telecommunications and technology primer
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
2-1-1 Training: Telecommunications 2-1-1 Training: Telecommunications and Technologyand Technology
Marianne Galleon
INFO LINE of Los Angeles
July 30, 2004
Southern California 2-1-1 Technology Training provided by INFO LINE of Los Angeles
Goals:
Understand how 2-1-1 system design affects telecommunications and technology
Learn about telecom and technology– Getting the 2-1-1 call to the Center– Handling 2-1-1 calls once at the Center– Managing technology options within the Center– How to plan for the unexpected
Southern California 2-1-1 Technology Training provided by INFO LINE of Los Angeles
Introductions
Name, location, and role or positionStatus of 2-1-1 in your communityTelecom-Technology Continuum
Newby Dangerous Smarty
Expectations: One thing you’d like to learn?
Southern California 2-1-1 Technology Training provided by INFO LINE of Los Angeles
Centralized Administration with Single Call Center
Centralized Administration with Multiple Centers
Decentralized Administration with Multiple Centers
Service Delivery
Resource Database
24-hour Access
Service Models
Southern California 2-1-1 Technology Training provided by INFO LINE of Los Angeles
Model Considerations
Short-term and long-term costs Timeline Billings Coordination and collaboration Service delivery Scalability for emerging technologies and future
opportunities
Southern California 2-1-1 Technology Training provided by INFO LINE of Los Angeles
Philosophical Issues
Old numbers“Live answer”Anonymity vs. ConfidentialityPrivacyTarget populationsData sharing
Southern California 2-1-1 Technology Training provided by INFO LINE of Los Angeles
Alphabet Soup
POTS ILEC CLEC ACD PUC PBX 8YY AIN VoIP IVR
Plain old telephone service Incumbent local exchange carrier Competitive local exchange carrier Automatic call distributor Public utility commission Private branch exchange 800-number Advanced intelligence networking Voice over Internet Protocol Interactive Voice Response
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Central Office Translation
2-1-1 Caller(over local)
2-1-1 Caller(over 8YY)
Switch*
Switch* Translation2-1-1 = local #
Translation2-1-1 = 8YY #
PBX
Host Central Office
2-1-1 Center
Southern California 2-1-1 Technology Training provided by INFO LINE of Los Angeles
Types of TranslationTypes of Translation
Switch-based “hard-wired” at a switch,
often for multiple exchanges
Less complex Little ongoing maintenance History of service (911 and
other N11s)
AIN Service Through network based
on “if, then” statements NPA-NXX specific Requires table
maintenance with new numbers
Sometimes more costly Not always available
Southern California 2-1-1 Technology Training provided by INFO LINE of Los Angeles
Who to Contact
ILECs CLECs Payphone industry Wireless/Cellular PBX and other phone system administrators VoIP companies Cable companies
Southern California 2-1-1 Technology Training provided by INFO LINE of Los Angeles
Phantom Calls
A phantom is a call that arrives at the Center but has no “real person” making the call.
Switching equipment misinterprets “2-1-1 pulses”
Experienced as rings only, “clicks,” silent call, busy signal, static
Southern California 2-1-1 Technology Training provided by INFO LINE of Los Angeles
Phantom Effects
Staff burnout ACD and line overload “Solutions” to manage phantoms create other
issues, – IVR or auto attendant may eliminate calls from rotary
phones or TTY’s– May require more sophisticated ACD, additional
lines, ports, telephones, longer hold times, etc.
Southern California 2-1-1 Technology Training provided by INFO LINE of Los Angeles
Phantom Calls Stats
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
11/19-12/18 12/19-1/18 1/19-2/18 2/19-3/18 3/19-4/14
IRN HELPLINE 2-1-1 Callers Served to Activity in ACDCallers Served
Calls in ACD
8%3% 3%
10% 9%
0%
9%
35%
51%
61%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
May '03 June'03
July '03Aug '03 Sept'03
Oct '03 Nov '03Dec '03 Jan '04 Feb '04
HELPLINE 2-1-1 Abandoned Calls - Group 6
11%13%
8% 8% 8%
0%
5%
10%
15%
11/19 - 12/18 12/19 - 1/18 1/19 - 2/18 2/19 - 3/18 3/19 - 4/14
HELPLINE 2-1-1Groups 1,2,3,4 Abandoned Calls
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Routing Issues
Digits in 7-digit number misrouted (i.e. 626-352-11XX, or
909-376-211X), allowing the 2-1-1 Center to hear the one or both parties on the intended call.
8YY routes based on “charge number” in place of the ANI of the originating caller.
Calls automatically ringing to individual's homes. Calls automatically ring into 2-1-1 Center when the
residential customer picks up the phone. “Looping" pattern (e.g., a fax line on repeat dialing)
Southern California 2-1-1 Technology Training provided by INFO LINE of Los Angeles
Payphone Issues
“Dumb” or “smart” pay telephones
Service or refund number requests
Mandates about locations and accessibility
Carrier charges and reputation of 8YY carrier
Southern California 2-1-1 Technology Training provided by INFO LINE of Los Angeles
CPUC on Payphone Issue
Quotes taken directly from CPUC ruling:
‘Consistent with FCC rules and the public interest, payphone operators in those territories receiving 2-1-1 service must discontinue any incompatible use of 2-1-1 dialing and must route calls to I&R providers.
