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| Introduction | |
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| About This Book | |
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| Conventions Used in This Book | |
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| What You Don't Have to Read | |
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| Icons Used in This Book | |
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| Foolish Assumptions | |
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| How This Book Is Organized | |
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| Where to Go from Here | |
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| The ABCs of Telecom Service | |
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| A Buyer's Scoop on Telecom | |
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| Assessing Your Telecom Services As They Are Now | |
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| Identifying Your Carriers | |
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| Knowing Why Your Company Needs Telecom | |
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| Introducing Dedicated Long-Distance Circuits | |
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| Finding People to Help You Make the Right Choices | |
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| Planning for Growth | |
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| Troubleshooting All Things Telecom | |
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| Making (And Living with) Telecom Decisions | |
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| Analyzing How Many Phone Lines You Need | |
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| Locating Your Phone System: What's in Your Closet? | |
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| Putting a Name with a Face: Identifying Your System | |
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| Getting the Least You Need to Know about Your Phone System | |
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| Deciding whether to Get Dedicated or Stay Switched | |
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| Understanding and Preventing Fraud | |
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| Negotiating the Best Telecom Deal | |
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| Getting Around the Telecom Neighborhood | |
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| Identifying Your Telecom Neighborhood | |
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| Understanding Your Call Types | |
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| Blocking International Calls | |
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| Reviewing Telecom Products and Prices | |
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| Understanding Dedicated Service Requirements | |
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| Understanding the Language of Dedicated Service | |
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| Understanding Your Responsibilities When You Get a Dedicated Circuit | |
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| Taking Responsibility for the Inside Wiring | |
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| Meeting Toll-Free Service, the Red-Headed Stepchild of Telecom | |
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| Taking a Peak at Toll-Free Service Basics | |
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| Accepting Financial Responsibility for Wrong Numbers | |
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| Coming to Terms with the Toll-Free Life Cycle | |
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| Evaluating Your Business's Toll-Free Needs | |
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| Identifying Your Carrier's Available Toll-Free Services | |
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| Realizing the Cost of Enhanced Toll-Free Services | |
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| Getting the Non-Accountant's Guide to Your Phone Bill | |
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| Relying on Your Contract | |
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| Reviewing the Summary Pages | |
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| Negotiating the Best Makeup for Your Per-Minute Cost | |
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| Receiving Your Invoice Your Way | |
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| Knowing about Billing Issues | |
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| Handling Your Billing Disputes | |
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| Ordering and Setting Up Telecom Service | |
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| Ordering Regular Phone Lines and New Long-Distance Service | |
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| Ordering a Phone Line | |
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| Changing Your Long-Distance Carrier if You Have Regular Phone Lines | |
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| Casual Dialing | |
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| Moving Your Phone Number | |
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| Understanding the Porting Process | |
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| Ordering Dedicated Service | |
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| Ordering the Circuit's Configuration | |
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| Evaluating Out-of-Band Signaling | |
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| Understanding Local Loop Pricing | |
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| Evaluating Your Local Loop Choices | |
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| Speeding Up Order Processing? | |
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| Ordering a Carrier-Provided Loop Circuit | |
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| Ordering a Customer-Provided Loop Circuit | |
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| Ordering a Circuit Without a Local Loop | |
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| Preparing for the Installation | |
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| Ordering Toll-Free Service | |
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| Reserving New Toll-Free Numbers | |
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| Migrating a Toll-Free Number | |
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| Handling Toll-Free Rejection | |
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| NASCing (Migration by Other Means) | |
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| Ordering Switched Toll-Free Numbers | |
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| Ordering Dedicated Toll-Free Numbers | |
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| Using a Hot Cut to Activate Your Dedicated Toll-Free Numbers | |
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| Resolving Activation Issues on Migrated Toll-Free Numbers | |
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| Resolving Common Dedicated Toll-Free Migration Scenarios | |
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| Activating Your Dedicated Circuit and Toll-Free Numbers | |
