Embarking on a new telecom installation project can be both exciting and daunting. From setting up new phone lines to integrating complex network systems, there are numerous factors to consider. In this guide, we will discuss the top ten telecom installation problems to help you navigate the challenges and ensure a successful implementation of your telecom infrastructure.
Telecom installation problems include connectivity woes to equipment compatibility issues. Let’s dive in and discuss each of them.
There can be hundreds of lines in a phone closet. If a phone company tech activates a group of lines but doesn’t “tag” or identify them, it can be awfully difficult for your vendor to locate them and complete the installation. Getting a phone company technician back out to the site can be a struggle, so this could delay an order for hours and cost you money. The last thing anyone wants to do is pay their phone vendor to wait for the phone company tech to reappear and identify the lines he or she installed earlier.
This could be a last gasp effort by the telecom company losing your business to derail an order. They can reject a phone number porting request for a number of reasons, including your business name is slightly different than what appears on their bill, all the phone numbers aren’t accounted for or anything else they can think of. Usually, every time a porting request is rejected the order is automatically delayed 10 business days. Any delay requires you to reschedule your phone and IT vendors. If this happens more than once, it can become a hassle. Some customers become frustrated and cancel their orders.
Even if one of their competitors is providing the service, the incumbent phone company technician installs the local loop. Your order can’t be completed until the local loop is installed. If you order a service from one of the phone company’s competitors and then one of the phone company’s techs shows up with a service order, you might get confused and turn them away. I’ve had more than one customer do just that. Delaying the install of the local loop creates a domino effect and everything is delayed.
Every phone line needs to be assigned a Primary Interlata Carrier (PIC) code or any long-distance calls made from the line will be subject to Casual Billing, which can be mega expensive. Learn from our telecom experts, why casual billing occurs and the ways to deal with it. If a business has a multitude of phone lines, it’s not uncommon for a few to fall through the cracks. The prime time for something like this to happen is during a transformation from one carrier to another.
If you’re at home and the phone company technician is running late, you watch some TV, snack on some nachos and everything is okay. If you’re a business and outsource your phone and IT work, those are two entities that you need to schedule around your installation. If the phone company tech is late, you’ll end up having to pay your vendors to sit around and wait. If the phone company tech is early, there won’t be a handoff and your vendors might have trouble completing their work.
Your phone system might require analog phone lines but digital lines were ordered. Maybe you have two locations that communicate through a VPN that requires a particular router configuration. If these details aren’t worked out ahead of time, your installation will need to be delayed and corrections made, at best. Worse, your services won’t function properly until the necessary adjustments are made, requiring you to pay more money to your phone and IT vendors.
On occasion, the new service wont work right or goes down repeatedly and at first everyone assumes it’s the new services. After some confusion and frustration, someone determines that the problem is a defective router.
In a high rise, telecom services are delivered in a telephone room located in the basement and then they are extended up an elevator shaft and delivered to another phone room on the customer’s floor. So there are four connections that need to be made, the connection to the primary phone closet, the connection to the riser cable, the connection to the local phone closet and then to business suite. Every element of the installation must be completed and all the parties’ work coordinated or the service won’t be available come installation time.
Either the phone closet is locked and property management is not available to provide access or the phone closet is located in an inconvenient location. I worked on an installation where the phone closet was located in the women’s restroom, another time it was located in another business’s suite. On both occasions, the install needed to be scheduled after business hours. The businesses had to arrange for an employee to be present and their phone and IT vendors to arrive after normal business hours.
Every voice and data circuit that is ordered needs an available facility in order to deliver service. If all the existing facilities are in use, then extra work is required to complete the installation. This could lead to delays and extra cost.
Now that you know the common telecom installation problems. When you prepare for a new telecom installation avoiding them is crucial for success. By staying vigilant and addressing issues proactively, you can ensure a smooth and reliable installation process. Remember to plan thoroughly, test rigorously, and invest in skilled professionals to achieve your installation goals efficiently.
So many things can go wrong during a business telephone or internet service installation. The choice is yours, you can go through the process alone, relying on your carrier representative to work through all the possible issues, or engage a telecom consultant, who has worked hundreds of installations. Telecom consultants employee Project Managers, who are experienced professionals and aware of all the possible pitfalls and what steps to take to avoid them.
If you would like someone on your side and to realize a smoother installation experience, call CarrierBid telecom consulting services today or complete the form on the right side of this page.
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