VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

KaraEdwards · Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2009 4:07 pm Post subject: Thoughts About ISDN Issues?

I'm curious if anyone can help me think of a way to better communicate my ISDN issues to my ISDN provider, because so far nothing is working.

Here's the timeline:

Tuesday at 11am- connected to a studio for a session, no problems.
11:08- the line starts going in and out on their end, everything is fine on my end, it's basically 'blinking' according to them- with spikes of sound. We disconnect, shut down both codecs and try to reconnect- it never works right. The lines 'seem' to connect half the time but the framing is wrong (I'm using the studio's words here)

I call the provider and after hours of calls, I'm told the line was cut by a nearby construction crew and should be restored soon. We postpone the session to tomorrow (Friday).

Wednesday- 10am- I do a line test with a studio I'm supposed to link up with at 2pm. All goes well- we chat about 3-4 minutes and disconnect.

2pm- They can't connect at all. Back on the phone with the provider, I'm getting all kinds of runaround.

2:45pm- out of desperation due to a major time crunch by the studio needing to record me ASAP- I try dialing them. We connect- all seems fine, though they mention their board must be going out because they are only getting me in mono- but say it looks stereo on the codec (not sure if this is significant- just thought I'd add it).

Last night, the provider calls to say there were some mix- ups with my ticket, blah, blah. They are on it and it's getting fixed.

Today, I'm told all is fine by the provider when I call. 5pm, I had a session and the lines connect, but aren't framing properly. Weird thing is that I can hear the studio engineer just fine in my headphones- but he can't hear me.

Back on the phone to the provider I'm told my ticket number has vanished and they write me a new one. They say I should call back in an hour and keep on it until it's fixed.

I have a Telos Zephyr 9200. I did call Telos and they said these issues are consistant with line problems, not Telos problems.

I'm reaching the end of my rope, as this has been way too long of a journey for me trying to get this ISDN thing up and going (I've been at it since August). Any thoughts or help you can provide would be very, very appreciated!!
_________________
Threadjackers local 420

Kara Edwards
http://www.karaedwards.com
kara@karaedwards.com

Deirdre · Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2009 4:21 pm Post subject:

Let's talk basics—

Are you set for the same parameters?
L2 Mono 128
64Kbps @ 48K?
_________________
DBCooperVO.com
IMDB

KaraEdwards · Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2009 4:31 pm Post subject:

Yes- and all the studios have double checked their parameters as well.
_________________
Threadjackers local 420

Kara Edwards
http://www.karaedwards.com
kara@karaedwards.com

Deirdre · Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2009 4:41 pm Post subject:

This sounds like the card in the Telco CO Telephone Company Central Office) needs to be reprogrammed.
(that's what happened to me!)

Can you get a decent hook up to the ongoing audio stream Telos has?
If you dial that up and get drop-outs, make a note of the time the trouble happened. Then try try try to get in someone's shirt right away so that the folks in Telco Switching can take a look at the error log for that circuit, but those logs reset at midnight.
Get the number for the guys who are actually working in the Telco Central office if you possibly can.
_________________
DBCooperVO.com
IMDB

Philip Banks · Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2009 5:16 pm Post subject:

Well ......................Shame on .........whoever. I've just been making idle chit-chat over an A1 quality ISDN connection with the delightful Ms Edwards for over 20 minutes.

KaraEdwards · Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2009 5:19 pm Post subject:

WONDERFUL advice Deirdre- I'll try it now! Thank you!

Of course, to throw a monkey wrench right into it- I just had a lovely 20 minute chat with Mr. Banks via ISDN that went great! I'm more confused than ever!

In the next few minutes I'm linking up with the engineer from the studio today from his home studio to see if it works. I'm keeping a time log for all of the calls so I can report it.

Again, thank you!!!

Edited to add: yeah, what he said! Smile

_________________
Threadjackers local 420

Kara Edwards
http://www.karaedwards.com
kara@karaedwards.com

KaraEdwards · Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2009 5:24 pm Post subject:

Oh, and one more thing- I have never, ever- in all the time I've been testing these lines- even when they are working great- I've never once linked up to the Telos line and had audio play down the pipes.

Weird!
_________________
Threadjackers local 420

Kara Edwards
http://www.karaedwards.com
kara@karaedwards.com

KaraEdwards · Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2009 6:04 pm Post subject:

Well, my new pal from the studio today called me from his home studio- and we linked up just fine! I finally spoke with someone at the provider's service dept that sounded mildly coherent. He's coming out in the morning to test everything. His hunch is that when the line was repaired- something was connected wrong. We'll see!
_________________
Threadjackers local 420

Kara Edwards
http://www.karaedwards.com
kara@karaedwards.com

Monk · Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2009 9:23 pm Post subject:

wow.

I'm in the presence of gods.

come on FIOS!

Gasp

_________________
Company, villainous company, hath been the spoil of me...

www.monksvoice.com

bobsouer · Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2009 9:53 pm Post subject:

Kara,

Here's one other thing to investigate based on my somewhat similar trials from a year ago. Make absolutely certain that you are using MCI for your long-distance on your ISDN lines. I know it shouldn't make any difference; but before I switched to MCI, I had exactly the same set of experiences as you (without the line cut issue) with lines connecting just fine and then minutes later framing issues and other connection problems.

