the tag. We will dispatch a repair technician. If we find that the circuit is tagged, we will bill you a TIC. If the circuit is not tagged, we will tag it and you will not be charged.
If the circuit is for service that is beyond 30 calendar days of service order completion and an out service condition exists, we will dispatch to the end-user premises to isolate and/or fix the trouble. We will also tag the circuit at that time as part of the Repair Process.
If you contact Qwest Repair and request that we tag a circuit and an out of service condition does not exist, you will be asked to submit a service request via your normal channels if the circuit is beyond the 30 calendar day new service order completion window.
If you want Qwest to move or relocate the demarcation point you must submit a service request and have an order issued before any work is performed. The technician will not move or relocate the demarcation point until an order has been issued.
Carrier Facility Assignment (CFA) Cut to Fix
The CFA is a facility from a Qwest Central Office that terminates at your location (e.g., central office). If you report trouble on a CFA and it has been isolated to the Qwest portion of the CFA, the system or individual channel (time slot) will be repaired or temporarily re-routed to a different channel bank/facility until the original facility can be repaired. You will not need to submit a service request to repair the CFA.
If you request a permanent CFA move when you report trouble, we will make the permanent move, however, you will need to submit a service request. If you are able to obtain an order number or Purchase Order Number (PON) during the permanent move when the Customer Communication Technician (CCT) is online, provide it to that individual. It is your responsibility to submit a service request via an ASR when cutting to another facility. Repair will work the redesign, i.e., permanent move, as they do other circuit redesigns.
If you are unable to get an order number or PON with the CCT online, we will proceed with making the permanent move and hold the trouble ticket as No Access (NA) until you can obtain an order number or PON. If you cannot obtain an order number or PON until the next working day and you want the new CFA cut prior to obtaining an order number or PON, we will make the cut and place the trouble ticket in NA status for 24 hours (work day, Monday - Friday). If you have not contacted us with an order number or PON by the expiration of that NA period, Qwest will notify you that we intend to cut the circuit back to its original CFA.
Correcting the Wrong Demarcation on Repair/Moving the Demarcation
If you want Qwest to correct or move the demarcation point, you must submit a trouble ticket or a service request and have an order issued before any work is performed. There are primarily three scenarios for correcting/moving the demarcation point. They are as follows:
Testing Faulty Elements
Before initiating a trouble report to Qwest, and to expedite the repair process, you are responsible for identifying the fault and location of the trouble within the Network prior to contacting Qwest.
Testing POTS and Other Services at Fault
For services Qwest provides, where you do not have the ability to isolate the trouble (e.g., Resale, POTS, LIS), you are not responsible for trouble isolation. In such cases, Qwest will perform all testing, trouble isolation and resolution within Qwest's Network on your behalf. For POTS you are still responsible for isolating the trouble at the NID. If a Qwest technician is dispatched to the end-user's premise and the trouble is not found in the Qwest network, a TIC will apply. You must either authorize or deny authorization for TIC when a trouble report is opened. If you do not authorize TIC, a Qwest technician will not be dispatched.
Isolating Faulty Element
After you test the circuit to determine the trouble condition and isolate the trouble to Qwest's network, you need to determine, to the extent possible, the specific network element experiencing a fault condition. If the trouble is isolated to your side of the demarcation point, you are responsible for repairing the trouble condition. If the trouble is isolated to Qwest's side of the demarcation point, Qwest will repair the trouble. With your authorization, when Qwest dispatches a technician to the end-user's premise, and the technician isolates the trouble to your side of the demarcation point, a Maintenance of Service Charge will be applied. Specific products, i.e., Enhanced Extended Loop (EEL), Unbundled Local Loop, Loop Multiplexer (MUX) Combination (LMC), and Unbundled Dedicated Interoffice Transport (UDIT), provide trouble isolation and testing as a joint process. In this situation, you are responsible for testing and providing trouble isolation results prior to submitting a trouble report to Qwest. If you elect not to perform trouble isolation testing, Qwest will offer the option of performing the testing on your behalf. If you request optional testing from Qwest, you are required to provide your name, telephone number, and authorization to test (either verbally or electronically (via CEMR)). If you use CEMR, include the narrative "optional testing authorized" in the comments. See Test Results Information for additional information regarding optional testing.
Qwest will provision an Unbundled DS1 Loop to meet American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standards. Depending on the type of installation option you chose, test results may or may not have been provided at time of test and turn up.
