[UCIMC-Tech] [Imc-bookkeeper] telephone in b2p workroom not working

Sat Mar 5 20:39:41 CST 2011

FYI, last I checked RFU was paying for some phone service to the building.
Can someone please check to see if this should be the case?  - D

On Sat, Mar 5, 2011 at 7:55 PM, Mike Lehman <rebelmike at earthlink.net> wrote:

>  OK, that makes a little more sense. Somehow the line comes off of the
> cable in the boiler room to the modem and then a phone line goes to the POTS
> panel near the south door to the existing wiring there to feed upstairs to
> the Finance office phone.
>
> I did remember what 344-2536 is. That's the number for WRFU and they
> dropped it for economic reasons before we switched service to Comcast, IIRC?
> Or I'm just clueless? But if it's dead, maybe another case where it didn't
> get hooked back up, but maybe it's there and I can't even afford to pay
> attention anymore. I haven't been in the studio recently.
>
> If we're paying for 344-2536, I see no problem with using it. I think I
> remember them saying that 2 lines were part of the package we bought when
> Comcast hooked it up. If it's RFU's then we don't want to mess it up.
> Mike
>
>
>
> On 3/5/2011 6:23 PM, Chris Ritzo wrote:
>
> Here's a little more detail from what I've read in Comcast's voice
> documentation and what it means for our setup.
>
> All our outgoing calls are routed through the cable modem, but essentially
> the infrastructure inside the building is still on POTS. So this is the
> reason why there's a phone cable from the south hall patch panel to the
> modem in the boiler room, and once I trace the line going to the Finance
> office, I'll better know how it's patched through the patch panel. I was
> reading up on this today at the library.
>
> I think your suspicion about the BTP phone being off since we switched to
> Comcast voice is likely correct. Getting it corrected may have just slipped
> through the communication cracks. Anyway, if we're not using the other line
> for anything, I think the quickest, easiest solution would be to run the
> second line to BTP, then junction it off to Bike Project. They would share
> the second #, leaving the main # for upstairs.
>
> In the longer term, we could easily set up an open source PBX on a server
> placed in the boiler room. I know Josh had this in his grand plans for tech,
> and I've been reading up on it today. Also have a friend that runs one at
> his house & could tap his expertise. Also have quite a few new tech folks in
> the Makerspace who might be interested in working on this.
>
> I agree that we should find or make covers for the patch panels in the
> south hall. Tenants do use them, for instance, C4A. There's a clearly
> labeled line for their service.
>
> On Sat, Mar 5, 2011 at 5:29 PM, Mike Lehman <rebelmike at earthlink.net>wrote:
>
>>  Chris,
>> Thanks for playing sleuth. Here are a few more things.
>>
>> The main patch panel in the hall near the south door used to have a cover.
>> My guess is that someone took it off, it got misplaced and then who knows?
>> Unless it's sitting on top of those various boxes and was just missed.
>>
>> I can't quite figure out if the line between the VOIP Comcast modem is
>> just left over from when the VOIP was installed and is not in use? Or if it
>> actually connects the VOIP modem to the old phone panel near the south door
>> for some reason I don't understand? I presume that there wouldn't be a
>> reason to connect to the POTS since we have the VOIP bringing in things via
>> cable. But since I know nothing about the VOIP modem, maybe it has to be
>> connected to both cable and POTS?
>>
>> This also is making me wonder if the B2P phone has actually been down ever
>> since we installed VOIP two years or so ago? That's entirely possible, but
>> I'm amazed that no one noticed until now if that's the case. This would
>> account for why the B2P phone is not working, because it was NEVER hooked up
>> to the VOIP and that it's connection to the old phone panel was taken out of
>> service after we dropped AT&T.
>>
>> 344-2536 sounds familiar, like it was the number of someone I know, but
>> don't recall it ever being used by the IMC? I remember talking about having
>> a fax line, but never that we actually did. Between getting old and the
>> diss, I just don't trust my memory anymore, though :-(
>>
>> The old patch panel is used for AT&T service to other users in the
>> building, AFAIK all tenants. So it is active. I just figured it was
>> superseded by the Comcast VOIP for the IMC.
>>
>> The fancy phone network box in the boiler room is the PO's phone service.
>> There's probably alarm stuff connected to it, too, so we should be cautious
>> around it. I don't think anything in the hall near the south door is still
>> used by the PO, but am not certain.
>>
>> It wouldn't hurt to extend 344-8820 to B2P, Bike Project, etc, but there
>> is the potential for  people to leave phones off the hook, etc where it
>> would interfere with its use upstairs. If it is the case that the B2P phone
>> was never hooked up to VOIP, then maybe the lines can be spliced together to
>> connect it to the VOIP? In any case, before we do that, let me check with
>> Jamie in B2p to see if I can get to the bottom of when they last noticed the
>> phone working.
>> Mike
>>
>> On 3/5/2011 4:11 PM, Chris Ritzo wrote:
