Page 529 - Handbook of Modern Telecommunications

4-60 CRC Handbook of Modern Telecommunications, Second Edition

TABl E 4.4.1
Events
Type of event
Identification of event
Time stamp
Severity
Importance

TABl E 4.4.2 Classification of Problems
Problem Severity of Problem Comments
Outage of nodes without backup Critical problem
Outage of nodes with backup Major problem
Generic node problems Minor problem
Node isolated Critical problem
Site isolated Critical problem Escalation step 2
Region isolated Critical problem Escalation step 2
Country isolated Critical problem
Change of circuit’s media Major problem
NOC outage Critical problem Escalation step 2
Line problem without backup Major problem
Line problem with backup, but with performance problem Minor problem
Line problem without backup Critical problem
Performance degradation in the whole network Critical problem Escalation step 2
Performance degradation in network segments Major problem
Performance degradation for a limited number of sites Minor problem
Outage of the management system Critical problem Escalation step 2
Outage of network management applications Major problem
Routing problem in whole network Critical problem Escalation step 2
Routing problem in networking segments Major problem
Virus in the whole network Critical problem Escalation step 2

Table 4.4.1 is the basis to initiate escalation steps. First of all, problems should be classified by severity
(Table 4.4.2). Severity has three classes:
• Critical problems
• Major problems
• Minor problems

For each severity level, escalation procedures should be prepared in advance. This preparation work
includes the following steps:
• Definition of emergency: usually problems with a certain severity or a combination of problems
with a certain severity. In the second case, not all problems must show the highest severity.
• Determination of escalation layers: it depends on the constellation of participating service pro-
viders and operators. Usually, two layers for the customer and one layer for each provider and
operator should be considered.
• Identification of persons: for each layer, persons with location and reach numbers should be
clearly identified.
• Description of processes: each severity triggers specific escalation steps that describe, in detail,
manual and automated tasks. The time limit is also given for each severity.