If, after acceptance of a DS1 Capable loop, you cannot get the loop to work, you will test to ensure that there are no problems on the customer side of the demarcation point. You will then open a repair ticket and provide test results. Qwest will conduct testing and if applicable will contact you to arrange a joint meet; this could include joint testing at the customer's premises. Once testing has been completed, and should Qwest find the circuit to function within prescribed transmission parameters, we will mutually share relevant/applicable information pertaining to the circuit; this may include type of CPE, distance and gauge of inside wire, circuit design, end-to-end distance, number of repeaters and distance between repeaters.
If it cannot be determined why the circuit will not work for you, we will alter the dB loss setting where technically feasible, to make the circuit functional. At this point, Qwest will bill for the dispatch and the time spent to meet and work on the circuit with you.
Test Results Before Submitting a Trouble Report
If you do not provide test results (except for Resale, POTS, and LIS) when attempting to submit a trouble report and elect not to have Qwest perform optional testing on your behalf, Qwest will not have enough information to open a valid trouble ticket and therefore will not open one. If you submit your trouble report electronically, and you do not provide test results, nor authorize Optional Testing, Qwest will bond back providing you with a 24-hour timeframe to respond with the appropriate information (test results or authorization for optional testing). If you do not respond within the 24-hour, Qwest's repair system will automatically close the ticket. You will need to obtain testing information prior to Qwest accepting and issuing a valid trouble report. For information regarding test results, acceptable test results, and unacceptable test results; refer to Test Results Information found in the Qwest's Roles and Responsibilities section of this PCAT.
You have the right to request reconciliation of trouble reports in order to minimize repeat reports. You can initiate the reconciliation process through your Qwest Service Manager.
Third Party Owned Network Element - Repairsp
You are responsible for trouble repairs when a third party owns a network element. Qwest does not perform trouble maintenance or repairs for third party-owned elements. Depending on your Qwest Interconnection Agreement, Qwest may provide Third Party assistance on a Time and Material basis. Contact your Qwest Service Manager if you need clarification.
Submitting Trouble Reports
The maintenance and repair process begins with the discovery that a service is not functioning properly. This can occur when your end-user realizes they are experiencing poor sound quality, no dial tone or another trouble condition with their telephone service and contacts your customer service organization for assistance or, utilizing your own network testing, monitoring and surveillance tools, you discover a trouble condition.
The core hours of operation for a repair technician are 9 AM to 5 PM local time. Specific hours of operation for repair technicians in a particular area are available when a repair ticket is issued. Note: Some products and services may have Qwest "Promise of Service™" intervals in which Qwest will hold itself to a higher level of service than normal specified guidelines. The Qwest "Promise of Service™" interval will automatically be available to Qwest customers for these products and services. The Qwest "Promise of Service™" initiative may result in guidelines that reduce the timeframe for maintenance and repair, however, these guidelines are not included in, or supported by, Qwest Performance Indicator Definitions (PID) or Performance Assurance Plan (PAP) obligations. To view the list of switch features included in the 8 hour Qwest "Promise of Service™" click on List of Features - Qwest Promise of Service.
Recent Service Request Activity
If you have a service-affecting problem, Qwest recommends the following options:
For better efficiency, use our online CEMR System that connects you to our internal support systems. CEMR requires security certification. Contact your Qwest Service Manager if you need information related to this application. Step-by-step details regarding CEMR can be found in the CEMR User Guide. In the event CEMR is off line or you encounter difficulty, contact the appropriate Center and our RSAs will take your report manually should it be necessary.
Contact the Wholesale Repair Center for Design Products and Services or the RCHC for Non-Designed Products and Services and our RSAs will receive and create your trouble report as well as provide you updates regarding any of your existing trouble reports.
If your service request for Unbundled Local Loops or Resale Designed Services was completed within 30 calendar days, you have the option of using one of the methods described above (submit a trouble report via CEMR or to the Wholesale Repair Center) or you may contact the Qwest CLEC Coordination Center (QCCC)for Unbundled Local Loops or the technician for Resale Designed Services and they will open, document, and track a trouble ticket.
For Resale Designed Services, the technician who provisioned the circuit will provide their name, direct call back number, and normal work schedule. You may call this technician directly within 30 calendar days of service order completion to report trouble.