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| Requesting a Hot Cut or Parallel Cut | |
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| Inviting the Right People to the Installation | |
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| Preparing for the Installation | |
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| Writing an Installation Journal | |
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| Installing the Circuit | |
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| Identifying Installation Problems | |
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| Troubleshooting Continuity Issues | |
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| Taking Care of Your Telecom System | |
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| Maintaining Your Telecom Services | |
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| Understanding Troubleshooting Basics | |
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| Getting the Most from Your Carrier's Troubleshooting Department | |
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| Managing Your Trouble Tickets | |
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| Troubleshooting International Calls | |
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| Resolving International Fax Issues | |
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| Troubleshooting Switched Network Issues | |
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| Doing Background Work Before You Begin Troubleshooting | |
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| Starting the Troubleshooting Process | |
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| Getting Switched Toll-Free Troubleshooting Basics | |
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| Troubleshooting Toll-Free Issues from Canada, Alaska, and Hawaii | |
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| Troubleshooting International Toll-Free Issues | |
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| Troubleshooting Your Dedicated Circuits | |
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| Identifying the Level of Your Problem | |
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| Categorizing the Nature of Your Problem | |
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| Opening a Trouble Ticket for Your Dedicated Circuit | |
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| Managing Your Dedicated Trouble Ticket | |
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| Getting the Basics of Dedicated Outbound Troubleshooting | |
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| Following a Dedicated Troubleshooting Shortcut | |
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| Validating the Circuit You Are Testing | |
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| The Basics of Dedicated Toll-Free Troubleshooting | |
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| Handling Dedicated Toll-Free Quality Issues | |
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| What's Hot (Or Just Geeky) in the Telecom World | |
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| Transferring Data, Not Just Voice Content | |
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| Understanding Your Data Transfer Requirements | |
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| Transmitting Data the Old-Fashioned Way | |
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| Processing Constant Transmissions between Locations | |
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| Understanding a Frame Relay Network | |
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| New and Improved Transmission for Multiple Locations | |
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| Riding the Internet Wave: VoIP | |
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| Understanding VoIP Basics | |
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| Understanding IP Protocols for VoIP | |
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| Ordering VoIP Service | |
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| Hearing VoIP Quality Issues | |
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| The Part of Tens | |
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| Ten Acronyms and What They Really Mean | |
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| Getting to Know Your LEC | |
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| Understanding ANIs | |
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| Getting Firm with an FOC | |
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| NASCing Your Numbers | |
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| Getting an RFO | |
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| Getting Your Hands on a CSU | |
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| Making Sure You Get a CFA | |
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| Being a Part of the PFM | |
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| Getting Your CICs | |
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| Ten Troublesome Telecom Traits to Avoid | |
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| Finger-Pointing Your Way into a Corner | |
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| Expecting a Credit After an Outage | |
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| Ignoring the Facts: Fraud Is Not Free | |
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| Not Accepting Admitting Defeat When an Order Turns into a Project | |
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| Having Expectations That Go Beyond Reality | |
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| Expecting Mother Theresa | |
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| Not Paying Attention to Smaller Companies | |
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| Forgetting to Do the Math | |
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| Falling for the Standard Interval Shield | |
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| Demanding to Sue or Take Legal Action | |
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| Ten Places to Go for Hints and Help | |
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| Calling Your Long-Distance Carrier | |
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| Smooth Talking with Your Telecom Salesperson | |
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| Talking to Your Hardware Vendor | |
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| Visiting the Local Calling Guide Industry Web Site | |
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| Using the Magic 8 Ball | |
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| Going to Manufacturer Web Sites | |
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| Searching the Internet | |
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| Using Your Escalation List | |
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| Taking Your Questions to Another Hardware Vendor | |
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| Starting Over | |
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| Making a Loopback Plug | |
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| Index | |