Investigate a Problem with a Line

Where an End User has a problem with a line then the "Investigate a Problem with a Line" process can be used to test the line and submit a fault report to Openreach (if necessary).

From the shortcuts select "Investigate a problem with a line", see below:

The first step of the process is to find the line which requires investigating; shown below is the screen used to capture the details required to search the inventory for the line:

The inventory can be searched by entering a full or partial company name, full or partial reference (these are the references chosen previous by the users - see the inventory section for more detail), postcode or the full telephone number for the line.

The user is then able to pick the particular line from the results listed for investigation, see below:

Having selected the line with which there is a problem, the name a number are confirmed on screen and a drop down box is made available for the nature of the problem to be chosen.

The drop down list is under the header of "Structured Questions" and is based upon the Structured Questions process which Openreach have published as guidance to help communications providers with their diagnostics, see http://www.openreach.co.uk/orpg/products/wlr/wlr3/opi.do. The list of answers in the drop down box corresponds to the list of Structured Questions Codes published by Openreach (an explanation of these is available via the Strategic Imperatives Support Centre). A couple of answers will only appear in the list sometimes, these are - "Exchange Service Fault", which will only appear in the list if Calling and Network features exist on the line, and "Call Minder/Wholesale 1571 Problem" if Wholesale 1571 exists on the line. The Structured Questions answer chosen should match the nature of the End User's problem as closely as possible as, whilst this does not affect the line test, it does assist Openreach if the fault is reported, see below:

Once the Structured Questions answer has been chosen click the "Perform Line Test" button, this will initiate an Openreach line test. The line test takes approximately 45 seconds and whilst this is in progress the following screen will be shown:

Once the line test has been performed the results are displayed on screen, in the example below no fault was found:

In this example a fault was found with the End User's equipment and thus an engineer appointment would be needed as access to the premises is required:

In this example a fault was found in the local network, and as no access to the End User's premises is required no appointment is required:

Depending on where the line test detects a fault and the care level of the line an engineer appointment may be chosen, below is a list of the scenarios where choosing an appointment would be required and where one wouldn't:

A choice of appointment is not offered for lines with level 2 or level 3 care as Openreach will automatically book the earliest available appointment for these higher priority faults.

If an appointment can be booked then the appointing screen is shown, which lists the earliest available appointments, see below:

Once the appointment has been chosen, or this stage has been skipped due to Openreach booking the earliest available appointment, then the on site contact details are requested. Contact details for one person on site must be entered, an alternative contact is optional, see below:

Once the contact details have been entered then the user is prompted to enter a description of the fault - this can be up to 80 characters long (a character counter allows you to see how many you have typed). If the Customer requires Temporary Call Divert (TCD) then the details can be entered here as well, see below:

If the Customer requires TCD then tick the box and enter the number that calls should be diverted to. By default diverted calls will route via CPS if it is active on the line, if you require diverted calls to route through the BT network and not via CPS then enter "1280" into the "Indirect Access Code" box.

Also needed is an authorisation level for Time Related Charges - this covers any work the engineer does at the premises to fix the fault where the Customer's equipment or wiring is at fault. If an insufficient banding is supplied then the engineer may be unable to complete the work required to fix the fault and either a return visit will be required, if a higher banding is specified, or the work will not be completed.

Once all details have been completed on this screen then click "Submit" to send the Trouble Report to Openreach; when the Trouble Report has been submitted this is confirmed on screen with the Openreach Trouble Report reference, for example:

Clicking on the "Trouble Report Status" link will display the details of the report and allow its current status to be tracked through to completion.