A 'lot of water-under-the bridge' later, and...
Our 5x DV Handsets connected to our SH32B fell-over (again!) on 4th December.
The usual 'No 'Ringing Tone' on Outgoing Calls, the DV Phones DID ring on Incoming Calls, but again there was no Audio in any / either direction' - etc.
However, I got to speak with an 'EE Guide' who actually seemed to know what he was talking about... (WOW!)
He asked me if we'd ever had a 'SIP Regeneration', and then a little later whether we'd ever had an 'HSS Refresh'.
I'll admit that - at the time - I didn't have a scoobie...
However, another 'long-story-short' and he emailed through this information to me:
And this is what is meant by the 'TLA's' above:
SIP - Session Initiation Protocol:
Telephone voice (DV) traffic is now carried in IP packets.
SIP is the protocol that handles the signalling to set up and tear down IP borne telephone calls.
For example, there is a SIP message that starts the process of setting up a call (SIP INVITE message) and also a series of SIP responses which indicate conditions such as 'Busy', 'Ringing' etc.
At the end of the call, one side or the other will send a SIP BYE message to end the call. The SIP INVITE message, in particular, carries quite a lot of information about things such as destination. (e.g. telephone number).
HSS - Home Subscriber Server:
The Home Subscriber Server (HSS) is a central database that stores information and controls what network services people have access to, including calling features and any apparent issues that arise from these features.
He said: "By scanning the HSS we can identify any issues/discrepancies with features and alert the correct department to get this issue resolved."
After the 'HSS Refresh' he actually found 'an issue with one of the calling features within the voice service on the network'.
But he was unable to 'narrow-down' the 'issue', as this can only be investigated / solved by the 'TMC'.
So he raised a Ticket to have this 'issue' resolved by / on 9th December.
He did give me a VOL055-977********* Fault Reference Number (which, as I know, is an Openreach internal reference number).
AND - he did state that this OR Ref# could be tracked via 'BT.com/faults'.
But, (and trust me - I've tried everything!), it cannot be tracked by the likes of thee and me, sadly....
Anyhoo - our DV is still unreliable (it last fell-over on 21st December). So I've since written a snotty 'Complaints Form' to EE - watch-this-space...
AND - I had to REMONSTRATE with a member of the 'EE Executive Complaints' team - who originally wasn't going to pay us Compo for a 'Total Loss Of Service' back in October - claiming that 'intermittency' doesn't 'count'...
He was rapidly 'corrected' by 'yours truly' as to the 'error of his ways'...
If this latest missive of mine has helped anyone, then I'm pleased.
However, if it's all a bit too 'technical', then I apologise - BUT - to 'defeat the enemy, you need to think like the enemy'...
(to quote Fernando Alonso, paraphrasing 'The Art Of War', back-in-the-day...)
Ciao bene,
Louis.
