NRIC IV Network Reliability and Interoperability Council IV Focus Group 3

1. NRIC IVNetwork Reliability and Interoperability Council IVFocus Group 3 Washington, DC July 14, 1999 Ray Albers Bell Atlantic

2. NRIC IVFocus Group 3 Charter National network reliability: The committee will report on the reliability of public telecommunications network services in the United States and will determine whether �best practices� previously recommended should be modified or supplemented. It will also develop a proposal for future consideration relative to extending these best practices to other industry segments not presently included in current practices.

3. NRIC IVFocus Group 3 Report Overview Network Reliability Steering Committee 1Q99 Highlights Procedural Errors Update One-Call Update Subcommittee I - Best Practices Review/Evaluation - Rick Harrison Subcommittee 2 - Data Analysis/Future Considerations - PJ Aduskevicz

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5. NRIC IVFocus Group 3 NRSC 1Q99 Highlights (details: www.atis.org/atis/nrsc/document.htm) All Failure Categories in the �Green,� but: Procedural Error outages are in the �Yellow� Second consecutive quarter in which Procedural Error was the majority root cause of all reported outages.

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9. NRIC IVFocus Group 3 Procedural Outage Reduction: Addressing the Human Part (www.atis.org/atis/nrsc/nrschome.htm) Procedural Outage Study Team Cross industry team created by the NRSC in 1998 to investigate an increasing trend of FCC-reportable service outages with a root cause of �procedural error.� Team Members P.J. Aduskevicz (AT&T) Kathleen Atwater Peterson (Nortel Networks) Jay Bennett (Telcordia) Rick Canaday (AT&T) Tom Chillemi (Bell Atlantic) Norm Fischman (Bell Atlantic) Anita Flintall (Nortel Networks) Bill Klein (ATIS) Anil Macwan (Lucent) Spilios E. Makris (Telcordia) Clyde E. Miller (Nortel Networks) Denny Miller (Nortel Networks) Eve Perris (Telcordia) Karl Rauscher (Lucent) Scott Taylor (BellSouth) Whitey Thayer (FCC) Erwin Van Allen (Southwestern Bell) Sandy Wallace (Sprint) Ken Walling (Pacific Bell) Key Findings-- Two Major Ways to Improve Reliability: Introduction of technology and process improvements to both existing networks and new products to minimize human involvement. Rigorous implementation of current best practices and sharing knowledge at the industry level to prevent and eliminate procedural outages.

10. NRIC IVFocus Group 3 Contents Executive Summary Background Team Members Findings Recommendations Industry Initiatives Government / Legislative Standards / Generic Requirements Good Practices Method of Procedure Awareness / Prevention Critical Event Management Future Mitigators Environment to minimize Human Error Minimizing Human Involvement Keeping errors from becoming outages Appendices FCC reportable service outages Universe comparisons Root cause analysis

11. NRIC IVFocus Group 3 Key Recommendations NRSC to develop a standard format template for recording of outages reported to the FCC. Review the list of good practices (focused on procedural errors in the seven areas particularly vulnerable, per NRC-1). Equipment vendors should design to the requirements in GR-2914-CORE, Human Factors Requirements for Equipment to Improve Network Integrity. Ensure that all service provider and vendor documentation meets requirements specified in GR-454-CORE, General Requirements for Supplier Provided Documentation. When outages occur, perform and distribute a comprehensive root cause analysis. (See template in Appendix C) Provide specialized training for critical event management. Perform regular tests of critical event systems and processes. Outage Template: Additionally, a review of root cause subcategories should be initiated for inclusion in any new templates. Timely reporting and formatting of outages would be enhanced if the template is available via Internet access. GR-454:Telecom service suppliers and vendors should adopt the concept of a simplified language system, which controls vocabulary, grammar, mechanics, and style for better user understanding Critical event management: This non-traditional approach to reducing the outage interval requires a mindset change for many industry personnel. The emphasis must be placed on restoring the service first, then fixing the problem. Critical event systems and processes: Examples of these systems/processes are: emergency generator (system) or spare circuit pack central warehousing (process). These systems/processes should be certified as being compliant to meet overall network reliability requirements. Outage Template: Additionally, a review of root cause subcategories should be initiated for inclusion in any new templates. Timely reporting and formatting of outages would be enhanced if the template is available via Internet access. GR-454:Telecom service suppliers and vendors should adopt the concept of a simplified language system, which controls vocabulary, grammar, mechanics, and style for better user understanding Critical event management: This non-traditional approach to reducing the outage interval requires a mindset change for many industry personnel. The emphasis must be placed on restoring the service first, then fixing the problem. Critical event systems and processes: Examples of these systems/processes are: emergency generator (system) or spare circuit pack central warehousing (process). These systems/processes should be certified as being compliant to meet overall network reliability requirements.

