Triple-Play Service Deployment

Chapter 8: Troubleshooting VoIP
Service Turn-up and Provisioning
Prior to completing service turn-up, field technicians must verify
connectivity to signaling gateways, service provisioning, and call
quality. Terminal adapters or VoIP phones are installed and
applications are tested in this phase. Field technicians rely heavily
on handheld testing devices to troubleshoot problems. Terminal
adapters or IP phones are set up and plugged in to the LAN and
their IP addresses are provisioned. Handheld test sets are normally
used because they can assume unique aliases to mimic an end
device on the network.
Handheld test sets can also be plugged in at any point in the
network to help isolate problems. For instance, a handheld device
can be used to determine if a specific end device’s alias has been
provisioned correctly. It can help identify errors in provisioning
network equipment during installation. It can also be used to
verify the installation of specific equipment in the VoIP network.
Voice quality issues are resolved at this stage. The technician must
place and receive calls through the network to ensure that the link
is properly provisioned with the correct signaling protocol. Calls
should be placed within the VoIP cloud and from the VoIP cloud to
the PSTN. Local and long distance calls should be placed to
multiple exchanges. Case-by-case trouble shooting is used to
resolve any issues before service turn-over. By confirming that all
of the possible calls can be placed, a technician can confidently
connect the CPE knowing that any signaling issues will not be
within the carrier’s cloud. Another important practice is to capture
all test records gathered at this phase for baseline/SLA reference
and for use during future trouble calls.
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