Wholesale: Products & Services

Archived System CR SCR100104-01ES Detail

Expected Deliverable:

That Qwest extract the circuit id and provides on all shared loop billing outputs/As soon as possible.5.4 - Continue to provide timely approval on notifications to the Documentation Team

Status History

Project Meetings

January 13, 2005 Email Received from Covad: Peggy, I continue to struggle because Qwest has not provided the specific changes. Thus, please answer the following: 1) Qwest provides a TN based circuit ID on the FOC in the EKKCT field, it this the circuit ID Qwest is referring to when they state 'Shared Loop circuit id is not currently housed in the ordering or billing systems'? 2) What changes would be expected to generate a 'new circuit id to appear on the CRIS billing account'? Because CRIS houses an ECCKT field? Thanks, Liz Balvin Covad Communications

- January 12, 2005 Email Sent to Covad: Liz, I have attached a copy of SCR100104-01 which contains the revised denial, in the Qwest Response portion of the document. This will also be included in the distribution package for next week’s Systems CMP Meeting. Peggy Esquibel-Reed Qwest CMP CRPM

December 15, 2004 Systems CMP Meeting Discussion: Connie Winston/Qwest stated that Qwest was asked to explain the cost. Connie stated that when the service order goes to the billing system, the circuit information is in a free flow section and is posted as meaningless data. Connie stated that there are several systems impacted and that a field would need to be created; it would need to be recognized and passed on to the bill output. Connie noted that is what needs to happen just to set it up. Connie stated that there is also the issue with the imbedded base and how to pass text and get it in a formatted field. Connie stated that the front-end and service order billing systems were never asked to retain the information due to the cost and the fact that the information was not necessary. Liz Balvin/Covad asked if the denial was in the CR. Connie Winston/Qwest stated yes. Liz Balvin/Covad asked that the detail that Connie just shared be in the CR. Liz stated that she needs to understand why the cost is so high. Connie Winston/Qwest stated that the information would be added to the response. (Changes to meeting minutes 12/28/04 from Covad) Liz Balvin/Covad stated that the denial is confusing and needs to see the elaborated response in writing. Liz stated that the TN based circuit id is on the FOC and is captured in a fielded format. Liz stated that Unbundled Loop orders do bill by circuit id in the ECCKT field so she does not understand why it cannot be passed to the billing system. Connie Winston/Qwest stated it is because it is $900,000 of work. (Changes to meeting minutes 12/28/04 from Covad) Liz Balvin/Covad stated that the FOC provides the information in the ECCKT Field of the FOC and that the billing system is fielded for the ECCKT information. Liz stated that she needs to see if the additional information on the cost and until then she cannot accept the denial. Crystal Soderlund/Qwest stated that for Line Splitting, there is one customer of record and all billing is on one CSR. Crystal stated that for Line Sharing, we are dealing with 2 CSRs. Crystal stated that 2 CSRs are needed in order for billing to remain anonymous to the End User and noted that some of the fields cannot be put on the end user’s account. Crystal stated that the cost is to combine the data from 2 separate customer’s CSR’s for CRIS billing. Liz Balvin/Covad stated that she needs the detail in writing in order to determine if Qwest assessment is appropriate. Connie Winston/Qwest stated that she would do. Liz Balvin/Covad stated that Qwest should have her email with her questions. Jill Martain/Qwest stated that Qwest does have the email and stated that the denial would be revised. There were no additional questions or comments.

December 10, 2004 Email Received from Liz Balvin, Covad: Peggy, Covad requests the detailed intended changes noted by Qwest that drove the cost estimate to 900K which resulted in a denial. Covad questions the economical infeasibility based on the following facts: 1) The shared loop orders are provided for on the Loop Service Form (as are other circuit id format driven orders) 2) Qwest provides the TN formatted circuit ID on the FOC but simply doesn’t pass that information to the back-end billing system 3) The billing system today accommodates the circuit id of which Qwest has identified four types (NOTE all fall within the required a/n character field length for circuit id):

A) Serial Number Format - Prefix: 1-2 alphanumeric characters. This is an optional field. - Service code & Modifier: 2-4 alphabetic characters (usually 4). This is a required field. - Serial Number: 1-6 digits. This is a required field. - Suffix: 3 character suffix to the serial number may be required (rarely used). - CO (Company) Code: 2-4 alphabetic characters (usually NW, MS, or PN). This is a required field. - Segment: 1-3 alphanumeric characters. optional for non-multi-point circuits. multi-point segments map to Circuit End Location, e.g. CLK1 = A, CLK2 = B. A Billing Telephone Number (BTN) cannot be used for opening a Trouble Report. The Serial Number Circuit Format must be used.