Even some of my incoming calls wouldn't connect properly until I had changed over my long-distance service. I don't KNOW that the change made a difference, but circumstantially I've not had another issue since getting my service changed over to MCI.
_________________
Be well,
Bob Souer (just think of lemons)
The second nicest guy in voiceover.
+1-724-613-2749
Source Connect, phone patch, pony express

georgethetech · Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2009 11:03 pm Post subject:

Yeah, I think Bob might just have something there. Sounds like LD could be a problem. That would explain why some connections in the US work, others don't, and then one overseas does. Depending how the LD service switches your lines, you can run into all sorts of problems. Definitely try MCI for your LD provider. You can FORCE your Zephyr to use MCI for LD by dialing a special prefix each time you dial a line. Try this for your "troubled" studios.
From the manual:

Long-Distance Digital Connectivity
Long-distance connectivity is routinely available in most parts of the USA from the
“big-three” carriers: AT&T, Sprint, and MCI (not Worldcom, but MCI). Connectivity
between any two given points is somewhat variable. The “dial 1+” default carrier
may be chosen at the time you order the line, just as with traditional voice lines.
Also, just as with voice lines, you may choose a carrier on a per-call basis by
prefixing the number with the 1010XXX carrier selection code.
You must dial the full number, including the 1 or 011 + country code following the
prefix.

Is your long-distance carrier OK?
If you can successfully call locally, but long-distance calls don’t go through, the
Zephyr Xstream usually displays Far end disconnect, or No route available as the
ISDN “Cause” phrase.
You may try another by dialing the appropriate 10XXXXX prefix (in the USA &
Canada only). Some codes we have found that are worth trying are:
1010222 (MCI)
1010288 (AT&T)
1010333 (Sprint)
You will dial as follows (dial prefix, if required) + 1010xxx + 1 + area code + 7 digit
phone number.
In the USA you can determine who your long distance carrier is by dialing
1+700+555+4141 using the PHONE call type. If Intra-LATA long distance
competition has reached your area you can determine your Intra-LATA long
distance carrier by dialing 1+area code+700+4141.

Some long-distance connections are limited to 56kbps/channel. This limitation is
becoming more rare. There is no certain way to know in advance. In addition, some
carriers may work at 64Kbps and not 56Kbps. So, you may need to try both.

If you are convinced that the problem lies with the ISDN line configuration, you
may be able to convince the Telco to have an engineer look at the line with an
analyzer. This works much like the Zephyr’s internal analyzer, but with
more detail, and in a format that is more readily understandable by telephone
people. This procedure may sometimes be the only way to get attention to a line
problem. It is hard to deny evidence provided by their own gear.
_________________
If it sounds good, it is good.
George Whittam
GeorgeThe.Tech
424-226-8528
VOBS.TV Co-host
TheProAudioSuite.com Co-host
TriBooth.com Co-founder

KaraEdwards · Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 5:46 am Post subject:

Thanks guys- that's great information!

MCI is my LD carrier. However, I know they were recently bought out by Verizon, who is my provider. Could I be keeping it too 'in the family'? The gentleman last night gave me his cell number and told me to call him at 11am today if no one had come by yet and he'd send someone ASAP. We have a lot of rain in the area today, so everything is delayed I'm sure. I told him I just wanted the line tested at some point today so I could begin narrowing down the problem further. SO frustrating!

But- it's good to know I'm not alone in this!
_________________
Threadjackers local 420

Kara Edwards
http://www.karaedwards.com
kara@karaedwards.com

Ed Gambill · Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 6:31 am Post subject:

Kara

Verizon is a former AT&T/Bell company. Now that you have a contact, they will get it right.

Long ago when MCI caused the breakup of the Bell system I swore that I would never use MCI for any thing.

Now MCI is the LD for my ISDN lines and we used them at home for years for US and International LD service.

I believe that Verizon is the last of the old Bell companies that is not back in the AT&T fold.
_________________
Esse quam videri "To be rather than to seem"
www.SaVoa.org

No. 07000 Member AES

KaraEdwards · Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 8:21 am Post subject:

Interesting info Ed!

Well, I just tried to connect for my 10am session, and they were receiving spikes down the line about 2 minutes into the session. They started coming faster and faster, so we pushed the session to Monday. I called my tech guy (I've called the provider so many times this week, they finally gave me a direct number to a tech) and he is supposed to get someone out here today.

The studio from this morning thought it could be possible the construction crews who cut the line on Tuesday may have knicked it somewhere else, and moisture is getting into the line (we've had a lot of rain this week).

But, would I still have been able to connect to Philip and the engineer last night?
_________________
Threadjackers local 420

Kara Edwards
http://www.karaedwards.com
kara@karaedwards.com

KaraEdwards · Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 9:35 am Post subject:

Vent session:

After receiving a call from my provider informing me that they are just too busy to make it out today, and that with the Superbowl in Tampa- it may be Monday before they get here- I went off. In the last 4 days, they've entered my ticket under 'phone' twice instead of ISDN- lost my ticket twice, and accidentally closed it twice.

I called the main ISDN line and asked for a supervisor. I then spent 10 minutes asking her how she would feel if I took her paycheck away for the week, and then told her she 'may or may not' get one next week cuz I'm busy. I also informed her that after 4 days straight of calling and no one coming out to test the line, they can be assured that I will be calling billing and will not be paying for service until this is resolved.

A tech should be here any time now.

Gosh- I've been so nice and patient this week, and now I'm mad that I had to get mad! Could you imagine if we treated our clients this way? "Yeah, I'll get you that audio today, or tomorrow, or maybe next week- oh, oops- I lost your script- what was I supposed to say again?"
_________________
Threadjackers local 420

Kara Edwards
http://www.karaedwards.com
kara@karaedwards.com