tkoppel@uunet.uu.net> (03/20/90)
I was trying to make a call this morning (Denver --> San Jose) on MCI from home. Got an intercept that said my call can't be completed at this time - for further information call 1-800-888-1800. Tried, of course, calling the 800-888-1800, but line was consistently busy, so eventually I went to work. Called MCI tonight to ask if they were having network problems this morning, but the (low-level) clerk I spoke to of course didn't know anything. 1 - was MCI not working to the West Coast today, or did I have a fluke? 2 - what is the point of dialing the 1-800-888-1800 number; what information might they have told me if it hadn't been busy? Ted Koppel CARL - Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries = Internet: tkoppel@carl.org -or- uunet!isis!tkoppel (uucp)
gutierre@oblio.arc.nasa.gov (Rob Gutierrez) (03/22/90)
isis!isis.UUCP!tkoppel@uunet.uu.net (Ted Koppel) writes: > I was trying to make a call this morning (Denver --> San Jose) on MCI > from home. Got an intercept that said my call can't be completed at > this time - for further information call 1-800-888-1800. > Tried, of course, calling the 800-888-1800, but line was consistently > busy, so eventually I went to work. > Called MCI tonight to ask if they were having network problems this > morning, but the (low-level) clerk I spoke to of course didn't know > anything. > 1 - was MCI not working to the West Coast today, or did I have a > fluke? I can't get ahold of any of my friends at MCI. Denver is served by a switch called Denver Junction ("DNJ"), which is a DEX-600. Not as fast as the old swich Denver was mostly served by (a DMS-250). But, you did get one of the default recordings, so the FGD's to MCI were obviously OK, and the switch itself was working at least. Now, San Jose is a different story. It's a real old Wescom switch, and it did work fine, though it tended to choke out once in a while. But you dialed the trouble number (888-1800) and it was busy. The trouble number has a minimum of two T-1's serving it (48 trunks), and if you were getting busies, then it was major outage time. > 2 - what is the point of dialing the 1-800-888-1800 number; what > information might they have told me if it hadn't been busy? Nothing. The numbers just go right into residental customer service, and you're lucky if you can get two out of three rate quotes right. Anyway, surprise them and if you get though the next time, ask them to look at the 'bulletin board' (actually a TV monitor) and ask if there's any 'red flashes' or 'red alerts'. The monitors display three alerts at any given time, and are color coded (White = Non-service affecting, Blue = Service affecting, Red = Major Outage) ... if the monitors are working. The problem is the monitors are updated from Hayward (California), and if there's a cable cut, the data lines for them are cut too. Ja ne. Robert Gutierrez/NSIPO Network Operations/NASA Ames Research.