B) Telephone Number Format - Prefix: alphanumeric characters. required if it exists (not all telephone number circuits have a prefix) - Service Code & Modifier: 2-4 alphabetic characters (usually 4); This is a required field. - NPA: 3 digits. This is a required field. - NXX: 3 digits. This is a required field. - Line: 4 digits. This is a required field. - Extension: 1-5 alphanumeric characters. This is an optional field. For states: AZ, CO, ID, MT, NM, UT, WY, alphas not accepted; convert D1 to 0001, D2 to 0002, etc. - Segment: 1-3 alphanumeric characters. This is an optional field. rarely used

C) Carrier Facility Format - Channel Group Number: 1-5 alphanumeric characters. This is a required field. - Facility Type: 1-6 alphanumeric characters. This is a required field. Examples: T1, T1F, T1U, T1UZF, T1Z, T1ZF, T3 - 'A' CLLI Code: 8 or 11 alphanumeric characters. This is a required field. - 'Z' CLLI Code: 8 or 11 alphanumeric characters. This is a required field. All 4 of the above components are required D) Message Trunk Format - Trunk Number: 1-4 alphanumeric characters. This is a required field. - Traffic Class: 1-2 alphanumeric characters. This is a required field. A hyphen may be allowed - Office Class: 1-2 alphanumeric characters. This is a required field. A hyphen may be allowed A separator is not used between the Traffic Class and Office Class - Traffic Use Code: 2 alphanumeric characters. This is a required field. A hyphen may be allowed. No separator between Office class and Traffic Use Code - Traffic Modifier: 1-7 alphanumeric characters. This is an optional field. No separator between Traffic Use Code and Traffic Modifier - 'A' CLLI Code: 8 or 11 alphanumeric characters. This is a required field. - Pulse & Direction: 2 alphanumeric characters. This is a required field. - 'Z' CLLI Code: 8 or 11 alphanumeric characters. This is a required field.

- December 6, 2004 Email Sent to john Berard, Covad: John, Attached is a copy of SCR100104-01 Provide Circuit ID on Billing Outputs for the Shared Loop Family of Products. This attachment contains Qwest’s response to the request. Peggy Esquibel-Reed Qwest CMP CRPM Peggy.Esquibel-Reed@qwest.com

-- November 17, 2004 Systems CMP Meeting Discussion: Jill Martain/Qwest stated that this CR is currently in Evaluation and that Qwest is looking at potential solutions.

-- October 20, 2004 Systems CMP Meeting Discussion: Liz Balvin/Covad stated that the CR is for billing outputs for the Shared Line products. Liz stated that these are in the POTS flow and noted that Qwest validates on the AN Field. [Comment Received from Covad: Liz stated that these are in the POTS flow which as she understands means Qwest validates on the AN Field instead of the circuit id field. Susie Bliss/Qwest stated that she believes that is per the request of the CLECs. Liz Balvin/Covad stated that Qwest is the only ILEC that is tracking the Shared Line products using the BTN. Liz stated that Covad tracks to the circuit id. Liz stated that the bill reflects the Qwest BTN and is not the WTN that was on the order. Liz stated that this causes Covad to be out-of-synch for bill validation. Liz stated that if Qwest houses the circuit id, that it be placed on the bill. [Comment Received from Covad: Liz stated that the bill reflects the Qwest BTN which may or may not be the WTN that was on the order plus the addition of the unique customer code provided only adds additional out-of-synch conditions from order to bill validation. Liz stated that if Qwest houses the circuit id anywhere in their back-end systems, that Covad requests it be placed on the bill.] There were no other comments or questions. Jill Martain/Qwest stated that this CR will move into Presented Status.