We urge all payphone operators to recognize that 211 calls are, in many cases, an alternative to 911 calls, and we urge them to refrain from charging callers dialing 211. ‘
‘The decision permits I&R providers to secure 2-1-1 call origination service from incumbent carriers using the architecture of their choice. I&R providers, on the other hand, must secure an 8YY number and 800 service for call routing by payphone operators or competitive local exchange carriers who prefer to use this network architecture to provide 2-1-1 call origination services. ‘
Southern California 2-1-1 Technology Training provided by INFO LINE of Los Angeles
CPUC Payphone Timelines
Quotes taken directly from CPUC ruling:
‘Furthermore, we will set a deadline for each payphone provider to discontinue nonconforming uses of the 2-1-1 number from payphones in those affected geographic areas when 2-1-1 service will be offered.’
‘Deadline Event 1 plus 120 days: Payphone Telephones initiate process to relinquish use of 2-1-1 service for access to refund and repair service.’
‘Absent the implementation of 2-1-1 calling in a specific area, it is not necessary to require payphone providers to discontinue use of this number.’
‘The providers of payphone services in an area in which 2-1-1 service will be offered shall end all non-conforming uses of 2-1-1 service within six months of their filing. Payphone service providers may route and bill the 2-1-1 calls as 8YY calls using the number secured by the I&R provider.’
Southern California 2-1-1 Technology Training provided by INFO LINE of Los Angeles
Wireless Issues
No FCC Mandate
Many contracts require Statewide 8YY
Caller pays for minutes
Public education requirements
Switch based vs. Tower routing
Crossing state Borders
Number Portability
Geographic or phone number based
Southern California 2-1-1 Technology Training provided by INFO LINE of Los Angeles
Switched Cellular
Cell phone companies have one or more ‘switches’ in a state. These switches cover a large geographic area where the cell towers in that area are hard wired to a switch. The switch re-routes the calls to long distance locations, local calling area or to other cell locations. If 2-1-1 is decentralized, not statewide, the geographic area covered by the switch is most likely different than the geographic area served by the call center. The calls coming to the 2-1-1 center may be from other areas that another 2-1-1 covers. Usually, switches stay within state boundaries, but this is problematic in boarder areas.
Southern California 2-1-1 Technology Training provided by INFO LINE of Los Angeles
Wireless Switched Service
2-1-1 call tocell phone
Company ‘A’
Cell tower for Company ‘A’ is pre-programmed to send all calls to cell company ‘A’ switch
Cell Company ‘A’ Switch that services all
of its towers in a geographic
region in 15 counties.
Switch programs all calls to 2-1-1 to go to 2-1-1 center. The switch will send all calls from all towers. 2-1-1 center will have to pay for programming the switch to send all 2-1-1 calls.
Telephone land lines: Switch sends the call to either a seven digit number or a 10 digit number where they do not pay the toll
2-1-1 Center receives call from company ‘A’ switch with-in geographic area.
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Tower or Digital Cellular
Cell phone companies are willing to program each tower in a designated geographic area to ‘point to’ a seven digit local number or an 8YY number. For 2-1-1 centers that are not statewide, this is a different solution. However, it is very costly. There are many cell towers in communities, and each cell phone company would have to program their own towers. With a medium greater metropolitan area with four cell companies, there could be 100 towers with 4 cellular companies @ $180 (costs range from $50 - $180 per tower) or approximately $72,000.
Southern California 2-1-1 Technology Training provided by INFO LINE of Los Angeles
Wireless Tower Service
Tower 2 Company A
2-1-1 Call Center B
Tower 1 Company A
Tower 3 Company A
Tower 4Company A
Tower 1 and tower 2 are programmed to send all
2-1-1 calls to 2-1-1 Center ‘A’
Tower 3 and tower 4 are programmed to send all
2-1-1 calls to 2-1-1 Center ‘B’
2-1-1 Call Center A
Southern California 2-1-1 Technology Training provided by INFO LINE of Los Angeles
CPUC on Wireless
Quotes taken from CPUC Ruling:
‘Unlike the payphone situation, there is no FCC mandate for eliminating this use of 2-1-1 by wireless carriers at this time, and the Scoping Memo limited the scope of this proceeding to wireline carriers.’
The Workshop Report recommends that the Commission “proceed toward implementation of 2‑1-1 by wireline carriers for I&R purposes, to conform with the federal mandate that 2-1-1 is reserved for I&R service provision.”
Southern California 2-1-1 Technology Training provided by INFO LINE of Los Angeles
Other uses of 2-1-1
Payphone refunds or service
Airport courtesy phones
Internal 3-digit extensions in businesses
Service technicians
Cell customers checking number of minutes left on pre-paid plans
Other commercial uses?
Southern California 2-1-1 Technology Training provided by INFO LINE of Los Angeles
Call Center Technology
Assessment of current and future utilization and capacity– Lines (voice, fax, TTY, data)– Phones, headsets– Computers, server, network– I&R software, TTY software, voice mail– ACD and IVR– Reporting Capabilities
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System Building
Service delivery options (sharing client data and resource data)
24/7 service and economies of scale
“Specialists”
Disaster response
Southern California 2-1-1 Technology Training provided by INFO LINE of Los Angeles
Useful Websites
www.211.org www.cpuc.ca.gov www.nanpa.com www.fcc.gov www.telcodata.us tsp.ncs.gov www.utexas.edu/research/tipi/reports_f.htm www.capayphoneassn.org www.dgs.ca.gov/default.htm
Southern California 2-1-1 Technology Training provided by INFO LINE of Los Angeles
Questions?
Marianne Galleon2-1-1 Technical DirectorINFO LINE of Los Angeles
E-Mail: [email protected]: (626) 350-2842 ext 2122