12. NRIC IVFocus Group 3 June 1988 - Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA 21) Passes August 1998 - Department of Transportation Public Meeting September 1998 - Organizational Meeting November 1998 - Task Team Kick-Off Meeting March 1999 - Draft of Each Task Team Chapter Available June 1999 - Final Report Published June 30, 1999 - Public Readout in DC July 1999 - Final Report on Web

13. NRIC IVFocus Group 3 Task Teams Planning & Design Mapping One-Call Center Operations Reporting and Evaluation Locating and Marking Public Education and Excavations Awareness Compliance Emerging Technologies Participating Industries Telecommunications Locators Local Government Interexchange Railroads Pipelines One Call Centers Excavators

14. NRIC IVFocus Group 3 Damage Prevention Meeting Washington, DC June 30, 1999 Rodney Slater - Secretary, Department of Transportation - Remarks on Common Ground Study and on Dig Safely Campaign Bob Franks - House of Representatives (New Jersey) Kelley Coyner - Research & Special Programs Administrator, DOT - Why Safe & Livable Communities are Our Goal Jim Hall - Chairman, National Transportation Safety Board - Why Damage Prevention Readouts of the Task Teams from Common Ground Study Unveiling of the Dig Safely Campaign Discussion of Path Forward and Damage Prevention Grant Program

15. NRIC IVFocus Group 3 Important Ideas from June 30 Meeting Basis for Damage Prevention All facility owners are members of One-Call Centers Always call before excavation Best practices reached by a consensus process - general buy-in from all participants Emphasized shared responsibility (includes excavators, facility owners, one-call centers, locators, land owners, and federal/state/local government bodies) Implementation is the next step

16. NRIC IVFocus Group 3 Path Forward Common Ground Study of One-call Systems and Damage Prevention Best Practices on the web - ops.dot.gov/damage.htm Non-profit corporation to champion damage prevention initiatives In planning stages Beginning to develop mission, vision, and major goals Situated in Phoenix - DOT will provide administrator for 18 months Keep Common Ground alive Need strong state laws and strong enforcement of state laws

17. NRIC IVFocus Group 3 Facilities Solutions Team Members Jim Anspach - So-Deep, Inc. Amy Griffith - NUCA Jay Bennett - Telcordia William Harley - NUCA Raul Bernal - Pacific Bell John Healy - Telcordia Alice Borrelli - AT&T Dennis Henry - Telcordia Tim Brubaker - AT&T Bill Hillman - NUCA Rick Canaday - AT&T Jim Holzer - One Call Concepts Glen Cantrell - SBC Mike Homick - PEPCO/CEC Catherine Carver - NC State U. Pat Kirchberg - U S WEST Wayne Chiles - Bell Atlantic Tsune Kawakita - Dow Chemical Paul Cloran - Bell Atlantic Spilios Makris - Telcordia Mary Jo Cooney - US DOT Mike McCrary - BellSouth Paul Devaney - Telcordia Stu Megaw - AGCA Janice Gambill - Ameritech Lou Scerbo - Telcordia Carolyn Gatov - Ameritech Craig Sewell - NULCA Jim Gebel - Sprint Roger Stepp - SBC Griff Goad - BellSouth Jim Swain - GTE