- October 14, 2004 Clarification Meeting

Attendees: John Berard (Covad) Liz Balvin (Covad) Peggy Esquibel-Reed (Qwest) Brenda Kerr (Qwest) Alan Zimmerman (Qwest) Wendy Thurnau (Qwest)

Review Requested (Description of) Change: Peggy Esquibel-Reed (Qwest) reviewed that Covad requests the circuit id be provided on billing output files such that CLECs can accurately reconcile billing from Qwest. Covad believes Qwest houses the circuit ID but does not pass that information on its billing records. The BTN provided is not sufficient enough for Covad to validate the bills, thus the request for this additional information. Peggy stated that the Expected Deliverable is that Qwest extract the circuit id and provides on all shared loop billing outputs/As soon as possible.

Obtain the Business Need from the CR Originator: Peggy Esquibel-Reed (Qwest) asked if the business need that prompted this CR was for bill validation only. John Berard (Covad) stated yes.

Confirmed Impacted Area(s): Peggy Esquibel-Reed (Qwest) asked to confirm that this CR was for Maintenance & Repair and Provisioning. John Berard (Covad) responded yes.

Confirmed Impacted Interfaces: Peggy Esquibel-Reed (Qwest) asked to confirm that this CR was submitted for changes to Wholesale Billing. John Berard (Covad) stated yes.

Obtain Specific Billing Output Files: Peggy Esquibel-Reed (Qwest) asked for which specific Billing Output Files that this request was to include. Liz Balvin (Covad) asked why the question was being asked. Peggy Esquibel-Reed (Qwest) stated that Qwest needs to obtain as much information as we can during the Clarification Call in order to ensure that the request is fully understood and to prevent problems/issues from occurring in the future regarding the implementation of the request. Peggy asked Covad to please identify the Billing Output Files that Covad is requesting that this CR accommodate. Peggy listed the files of ASCII, Paper, EDI, BOS/BDT, and/or Billmate. John Berard (Covad) stated that he believed that Covad received BOS/BDT files and stated that he would need to confirm. Alan Zimmerman (Qwest) stated that Covad may be receiving Billmate or ASCII files. John Berard (Covad) stated that he would check and confirm.

Confirmed Impacted Products: Peggy Esquibel-Reed (Qwest) asked to confirm that this CR is only for the Products listed on the CR: UNE, Line Sharing, Line Splitting, and Loop Splitting. John Berard (Covad) stated yes.

Additional Discussion Regarding the CR: Peggy Esquibel-Reed (Qwest) asked Covad if they had additional information regarding the request. Covad stated that there was no additional information to add. Alan Zimmerman (Qwest) stated that currently these are in the POTS flow, not the design flow and that there is no circuit id in the POTS flow. Alan asked if Covad’s intent was to move to the design flow. John Berard (Covad) responded no and indicated that he has seen EDI output in a circuit id format, containing alpha’s and numerics. John stated that Qwest may just not call it a circuit id but that is what Covad is looking for. Liz Balvin (Covad) asked Qwest to define a design flow. Alan Zimmerman (Qwest) stated that the circuit ids would be obtained from LFACS and is TN based inventory; that is the design flow. Alan Zimmerman (Qwest) stated that currently the FOC has a circuit id with the TN format. Liz Balvin (Covad) stated that there is a circuit id on the FOC but what Covad needs captured on the bill is the circuit that is provisioned. Liz stated that is the true validation step. Liz noted that the BTN is the AN plus the customer code. Liz stated that she has seen examples where the TN is not equivalent to what is sent on the orders, on the Loop Order Form. Alan Zimmerman (Qwest) stated that in the design flow the circuit id would be important but in the POTS flow it is not important and is not retained anywhere. Liz Balvin (Covad) provided 2 examples that provided circuit ids. Liz provided PONs, BTNs, and circuit id’s received. Liz Balvin (Covad) stated that Covad does not want to move to the design flow, she realizes that it would be a huge effort. Liz Balvin (Covad) stated that if Qwest has the circuit id, Covad would like it on the billing output. Alan Zimmerman (Qwest) asked if Covad did not have the account numbers and stated that the BTNs are included in the FOCs. Liz Balvin (Covad) stated that she has the AN plus the customer code. Alan Zimmerman (Qwest) asked how that information could not be used for bill validation. Liz Balvin (Covad) stated that for every other ILEC, they validate by the circuit id. Liz stated that Covad would like Qwest to be consistent with the other RBOCs as Covad would have to make coding changes in order to accommodate the BTN. Liz stated that Covad does not provide the customer code, that Qwest provides it and Covad strips it off. Alan Zimmerman (Qwest) asked if that is difficult for Covad to do. Liz Balvin (Covad) stated that it would be a significant change since all the other RBOCs go by the circuit id. Alan Zimmerman (Qwest) stated that Qwest understands the request and stated that Qwest would review the request. Peggy Esquibel-Reed (Qwest) asked if there any other comments or questions. There were no additional questions or comments.

