Understanding Alarms and Warnings
When the phone system
detects an error or alarm, the system will dial the telephone number (OSS) associated with AlarmTraq to send an
alarm string. Once the alarm string is received by AlarmTraq, it is processed
according to it’s severity and site profile settings.
First lets take a look at a
typical alarm from a Definity G3:
|
123456789026/07:41,EOF,ACT|01A10,DS1-BD,y,MIN |
The alarm
string contains all the information to identify the site (Product ID), Time,
Date, MO, Equipment Number and severity of the alarm.
|
123456789026/07:41,EOF,ACT|01A10,DS1-BD,y,MIN |
This alarm is broken down
as:
|
Definition
|
Value
|
Possible Values
|
|
Product
ID
|
1234567890
|
10
Digits
|
|
Day
|
26
|
1-31
(Day of the month)
|
|
Time
|
07:41
|
00:00
– 23:59 (Time)
|
|
Emergency Xfer Status
|
EOF
|
EOF or
EOT
|
| Alarm Code |
ACT |
ACT
(Active), RES (Resource), TST (Test), RST (Reset) or CLR (Clear) |
|
Equipment Number
|
01A10
|
TEXT
(UUCSS format)
|
|
Maintenance Object
|
DS1-BD
|
TEXT
|
|
OnBoard Alarm
|
Y
|
y/n or integer
|
|
Alarm Type
|
MIN
|
MAJ,
MIN or WAR
|
AlarmTraq will attempt to
process the alarm in its internal database and then send notification of the
alarm based on the severity (Alarm Type) via pager, email, cell phone,
Blackberry, Printer and web.
Alarms
that are reported to AlarmTraq
Alarms are
classified as major, minor, or warning, depending the degree of severity and the
effect on the system.
|
Alarm
Level and description
|
Reported to AlarmTraq
|
Reported to Attendant
|
Action
to be taken
|
|
Major
Critical Service degradation
|
Y
|
Y
After
4 attempts to contact AlarmTraq
|
Immediate Action
|
|
Minor
Could
be service effecting, usually only effects lines and trunks.
|
Y
|
Y
After
4 attempts to contact AlarmTraq
|
Investigate problem and dispatch as needed
|
|
Warning
|
N
AlarmTraq will receive some messages if instructed
|
N
|
If
recurring problem investigate and dispatch as needed
|
Understanding
the Maintenance Object Database
When
AlarmTraq receives an alarm from a system it looks in the alarm for what is
called the Maintenance Object (MO).
MOs are the software modules
that monitor, test, and report possible fault conditions.
One an alarm has been
received by AlarmTraq and entered into the system, The specific MO is compared
against the Maintenance Object Database to see if a match is found. If no match
is found, the MO is automatically added to the database for future use.
Maintenance Object Database
If a match
is found, the associated command(s) are formatted to so they can be interpreted
by the switch. Using the alarm string from the previous chapter:
123456789026/07:41,EOF,ACT|01A10,DS1-BD,y,MIN;
The MO =
DS1-BD
The EN =
01A10
Maintenance
Object Database lookup:
Maint Object
= DS1-BD
AlarmCode =
ACT
AlarmType =
MIN
OnBoard =
Y
Command 1 =
test board
Send EN =
checked
Bash =
unchecked
Suffix =
long
Since a
match was found, the first command to be issued to the switch will be : ‘test
board 01A10 long’.
Sending commands using Auto Dial-Back
Multiple
commands may be sent to the switch for any Maintenance Object Database entry.
Alarm Data
Maintenance
Object
- Enter the
alarm maintenance object
Alarm Code
- Enter a valid alarm code. Valid configurations are:
Alarm Type -
Enter a valid alarm type. Valid configurations are:
-
MAJ
- Major Alarm
-
MIN
- Minor Alarm
-
WAR
- Warning Message
OnBoard -
Enter y, n or a number (0-10)
Dial-Back Command
Command
(1 – 6)
- Enter a
valid command to test this Maintenance object
Send EN
- Select this checkbox if you want to send the port information with the
command. Examples are:
·
Select
the Send EN checkbox for the following type of commands:
-
test
board
01a04
short
-
test
fiber-link
01
long
-
test
port
01a0702
short
·
Do Not
select
the Send EN checkbox for the following commands:
-
test
synchronization
-
test
alarms clear short
-
test
inads-link
bash -
Select this checkbox if you want to send the command from the ‘bash prompt’ on
an S8xx0 system.
Suffix
- Enter a valid command suffix Examples are:
-
test
board 01a04
short
-
test
fiber-link 01
long
-
test
port 01a0702
short
-
test
alarms
clear short
Considerations when using Auto
Dial-Back
In order for AlarmTraq to
successfully issue commands to your switch, the site profile must contain:
-
A valid telephone number
to dial.
-
A valid login username
with maintenance permissions (MSP) such as ‘dadmin’, ‘inads’, or ‘craft’.
-
A valid password for the
login user name.
-
The “Run Command(s)
After Receiving Alarm” checkbox must be selected.
-
The “Outgoing Group” for
this site must be a valid outgoing capable group.