scope:

Call completion/call termination in today's Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN¹) depends on coordination between different service provider entities, each playing their part in setting up a workable connection between calling and called parties. As the PSTN has evolved through the Bell System divestiture, the Telecom Act of 1996, and the introduction of Internet Protocol-based technologies, the number and diversity of these entities has grown. In this context, problems with call completion may arise. The NGIIF has been made aware of serious problems encountered by some rural telephone company customers in receiving long distance calls in particular, through an industry survey by rural associations in March 2011 and the FCC's Rural Call Completion Task Force meeting held in October 2011.

This handbook:

• Is a living document, which will be updated as applicable;

• Describes some of the problems being encountered;

• Discusses some of the industry standards and practices relevant to ensuring call completion, particularly signaling, routing, and trouble handling;

• Attempts to relate these standards and practices to the call completion problems reported; and

• Offers some best practices for ensuring call completion, especially in the management of intermediate or underlying carriers.

Purpose

This handbook was initiated to provide a resource to carriers to address issues as they are encountered related to intercarrier (long distance) call completion/call termination

¹ Here PSTN is used to refer to the set of networks used to complete calls using E.164 number addressing.