>>
>>  I spent some time beginning to document the phone infrastructure
>> situation in the building. I'm writing up my documentation on the imc wiki
>> in the Tech Admin docs which is password secured to the tech group. Once
>> it's complete I'm going to look at creating a Building Infrastructure
>> section of the wiki which would be protected to IMC members & place it
>> there.. I'll work with Leon on that- he may have started something already.
>> This could also be a space for others to document infrastructure & building
>> issues like the HVAC system for instance.
>>
>> Here's the rundown of what I found today:
>>
>> - We are indeed on Comcast Voice. The cable modem service terminates on
>> the west wall of the boiler room. The cable modem has four phone ports, two
>> of which are active, one which is in use currently. Both lines below were
>> tested at the modem this morning and confirmed to be working.
>>
>> *Line #1: 217-344-8820*
>> Active, in use phone line. This is the main number for the UC-IMC. The
>> line plugged into the modem runs along the ceiling in the boiler room,
>> through the maintenance room and along the basement east hall and terminates
>> at the telephone patch panels near the south basement door. Every few feet
>> or so, this gray cable is now marked with a green sharpie.
>>
>> The phone line terminating in the Books to Prisoners space runs through
>> the wall, across the hallway and south to the same telephone patch panels.
>> This cable is also gray and now is marked "BTP" in green marker in several
>> places along the cable run.
>>  Somehow line #1 is patched to another cable run that terminates in the
>> first floor Finance office.
>> - *TO **D**O: this line needs to be traced back from the Finance office
>>
>> **Line #2: 217-344-2536*
>> This is also an active line, though currently not in use. It may have been
>> used in the past as a separate fax line? I plugged a phone into it at the
>> cable modem and called my cell to confirm that it's working.
>>
>> ***SUGGESTION** - If this line is not in use, it could be used for BTP,
>> or another purpose. *I'm posting this here because I'm not certain
>> whether it's set aside for something or not. Tech group / others - can we
>> talk consensus on what to do with this second line?
>>
>> *NEXT STEPS:*
>> - Trace phone line going to Finance/Production and document
>> - Re-patch cable running to BTP and test
>>     - NOTE:  I don't have a clear understanding of how the phone patch
>> panel is used to patch & connect lines. I'm doing some research, but if
>> anyone has expertise...
>>     - There are five large phone wire patching panels near the south door
>> and another one or two in the boiler room.These are part of the OLD phone
>> infrastructure of the post office and we've simply reused it. We can
>> certainly continue to do so, though I think we should put a box over the
>> patch panels after this.
>>     - We could also go with something much simpler and re-wire using some
>> standard phone junction box connectors at key points, eliminating the old
>> patch panels. Thoughts on this???
>>
>> - Pending approval or whatever, we could run a phone line from the boiler
>> room to BTP. Given security concerns on that end of the building, lines
>> could also extend to the Family Room and the Bike Project.
>> - I'll leave it up to Building/Finance to determine that. Tech can
>> implement whatever is decided..
>>
>> A final aside, tech has been talking about rewiring/re-securing phone and
>> data wiring for a while now. This is a longer term project- we have a
>> functioning network where we need it, but want to take it to the next level,
>> make it better looking more secure, etc. Just so folks are aware. It really
>> won't impact people except will clean up the wiring cable tied around pipes,
>> etc., and the network will be better documented for future techies. Brian
>> Duggan's been doing a rad job of recruiting some new folks into the IMC who
>> are tech-savvy, and it's my hope we can begin getting them involved in this
>> initiative maybe by summer.
>>
>> ttfn -Chris
>>
>> On Thu, Mar 3, 2011 at 6:13 AM, Chris Ritzo <chris.ritzo at gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>>> Not sure. I think there are just a lot ofwirea running around and the
>>> phone stuff near the south file could have been snagged or pulled
>>> inadvertently. I plan to do some more tracing sat. and try to map out the
>>> lines so stuff is better documented.
>>> On Mar 2, 2011 8:50 PM, "Mike Lehman" <rebelmike at earthlink.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>   Chris,
>>> Well, that's interesting. I didn't look closely the other day because I
>>> didn't have a light, but I thought things looked a little rough, even for
>>> something at the IMC.
>>>
>>> Since I didn't look in detail, I'm just speculating, but...
>>> Maybe someone was trying to steal copper and got interrupted?
>>>
>>> If so, yet another reason for improving security.
>>> Mike
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 3/2/2011 8:22 PM, Chris Ritzo wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> >
>>> > I've taken an initial look at the phone situation and done a little
>>> tracing and testing. There'...
>>>
>>> >
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