When submitting multiple trouble tickets for telephone numbers in multiple locations, you may choose to fax your reports to our centers for operational efficiencies. There is no limit as to the number of faxes you are allowed to send.
Required Information
When submitting a trouble report, the results and analysis of your fact-finding, testing and trouble isolation efforts determine the information you provide. Your trouble report must be accurate and complete to enable Qwest to undertake the actions necessary to isolate and resolve the trouble. The following information is required when a trouble report is submitted:
For non-design services, you may request a courtesy pre-dispatch call from a Qwest technician to you before he/she leaves for your end-user's premises. If you use CEMR, select the "Call Before Dispatch" button on the Narrative Customizing Window (see Figure 10-31 in the CEMR User's Guide). If you use MEDIACC, populate the attribute "additionalTroubleInfoList" with "CLB4 DSP." If you call into the RCHC or Wholesale Repair Center to report trouble, you may also request a pre-dispatch courtesy call from a Qwest Technician. A pre-dispatch call will not be made unless you request it.
For Non-designed Resale Services, Qwest will require an appointment to be scheduled when any of the following are present on the trouble report:
For Non-designed Business Services, Qwest will require an access window.
If you use CEMR or MEDIACC, you may request a joint Dispatch Out (DPO) field meet. In CEMR you may request a joint DPO by following the instructions on the "CEMR/RCE Joint Meet Screen". In MEDIACC you may request a joint DPO by populating the attribute "additionalTroubleInfoList" with "DPO Joint Meet" and include date and time (e.g., DPO Joint Meet 07/21/04 3 PM). You may also request a joint Dispatch In (DPI) central office meet. In CEMR you may request a joint DPI by following the instructions on the "CEMR/RCE Joint Meet Screen". In MEDIACC you may request a joint DPI by populating the attribute "additionalTroubleInfoList" with "DPI Joint Meet" and include date and time (e.g., DPI Joint Meet 07/21/04 3 PM). To request a joint meet, you must submit your request no later than 3 PM local time the day before the joint meet.
If you use MEDIACC you may request a trouble ticket for IP CENTREX by populating the attribute "additionalTroubleInfoList" with "IPCTX" and the telephone number of the line(s) experiencing difficulty.
With the exception of major outage restoration, cable rearrangements, Multi Tenant Environment (MTE) terminal maintenance/replacement, and post-order/post-repair preventive maintenance, Qwest will not dispatch to the end-user premises without your authorization. The Company Initiated Activity Customer Notifications matrix contains a list of processes, activities, responsibilities, timeframes, and notifications related to Qwest initiated activities. For information regarding when you may be notified of Qwest initiated activity, click on the Customer Notification matrix.
Note: For Non-Designed Services, acceptance of TIC indicates authorization to dispatch. For Non-Designed Services, electronically submitted trouble reports via MEDIACC, automatically authorize dispatch and acceptance of TIC. For Designed Services, all electronically submitted trouble reports automatically authorize dispatch and intrusive testing. For Designed Services manually submitted trouble reports, authorization to test shall include authorization to dispatch. Should you wish to provide such permission, Qwest will require the following information for the trouble report:
Qwest's Roles and Responsibilities
Responding to Submitted Trouble Reports
To efficiently resolve the reported trouble, our repair organizations are grouped into Wholesale Product or Designed Services or Non-Designed Maintenance and Repair teams:
Refer to the Contact Section of this web page for Wholesale Repair and RCHC telephone numbers.
Organized geographically, Qwest's RSAs and Repair Centers manage the restoration of service on a non-discriminatory basis providing you the same timeliness and quality repair service we provide to ourselves, our end-users, our affiliates, and any other party. Your trouble reports are prioritized based on service without regard to the service provider.
When submitting a trouble report for POTS service, you may request Emergency Call Forwarding (ECF) if you have an out of service condition regardless of whether or not Call Forwarding is on the account. Refer to CEMR On-line Help (enter "Emergency Call Forwarding" in the search field, click on find, and scroll to requested information) for additional information regarding ECF. If the account has Call Forwarding, you may also call the RCHC to have call forwarding (Courtesy Call Forwarding) activated with a repair condition.