Establish Action Plan & Resolution Time Frame: Peggy Esquibel-Reed (Qwest) stated that this CR is due for presentation at the October 20, 2004 Systems CMP Meeting and that Qwest would provide the response/status in November 2004.

CenturyLink Response

January 10, 2005

To: John Berard Covad CC: Jill Martain, Connie Winston, Peggy Esquibel-Reed RE: SCR100104-01 Provide Circuit ID on Billing Outputs for the Shared Loop Family of Products

SCR Description: Covad requests the circuit id be provided on billing output files such that CLEC’s can accurately reconcile billing from Qwest. Covad believes Qwest houses the circuit ID, but does not pass that information on its billing records. The BTN provided is not sufficient enough for Covad to validate the bills, thus the request for this additional information.

Expected Deliverable: That Qwest extract the circuit id and provide it on all shared loop billing outputs as soon as possible.

History: A clarification meeting was held on October 14, 2004 with Covad and Qwest representation. At this meeting the request was reviewed and no further questions were required.

Revised Qwest Response: Below is a high level itemization of the LOE for this request. The complexity and cost for this request spans multiple systems from ordering through billing. The Shared Loop circuit id is not currently housed in the ordering or billing systems, thus several systems would require changes in order to create a field for the circuit id, recognize, retain and pass the circuit id information through to the bill output.

In addition to the changes to implement this new functionality, the existing accounts would have to be converted to support the enhancements to the circuit ID. This conversion would require extracting the circuit id from a free flow text to populate the newly created shared loop circuit id field. Additional modifications would have to be made to address the issue that in order for the new circuit id to appear on the CRIS billing account, both the end user and the Line Share billing Customer Service Records will need to be involved.

Process changes for this request would include changes to the media procedures, changes to PCAT documentation, and re-training of Center personnel for bill validation via the electronic media.

Consequently, Qwest is respectfully denying your request for SCR100104-01, due to economic infeasibility.

Cost Summary: Changes to Ordering Systems $ 25,500 Changes to Billing Systems 828,500 Process Changes 50,000 TOTAL $904,000

Sincerely, Qwest

Revised Response December 6, 2004

To: John Berard Covad

CC: Jill Martain, Peggy Esquibel-Reed, Connie Winston

RE: SCR100104-01 Provide Circuit ID on Billing Outputs for the Shared Loop Family of Products

SCR Description: Covad requests the circuit id be provided on billing output files such that CLEC’s can accurately reconcile billing from Qwest. Covad believes Qwest houses the circuit ID, but does not pass that information on its billing records. The BTN provided is not sufficient enough for Covad to validate the bills, thus the request for this additional information.

Expected Deliverable: That Qwest extract the circuit id and provide it on all shared loop billing outputs as soon as possible.

History: A clarification meeting was held on October 14, 2004 with Covad and Qwest representation. At this meeting the request was reviewed and no further questions were required.

Qwest Response: Below is a high level itemization of the LOE for this request. The complexity and cost for this request spans multiple systems from ordering through billing. In addition to the changes to implement this new functionality, the existing accounts would have to be converted to support the enhancements to the circuit ID.

Consequently, Qwest is respectfully denying your request for SCR100104-01, due to economic infeasibility.

Cost Summary: Changes to Ordering Systems $ 25,500 Changes to Billing Systems 828,500 Process Changes 50,000 TOTAL $904,000

Qwest

- DRAFT RESPONSE

November 5, 2004

RE: SCR100104-01 Provide Circuit ID on Billing Outputs for the Shared Loop Family of Products

Qwest has reviewed the information submitted as part of Change Request SCR100104-01. Based upon research that has been conducted following the Clarification Meeting (held October 14, 2004) and the October 20, 2004 Systems CMP Meeting Qwest is still examining the issue. Qwest will continue to research the problem and provide an updated response at the December Systems CMP Meeting.

Sincerely, Qwest