My company owns several videoconference units that connect to a ISDN PRI T1. Several users reported problems with making and receiving video calls. The person who put this in has since left the company and, you guessed it, didnt leave much documentation behind. After tracking the wiring down, all the ISDN connections end up at an Adtran Atlas 830 unit which connects to the ISDN PRI. Any suggestions to where I should start looking?
-- Via the Internet

The first thing I would suggest, since everyone is having problems, is to look at the ISDN PRI itself. If the Adtran 830 isn't showing any problems, it wouldn't hurt to call the LEC that is providing the ISDN circuit and have them take a look at it. While you have them on the phone, verify the exact type of ISDN Switch that you are connecting to at their end. If you hear the word "remote" used in the description, find out exactly what device you finally end up at and that it is the one that you need to configure your Adtran to talk to.

If do you find that the LEC is the problem with your ISDN connection, don't stop there. It is possible that you might have more than one problem that chose to show up at the same time. Look at the configuration of the Adtran unit to see if any errors are showing up between the Adtran and the videoconference systems that connect to it.

You may need to get Adtran Support involved, depending on your experience with ISDN. I have been impressed with the quality of their support and patience with those new to ISDN. The thing to look for here is that the Service Profile Identifiers (SPIDs) being used by the video conference systems are getting registered with the Adtran device. If they aren't, that can bring things to a screatching halt because it won't know how to process the incoming calls or what to do with the outgoing requests

The logging functionality in the Adtran device can tell you quite a bit. When turning on a videoconference system, you should see it register each one of the SPIDs that it has been programmed with. It is not unusual to see one or more SPIDs reregister. If you dont see them being registered, check the video conference unit to see that it is properly programmed. While you are working through this process, see if a newer firmware update is available for any of the devices you are working with. It could help fix the problem or better yet, help you avoid problems in the future.

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