Utilize your normal trouble-reporting channel into the appropriate Center for repair call handling, trouble report creation, status updates, and escalation management. Available 24/7, representatives within the Wholesale Repair Center, RCHC, and Designed Service Centers serve as your advocate representing your needs within Qwest. Some services attendants provide include:
Escalations
At your discretion, you may initiate an escalation of your trouble report at any time during the repair process through either an electronic interface provided by Qwest or by calling either the Wholesale Repair Center for UNEs and Complex services or the RCHC for POTS and Non-Complex services. Escalations begin with the tester or screener and passes to the duty Supervisor, Manager, Director, and Vice President levels within Qwest. For additional information regarding repair escalations, refer to Wholesale Customer Service Repair Escalation List for Residence, Small Business, Large Business, and Wholesale.
Repairing Faulty Products and Services
When you initiate a trouble report, our center technicians receive and manage the issue through resolution for Designed Services. Your trouble report is routed for testing and trouble isolation where the trouble is initially isolated to one of three general areas:
Technicians in multiple locations across all three general areas may be required to isolate the trouble and restore service. Responsibilities of our repair technicians include:
No Access (Designed Services only)
When a Qwest Technician is dispatched at your request, they may encounter a No Access situation that prevents repairing the trouble. No Access situations include:
Exception: When Optional Testing is approved by the customer of record, Stop Time will apply to the trouble ticket while testing is performed. This stop time will not delay the progress of the trouble ticket through the repair process, but it will account for the time the customer of record would have spent performing this testing.
If a No Access situation occurs, trouble resolution is delayed and additional dispatching charges may apply.
When a trouble ticket is received from you for unbundled services, the Repair CCT will validate the circuit notes for the installed circuit and identify from those notes whether there is a "Y" or "N" associated with the "NIU ACCESS (Y/N)" field. This information should have also been Emailed or given verbally to you at the time of installation:
Out of Hours Dispatch
While Qwest's Maintenance and Repair Centers operate 24/7 not all functions and locations are covered 24/7. In major metropolitan areas, where technicians are on duty around the clock, Qwest dispatches as if the request was received during normal business hours and tests circuits to the last Central Office where a technician is available. Qwest always calls out technicians in life threatening, fire, national security, or other emergency situations. If an out-of-service condition exists that cannot wait until normal business hours for resolution, in an area where Qwest's technicians are not available 24/7, Qwest will determine the necessity to dispatch and/or call out a technician when the trouble is isolated to a non-staffed Central Office and there is access to the premises. Exceptions may occur in the event of Central Office conversions, system outages, severe weather conditions, or during emergency preparedness situations.
Providing Trouble Report Status Updates
Qwest provides two ways to check the status of your trouble reports:
Closing Your Trouble Report
When your Designed service is restored to Qwest's last point of presence or demarcation point, the Maintenance Control Office (MCO) CCT will contact you to coordinate cooperative testing, obtain restoration concurrence, and provide test results. After obtaining your approval to close your trouble report, the MCO CCT will assign trouble codes and close the trouble report. You can view your closed trouble reports via the history function in CEMR.
When your Non-Designed service is restored, Qwest assigns disposition and cause codes, closes the trouble ticket, and notifies you that the trouble has been resolved. Trouble tickets that are received by Qwest electronically, via existing functionality in CEMR/MEDIACC, will be closed electronically. You can view your closed trouble reports via the history function in CEMR. If a trouble ticket was opened via a phone call to the Qwest Repair center, Qwest will assign disposition and cause codes, close the trouble ticket, and notify you via a phone call that the trouble has been resolved.
Qwest Designed Services Trouble Ticket Codes and Qwest Non-Designed Disposition & Cause Codes
Information provided in the following documents describes the various trouble reporting codes for designed and non-designed services and their specific definition.
Designed Services Trouble Codes describe the type of trouble encountered.
Non-Designed Services Disposition and Cause Codes identify the reason for service problems. Disposition Codes indicate the action taken to clear the reported trouble, while Cause Codes indicate why.
Test Results Information describes acceptable network test results, unacceptable test results, and other related information.
Additional Maintenance and Repair Activities
Abnormal Events
Qwest follows established FCC guidelines for restoration priorities related to:
Major Outage Notification
Qwest offers an automatic Major Outage Notification. Contact your Qwest Service Manager if you have questions or would like to learn more about the automatic notification process.
