It has long been my (not at all humble) opinion that the phone companies would be the first to crash and burn due to all of the eletronic switching systems. We do not hear alot about the phone systems compared to other industries. I wonder why? Any thought on the matter? This is NOT a compliant/non-compliant question. Its the switching systems, stupid. :)

-- FLAME AWAY (BLehman202@aol.com), July 11, 1999

Answers

My guess is that there are so many ways a call can be pathed that the telecom system (grid, if you will) has resilience built in. That would lessen concerns about telecom as a whole.

However, since the health of smaller parts of the system is indeterminate and we can't do end to end testing, we're once again left with "How will we deal with isolated failures?".

Critt

-- Critt Jarvis (middleground@critt.com), July 11, 1999.

I think the technology in the telco industry changes relatively fast and that recent technology has fewer potential problems.

I think another part of the answer is that without power, the Y2K status of any industry, particularly the telecom industry, is a moot point. No juice, no joy.

I think it would be useful to hear from some telco folks about how they coped with the problems in NYC last week, how the power disruptions affected the telco industry in that area, and how long it took for the systems - equipment and the loads - to return to "normal." NYC, as most probably know, is the financial capitol of the world. Electronic transactions must already be heavy load on the system.

Here is a no-kidding test of the backup systems and procedures in a potential Y2K senario, how did it go?

-- Lead Mouse in the Wall (greytek@hotmail.com), July 11, 1999.

Um....maybe it's because they're busy checking out their compliance status (which has been stated in MANY press releases, not that it would matter to you idiots)

Maybe they just don't CARE about pampering to you diaper doomer dodos...there's beaucoups of evidence that the telcos will be QUITE compliant. But far be it from me to do your research for you...look it up. Find out. Then you'll shut up.

-- Chicken Little (panic@forthebirds.net), July 11, 1999.

No, Chicken Little, you are wrong. They will not shut up. They will whine that there was no indepenendent certification. When they find out it was independently certified, they will whine that the independent certifier (ic) was incompentent. When they find out that the ic was competent they will whine that the ic was on the take, etc. etc. etc. etc. ad nauseum.

-- nada troll (papist@kube93.com), July 11, 1999.

Every time we have a major disruption in power and phones or something like a tornado, we usually have power companies from *several* surrounding states that help with the repairs, this takes weeks in some cases.

We have much greater problems, then just computers in the coming months If all services are taxed at once, lines start to form, when lines start to form, resources start to get scarceit starts getting unpleasant for the general population from there.

Y2K will be easy for some and catastrophic for others, where you fall into this picture is another question. Lately, the FBI and other Government agencies seem to be especially worried about cyber, religious, terrorist and political agendasyou should be too

-- BiGG (supersite@acronet.net), July 11, 1999.

nada -- 10-4.

BiGG --

You bet I worry about bigger things.

Such as: what if all the Doomers in the world all of a sudden experience simultaneous intestinal blockages, so that they all become fuller of pigcrap than they already are at present? HORRORS

(and such a scenario is every bit as plausible as some of the scenarios presented by our esteemed Doomer "Experts"...I have twenty-seven statistical forecasting professionals ready to testify to that fact, but of course they prefer to remain anonymous, so I can't name them)

-- Chicken Little (panic@forthebirds.net), July 11, 1999.

At the Y2k Community Conversation that was held yesterday in Austin, a representative of Southwestern Bell said he was "confident" that the phones would work. He also said that the telecom industry is expecting that everyone in the world will pick up their phones on Jan. 1, just to see whether they are working or not. He said to expect what they call a "slow dial tone" which means, you pick the phone up and it's silent. He said not to hang up and try again because that puts you at the end of the line. He said to hang on to the phone for 2 to 3 minutes until you get your dial tone. (just reporting what was said...)

-- Mommacares (harringtondesignX@earthlink.net), July 11, 1999.

I used to work for a telephone company, and I believe their switching centers will be prepared for y2k. Most telephone companies only have two or three major vendors for their central office switching equipment (Lucent, Nortel, Seimens, etc.) and these vendors all have extensive research facilities for testing software. Bellcore all does extensive software testing for the telephone companies. The major telephone companies are very focused on software and the switching system software is updated fairly frequently.

I should also note that all of the switching centers remained in service during and after hurricane Andrew in south Florida. Supplies and fuel for the generators had to be delivered to many of them by helecopter.

I don't know anything about the status of their maintenance, accounting, billing systems, etc., and there could be problems with those. Also, many private systems (PBX's) could have problems if they are obsolete or the software is not being kept up to date. A huge class action lawsuit has already been filed against Lucent and other suppliers of these systems.

Personally, I think the most vulnerable industry is petroleum. There are a lot of opportunities for something to go wrong between the oil wells of Saudia Arabia and Venezuela and the local gas station. Also, embedded chips seem to be more of a problem in the petroleum industry than elsewhere.

-- Dave (dannco@hotmail.com), July 11, 1999.

Hey CHIX; Thanks so much for your informative reply! Just do me one teeny, tiny, favor,,,,,DO NOT LIE ON THIS FORUM!!!!!!!!!! There are NOOOOOOO phone companies that have used the word COMPLIANT. If there are, pahleeeeeeease post it to this thread. I missed it. Thanks!!!!!!!!!

-- FLAME AWAY (BLehman202@aol.com), July 11, 1999.

Dave I have to agree with you, but I am stupid. Ya know, like Poole and Chix and Pro et.al. I have this thing about electronic switching. Thanks to all for the replies. Even you, laidanotheregg!

-- FLAME AWAY (BLehman202@aol.com), July 11, 1999.

Mr. Little

Of course you must remember just how important that telecommunications are to power houses...Is that the area that you worked on in the year you was at the power house. Be right proud to discuss the importance of the power generating complexes all being tied togeather so that they get their collective act togeather and make sure that their transmission voltages are "PHASED" in so as not to blow the whole she-bang up (grid-wise). Shakey

-- Shakey (in_a_bunker@forty.feet), July 11, 1999.

Mr. Little And of course so as to cover the subject a little more throughly, we mustn't forget and leave out the embeded systems on board all those telecommunication satalites...Those will be a little difficult to check out, don't you think sir. Gee, sir. It is so rewarding to talk (or is it read) to some one who knows so much about everthing. Shakey

-- Shkey (in_a_bunker@forty.feet), July 11, 1999.

If you think you know the answer, press *1*.

If you don't know the answer, press *2*.

If you need assistance in forming your conclusion, press *3*.

If you are calling from a public phone booth, press *4*, then wipe off the key pad.

If you have a question about your phone bill, press *5*.

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-- Randolph (dinosaur@williams-net.com), July 11, 1999.