Telecom For Dummies

You can choose to let your carrier activate your toll-free numbers at will, or you might need to have it done in a very controlled manner. If you are ordering a handful of new toll-free numbers for your circuit and you haven’t published them, there isn’t much threat of disaster if they aren’t working right away. If the numbers are failing, you can always troubleshoot them in a relatively calm environment.

On the other hand, your business may depend on toll-free service. If you have an existing toll-free number that handles 90 percent of your inbound orders every day, having the system down for even a minute is simply not an option. You certainly don’t have the luxury of waiting for someone to tell you that your toll-free service isn’t working, tracking down the carrier’s number, opening a trouble ticket, and then waiting for two to four hours for a call back (all while your boss is screaming at you to get it fixed).

So what can you do? Glad you asked! A hot cut is a scheduled activation whereby your carrier walks you through the activation process via conference call. A hot cut allows you to identify any problems immediately, and quickly correct them while you have a technician on the line. If your carrier cannot fix the problem immediately, let the troubleshooting begin.

Making sure the right people are invited to the hot cut party

You have to determine who should participate in the hot cut phone call and ensure that a conference bridge is available if you need one. The conference bridge enables many people to dial into a system where they can be placed on one large conference call. This is ideal for hot cuts because you need to have several people on the call who are geographically separated. In addition to the technician at your carrier, you may consider inviting the following individuals:

• The provisioner at the carrier: If you have requested any special routing features on your toll-free numbers, you might want to include your provisioner, who is the individual at your long-distance carrier who receives and processes your orders, in the call as well. In the event that there has been a miscommunication and your special features have not been added, the technician activating your number might be able to build them at the time of the hot cut. Your long-distance carrier will require you to send an order through the provisioning system after the fact, to complete the paper trail. When you include the provisioner, that person can validate anything that might not have translated through the provisioning system and place the backup orders if something was missed.

• The hardware vendor: If you are migrating existing, active toll-free numbers to a new phone system, your hardware vendor has to program each toll-free number into your new PBX, Key System, or whatever constitutes your new phone system, before the toll-free numbers will work. The vendor needs to build the routing plans on the DNIS (if you are using it) for each toll-free number, as well as a default path in case you are sent a call with an unknown DNIS. If you don’t have a default path, and the DNIS isn’t set up for a number, your phone system will reject calls. Similarly, if the DNIS stream isn’t sent completely, your phone system will reject calls. If you have existing toll-free numbers from the carrier working on your phone system and your hardware is already set up to receive the new number, you only need yourself and the provisioner and the carrier’s technician on the hot cut.

Accomplishing the perfect hot cut (Timing is everything)

The key to success in telecom is planning. If you are activating new circuits, here’s the perfect timeline.

• One week or so after you submit the order for your dedicated circuit: Send the RespOrgs for your dedicated toll-free numbers.

• After you receive confirmation that the circuit order is flowing through the system: Send the order for your dedicated toll-free numbers and the RespOrgs.

• The day you send the RespOrg LOA paperwork: Schedule a follow-up call eight days later. By then, you should know the status of the RespOrg and can handle a rejection or celebrate a release with plenty of time before your circuit is ready.

• About two weeks before you expect to activate your circuits: Issue the disconnect order with your old carrier and request the circuits be taken down in 30 days. This request gives you about two weeks of overlap just in case an unforeseen problem crops up.

   Tip  It’s also very helpful to remain on friendly terms with your old carrier, just in case you need to make an 11th-hour call to extend the due date of your circuits.

• Two or three days prior to activating your new circuits: Call your new long-distance carrier and confirm the order details. Confirm the quantity of toll-free numbers pending, as well as the RespOrg of all the numbers. If any numbers are still not with new long-distance carrier, you might still have time to push them through the system.

• On the day of the hot cut: Have everyone at your disposal. Be sure the new long-distance carrier’s installation technician is on the line, along with your hardware vendor. You also want to have the person who takes your orders for the new long-distance carrier available for verification of orders or if you need to push a straggling order through. Refer to your escalation list so you know who should be present if the person who took your order is not in the office for the hot cut. As long as your new carrier has RespOrg of your numbers, and you have competent technicians, both at the carrier and hardware levels, there isn’t much that can stop you from a successful activation.