Automatic Circuit Assurance - Avaya Communication Manager Administrator's Manual

Automatic circuit assurance

Automatic circuit assurance (ACA) helps you identify possible trunk malfunctions. With ACA enabled,
the system measures the holding time of each trunk call. If the measurements show calls with either
extremely long or extremely short holding times, Avaya Communication Manager places a referral call to
an attendant or telephone.
The system records holding time from when a trunk is accessed to when it is released. You set
short-holding-time and long-holding-time limits for each trunk group. The system then compares the
recorded holding times against these limits.
You enable ACA for the entire system, and administer thresholds for individual trunk groups. You can
have all trunks or only certain trunks measured.
Avaya Communication Manager deals with long-holding and short-holding calls differently. For every
call that is shorter than the administered short-holding time, the system increases the short-holding
counter by 1. For calls over the same trunk that are within the normal range, it decreases the short-holding
counter by 1. Thus, trunks that handle a normal variety of call lengths are not singled out as faulty. If the
counter reaches the administered short-holding threshold, the system places a referral call.
If one long call exceeds the long-holding time, the system makes a referral call.
You cannot measure personal CO lines, out-of-service trunks, or trunks undergoing maintenance testing.
The referral call
The display or voice-synthesized message that accompanies an ACA call contains the following
information:
•
The fact that this is an ACA call
•
The trunk access code, trunk group number, and trunk group member number
•
The type of referral (short or long holding time)
Once the referral call is answered, this information is displayed and remains displayed until the call is
released. If the call is not answered within three minutes, the call stops. The system places the call again
after one hour, and continues to place the call hourly until someone answers.
The attendant or telephone user who receives the referral call can stop further calls by pressing the
aca-halt button, if one is provided. This is a toggle button, and turns off the feature until the user presses
the button again.
The audit trail
Each time a referral call is necessary, the system also adds a record to an audit trail. Audit trail records are
available on the ACA Measurements Report. Each record contains the following information:
•
Time and date of referral
•
Trunk group number, trunk access code, and trunk group member
•
The type of referral (short or long holding time)
Administrator's Guide for Avaya Communication Manager
November 2003
Feature Reference
Automatic circuit assurance
1377