Wholesale: Products & Services

Open Product/Process CR PC053002-1 Detail

 
Title: Real Time Dispute of TIC, Maintenance of Service Charges and Dispatch Charges.
CR Number Current Status
Date
Area Impacted Products Impacted

PC053002-1 Denied
9/18/2002
Billing, Maintenance / Repair Centrex, Resale, UNE Loop, UNE-P
Originator: Stichter, Kathy
Originator Company Name: Eschelon
Owner: Suellentrop, Craig
Director:
CR PM:

Description Of Change

Currently a CLEC disputes a TIC, Maintenance of Service Charge or Dispatch Charge after the charge appears on the bill. Most of the time the CLEC knows before Qwest bills the charge, whether the charge is legitemate or not. Eschelon asks Qwest to develop, document, communicate and train a process to allow CLECs to dispute miscellaneous repair charges before Qwest bills them. This process would save Qwest the time and resources needed to issue an order to bill the charges and issue the paper work to adjust the charges billed in error. This process would also save research time needed to determine whether the charge is in error or not.


Date Action Description
5/30/2002 CR Submitted by Eschelon 
5/30/2002 CR acknowledged by P/P CMP Manager 
5/31/2002 CR posted to Web 
6/4/2002 Contacted Eschelon and scheduled Clarification Meeting for 06/05/02. 
6/5/2002 Conducted Clarification Meeting conference call with Eschelon. 
6/7/2002 Issued Clarification Meeting minutes to Eschelon. 
6/19/2002 CMP Meeting - Meeting discussions will be set forth in the Product/Process Meeting Minutes to be posted on the CMP Web site. CR status was changed to Presented. 
7/10/2002 Initial response sent to Eschelon and posted to the Web 
7/17/2002 CMP Meeting - Meeting minutes posted to this CR's Project Meetings section. CR status was changed to Evaluation. 
8/8/2002 Issued Mailout Notification to CLECs advising that the CR will be reviewed with other similar CRs. Notification CMPR.08.08.02.F.01312.Mtg_Proposal. 
8/14/2002 Issued Qwest's Supplemental Response dated August 13, 2002 to Eschelon. 
8/19/2002 Issued Mailout Notification to CLECs confirming the Synergy Meeting for Multiple Trouble Ticket and Billing CRs scheduled for 8/27/02, 2:00 pm MT. Notification CMPR.08.19.02.F.01317.CMP_CR_Mtg. 
8/21/2002 CMP Meeting - Qwest presented its Supplemental Response dated August 13, 2002. This CR to be included for discussion in the CLEC conference call scheduled for 8/27. Minutes on this CR to be posted to the Project Meetings section. Status was changed to Evaluation. 
8/27/2002 CR included in the Synergy Meeting for Multiple Trouble Tickets & Billing CRs. See Meeting Notes in Attach O, Sept Systems CMP Package. 
9/11/2002 Issued Qwest's revised response dated September 6, 2002 to Eschelon. 
9/18/2002 CMP Meeting - Qwest presented its Revised Response dated September 6, 2002. Minutes on this CR to be posted to the Project Meetings section. Eschelon indicated that since a part of the respnse was denied the CR should be status as denied. Meeting participants agreed. 

Project Meetings

09/18/02 September CMP Monthly Meeting Minutes

Qwest reviewed the draft response. Qwest advised that Designed Services currently accommodate Eschelon’s request. However, the only way to accommodate Non-Designed Services is to create an MCO, and, to do that is not economically feasible due to the volume of calls received. Qwest said that the system CRs assist the dispute process for Maintenance of Service charges and TIC charges. Eschelon said that for Designed Services the Qwest technician very seldom advises if there will be a charge for the trouble ticket, unless Eschelon specifically asks if there will be a charge. Qwest will open a Global Action Item and will evaluate the situation. Eschelon indicated that since a part of the CR was denied, the CR should be status as Denied. It was agreed that the status of this CR would be Denied.

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08/21/02 August CMP Monthly Meeting Minutes

Qwest advised that the response remained the same as last month for Designed Services. The Non Designed Services will be reviewed in conjunction with other CRs related to trouble tickets, repair charges, etc. scheduled for August 27, 2002. The CLEC participants agreed to have this CR reviewed at that meeting. It was agreed that the CR status would be changed to Evaluation.

