[asterisk-users] PRI/T1 data rate...

[Forrest W. Christian]

Andrew Joakimsen wrote:

> PLEASE tell me who that carrier is. I work with an inept company that 
> doesn't even know what ANI and CPN mean. Well our ANI and CPN are one 
> and the same. A bunch of inbred hicks somewhere in Alabama.

The underlying carrier is actually really clueful (Qwest the LD carrier, 
not Qwest the ILEC).  I was really impressed with the provisioning tech 
who did a really nice job of running over the parameters which are 
tweakable, but often you don't get to tweak, like ANI vs CID delivery 
(ANI please), etc..   Mainly it was strictly an issue with undertrained 
sales people who probably aren't paid well enough to stick around long 
enough to get a clue.

This circuit was actually purchased through one of the website low-price 
brokers, which then get prices from LD resellers which actually then buy 
in bulk from carriers.  The broker fills out the form and submits it to 
the LD reseller who then reviews it (and in this case complains because 
all of the "required" questions not relevant to a PRI were skipped).   
This is actually pretty common.  Generally once you can get through the 
nightmare of the order, things go well.

In the weird, non-relevant question category, my favorite is the whole 
discussion I've had every time I've ordered a PRI from my local ILEC 
regarding the number of presented digits.   I do realize that back in 
"old pbx" days, you wanted the telco to send you say 4 digits which 
corresponded to your extension number, and the question is still valid 
with PRI - athough why anyone would want less than the full 10 digit 
NANPA number is beyond me.  Obviously it isn't as common as I think 
because my ordering process normally goes something like this:

Q:How many presentation digits? 
Me: 10
Q:Really?
Me: Yes, 10 digits.
Q: Are you sure your switch can handle 10 digits?
Me: Yes.  It routes them to the correct extension and that way I don't 
have to worry about number conflicts.
Q: Ohhhkay, (with that tone of voice of "I'm not going to protect you 
from your own stupidity.").
(pause)
Q: Now what type of start would you like on these trunks? *

*ok, the last question doesn't usually get asked by the ILEC, but I just 
*had* to add it for humor purposes...

-forrest