If you choose to receive Qwest's automatic notifications, you will be notified of certain reportable events in our network that may be service affecting. Notifications are sent via Internet e-mail or facsimile simultaneously with our internal event notification usually within 30 minutes after the Qwest work center determines a reportable event has occurred, even if the service problem is already resolved. Examples of reportable events are:
If you choose not to receive automatic notifications, our RSA will provide information of major outages only in conjunction with an active trouble report. With the exception of certain proprietary information, Qwest uses the same thresholds and processes for external notification as it does for internal purposes. Service restoration is non-discriminatory and accomplished as quickly as possible according to Qwest and/or industry standards.
Major Disasters
Qwest complies with established federal and state requirements providing network disaster recovery planning at both the state and national levels. Functional exercises are conducted to audit our proficiency at managing the unique communications requirements associated with catastrophic disasters and recovery events. During disaster recovery exercises, Qwest's NROC is responsible for notifying your operations center to obtain input and/or cooperation from you. FCC regulations require that all Telecommunication Organizations comply with any applicable federal and state requirements concerning disaster recovery exercises, with us each notifying the other prior to performing these exercises.
Chronic Service Problems (Designed and Non-Designed)
Services having repeated, unresolved service issues may be designated a chronic service problem if the following conditions occur:
Qwest's Maintenance and Repair Technicians focus on resolving chronic service problems by:
If you feel a circuit has a chronic service problem and requires special attention, note the situation on the trouble report you submit or bring it to the attention of the RSA who creates your report. Once our Maintenance and Repair Technician completes the repair, clearing the chronic trouble, Qwest will maintain the chronic trouble ticket in "Pending Close" status until you accept the trouble as resolved.
Monitoring Network Equipment
Qwest's NROC monitors and maintains our facilities focusing on network integrity, reliability, availability, and quality. Some functions include:
Qwest offers surveillance or alarm detection capabilities with Interconnect products and services. Contact your Qwest Service Manager if you need additional information.
Preventive Maintenance
Qwest will work cooperatively with you to determine reasonable notification requirements of service-affecting activities that may occur in normal operation of our business. Such activities may include, but are not limited to, equipment or facilities additions, removals or rearrangements, routine preventative maintenance, and major switching machine change-out. Generally, such activities may affect many services. No specific advance notification period is applicable to all service activities.
Preventive Maintenance Windows
Qwest generally performs proactive maintenance activities during "off hours" with maintenance windows between:
Switch, transport, or power activities that have the potential to impact customer service are scheduled during a maintenance window except as described below. Maintenance Window activities may include:
Proactive loop maintenance for switched-based Non-Designed Services includes Automatic Line Tests (ALIT) which are performed nightly between 9:00 PM and 6:00 AM and MLT performed between 8:00 PM and 4:00 AM after all New (N) or Transfer (T) service order activity. This is also applicable to repair activity involving a dispatch to the field. A dispatch to your end-user's premises may result from these tests.
Non-Maintenance Window Activities may include:
While we normally perform major switch maintenance during the above maintenance windows, there will be occasions where this will not be possible. Qwest will provide you notification of any and all maintenance activities that may impact your ordering practices such as embargoes, moratoriums, or quiet periods in substantially the same time and manner as we provide this information to ourselves, our end-users, our affiliates, and any other party.
Major Switch Maintenance
Major switch maintenance activities include switch conversions, switch generic software upgrades and switch equipment additions.
Switch conversions typically require service order embargoes to ensure seamless transition from the old to the new switch. An embargo is a period of time prior to and after the conversion date where trunk connections into the switch are frozen; no trunk related orders, with the exception of conversion orders, will be accepted or provisioned. Embargos for trunk-side facilities extend from 30 days before the conversion date until five days after the conversion.
Line side orders are also impacted by switch conversions. With the exception of disconnect orders, non-switch related billing and records orders, and emergency orders, no service orders may be completed from five days before until two days after the conversion date; referred to as the quiet period. Disconnect orders are the only orders accepted during the quiet period and will be completed after the quiet period expires.
Planned conversions, including embargo periods, and generic software upgrades in Qwest's switches are posted on the InterCONNect (ICONN) database containing Local Exchange Routing Guide Information.
Local Qwest 101 "Doing Business With Qwest"
CEMR (Customer Electronic Maintenance & Repair) Web Based Training
View additional Qwest course by clicking on Course Catalog.
Qwest contact information is located in Wholesale Customer Contacts.
This section is currently being compiled based on your feedback.
Last Update: June 12, 2009
Qwest Local Services Platform™ (QLSP™) is a trademark of Qwest Communications International Inc.
