As the 2000 draws near:
1. Don't assume that a single unified contract for voice and data services is the same as a unified bill. Check with the carrier to see which component services of your contract, such as AT&T's OneNet have Year 2000-compliant provisioning and billing, and which don't.
2. If President Clinton signs the Year 2000 Disclosure Act, press carriers for a "Year 2000 Readiness Disclosure" on specific network elements. Statements made by carriers labeled with these exact words are protected from liability. Point out that you can't sue them based solely on these statements, unless they were made fraudulently.
3. Beware of carrier claims of "one-stop shopping" for local and long distance services. From a Year 2000 compliance standpoint, the key question is whether one carrier actually owns and manages the end-to-end circuit. Some CLECs label RBOC resale agreements "one-stop shopping" to get your local business, but these deals actually add rather than subtract to the number of vendors involved with the local loop.
4. Check with your own vertical industry's trade association - for example, the American Bankers Association or the National Retail Federation - if you're interested in interoperability tests with carriers. They may have an in with carriers willing to provide limited testing if you get blocked on your own.
5. Be careful about porting your telephone numbers to a new carrier. Many of the Year 2000 fixes to central-office switching systems are in the same software release as FCC-mandated "long-term local number portability." But some carriers are still offering "interim number portability." That's really a fancy name for call forwarding, and could well add to Year 2000 vulnerability.
6. Don't confuse carrier domestic switching compliance with international gateways located in the U.S. Those platforms are different than the standard POP switches and in many cases the telco switch vendors are releasing those Year 2000 patches last. Make sure you know how your traffic exits the country and press for compliance reports on those gateways, or consider alternate routes.
7. Pay special attention to offices located in independent telephone company areas. The FCC has had difficulty obtaining Year 2000 compliance information from many of those telcos. Back-up dedicated circuits to larger cities may be warranted if more information does not become available by early next year.
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