Basic Telecom Troubleshooting for AEs

Basic Telecom Troubleshooting for AEs

Feel free to add to the list! Put all questions in Red, answers will be in black following the question. If you do not have a referenced doc ask Jesse for them to be shared with you.  

Hardware issues consist of two main complaint types.

1. I can hear the public side but they can’t hear me. The public side can hear me but i cannot hear them. These examples can most of the time be fixed by replacing the handset. If they have a new handset on site have them replace the bad handset with a new one and see if that fixes the issue.If it does great. If it does not then see if they have a new phone onsite and replace the entire phone. This issue should rarely need to be resolved by replacing the whole phone. Has occurred though.

2. No tone whatsoever. The RJ11 plug inside could have worked its way loose with constant use and just needs to be replugged in to seat and pick up the signal from our Yeastar. If that does not resolve the issue then try out a new phone all together. That should resolve the issue. If it does not then next step would to be have an individual at the jail unplug and replug into the phones port in our Yeastar. Port can be found in the shared document labeled Phone Names In Gateway. Instructions are on first page of doc on how to distinguish the port the phone that is having issues is using.

Other hardware complaints are..

1. Phone zapped me. Could be a frayed wire inside the phone. Replace the phone itself, This will resolve the issue. Could be caused by the movement of the hook and a line coming into contact.

2. Static sounding call. First look into previous calls from the same area and listen to a couple of those calls and see if the sound is similar. If so then try reseating the phone it may have worked itself loose and could be making poor contact. If that does not resolve then replace the handset.

Inmate usage issues.

1. I cannot make a call. Look and see if the call was completed to a number with 10 digits. Alot of these are user issue and they misdial a phone number. Check and make sure the inmate has funds in their account. Minimum of two minutes of phone time to make a call is standard at the moment. Depending on what the facility charges this could be the issue.

2.Busy signal when I picked up the phone. When they pick up the phone and it is giving busy signal a large percentage of the time it was hung up not completely by the previous inmate. Make sure they hang it up for a full 2 seconds then try again. If it works then the issue may be making sure they phones are being hung up completely.

This could also be a software issue if the phone was hung up,  picked back up and the issue still persists.

Software issues.

1. Busy signal when I picked up the phone.

Check in inmatecanteen.com under the county Ajnin, MI  Phone Admin if the phone is registering in the server. That can be found in the tab TKC Settings - Wall Phone Management on the bottom left. Under Existing Devices select the county where the issue is. Using Phone Names In Gateway doc figure out the name of the phone for where it is located. Scroll to find the phone with an issue. If it does not have a Contact: listed then it is not talking to our server and needs to be reset in our Yeastar. See Image Below.

This will be the main issue you have with Phone Not Working tickets.

1(a) Busy signal when I picked up the phone.

We are blocking all external IP addresses in the phone servers, If none of the phones are working ie. busy signal the external IP may have changed. Need to ask IT at facility what current external IP is if the Yeastar is not on TKC network. Look up external that we have on file in Phone Switch Information Doc. If the one given by IT is different then we have let SAM B. know the new IP address so it can be added into our firewall

2. Call dropped on me. Look up the call with the specific date and time frame in inmate canteen and listen to the call. See if it was a true dropped call or if it was a hang up, driving in a bad spot, heated call where party would hang up on individual. If you aren’t sure listen to the next call and see if there is any mention. A lot of times they will hint at the true issue. Also check the dialed to number. Out of state calls and long distance calls will drop more often then local. If it is long distance see if it reoccuring with that specific called number or a one time occurance before escalating the issue.

3. After server updates phone sites may experience all calls not working. If that is the case the Yeastars onsite need to be logged into and rebooted. This requires knowing the IP address of the Yeastar. Check shared doc named Phone Switch Information if that counties IP address is known or not yet. If not follow the instructions on that doc with a member at the facility to obtain the IP for Julianna or Installers to do a remote reboot.

If it is unobtainable or a member of install or Julianna is unavailable have the jail locate our Yeastar and physically turn it OFF and back ON. That should resolve all of the phones not working.

Telecom Charges Incorrectly:

Facility sent in the following:

1. Check Inmate History Report:

See that there is a TKC Telecom Escrow Charge, BUT no refund and charge for amount of call. Screenshot and add to ticket.

2. Check Inmate Canteen Call Detail Report: 

You see the call connected and that the 3.15 should have been credited back and that the correct charge should have been applied.

Set the ticket to software escalation with all screenshots and notes and hand to the AE working with the developers for escalation.