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07/17/02 - July CMP Meeting Minutes: Qwest presented the initial response as follows: The current repair process for Designed Services Trouble Tickets supports this request by allowing CLECs to dispute charges before they are billed. For Designed Services Qwest uses a Maintenance Control Organization (MCO) to manage trouble tickets. Qwest’s process is to hold a Designed Services Trouble Ticket for two weeks after closure before sending the charges to billing. When Qwest is discussing the resolution of Designed Services Trouble Tickets with the CLEC, the MCO technician will advise the CLEC that charges will be applied. If the CLEC disputes the resolution of the ticket, the ticket will not be closed. If a CLEC was advised during a previous Trouble Ticket that charges would be applied and that ticket has not been sent to billing, the CLEC can dispute that with the MCO technician during a subsequent Trouble Ticket. After the charges have been sent to billing, the CLEC must contact their Billing Representative to dispute any charges.

Because Qwest does not use an MCO for Non-Designed Trouble Tickets, the above process cannot be applied to these tickets. Qwest will continue to investigate alternatives that meet the needs of both Qwest and the CLECs. Qwest intends to respond to this CR regarding Non-Designed Trouble Tickets at the August CMP meeting.

Eschelon asked how Qwest will confirm the CLEC was not charged for the initial trouble ticket when a second trouble ticket for the same problem has been issued. Qwest agreed to investigate. Eschelon stated that the Qwest stated policy of having a closed trouble ticket sit at the center for two weeks prior to it being sent to billing has not been their experience. Eschelon stated they are not allowed enough time to confirm with their customer the problem has been fixed prior to trouble ticket being closed. AT&T stated they are having the same problem. Eschelon would like the opportunity to test prior to trouble ticket being closed. Eschelon asked why can’t Non-Designed Trouble Tickets remain open for 24 hours. Qwest responded there is no place to hold them. Qwest stated the response will be revised in August to address the Non-Design Trouble Ticket portion of this CR. CR status was changed to evaluation.

CLEC Change Request Clarification Meeting

June 5, 2002, 9:00 a.m. (MT) Conference Call 877-564-8688 PC053002-1, Real Time Dispute of TIC, Maintenance of Service Charges and Dispatch Charges

Attendees: Ric Martin, Qwest Alice Matthews, Qwest Craig Suellentrop, Qwest Bob Mohr, Qwest Kathy Stichter, Eschelon

Introduction of Attendees Introductions of the participants on the Conference Call were made and the purpose of the call discussed

Review Requested (Description of) Change Kathy indicated that Eschelon was looking to be able to dispute TIC and MOS charges on a real time basis. They want a process to dispute charges they do not believe are legitimate before they get billed. She explained that she realized that repair personnel close the tickets which get forwarded to the center which in turn gets a service order issued that goes to billing. She also explained that she understood that TIC was for resale (non-design) and MOS was for Design services. She indicated that she realized that there would be two (2) processes involved and that it would be handled differently for each situation. Craig questioned how would they know if there was going to be a charge. Kathy indicated that per Eschelon’s ICA they are to be notified before the ticket is closed. She explained that CEMR provides them with an e-mail notification after a ticket is closed. Ric asked if this was the same for Design and Non-design. Kathy wasn’t sure, but Craig thought it was the same. Kathy was going to investigate. Kathy advised that Eschelon wants a dispute process before the charges are billed and believed it would be best if the process occurred before the ticket was closed. Craig indicated that for loops on the design side, they should be getting a coordinated closure and Eschelon’s Tech shouldn’t agree to close if they felt the charge wasn’t correct. Kathy advised that, for the most part, they are getting a call on design, but cannot get with the customer in a reasonable time that is within the required timeframe. Ric asked if Kathy had received the Question and Answers from the CLEC forums on Maintenance and Repair. In the May Mailout there was a dispute resolution matrix. It was agreed that the CR request was asking for more than what was on the matrix.

Confirm Areas & Products impacted It was confirmed that the products are those covered by Non-Design Services (Resale and Centrex) and Designed Services (UNEs)

Confirm Right Personnel Involved Qwest confirmed that Craig was the Lead SME for this CR. Qwest will need to bring some repair personnel into the evaluation.

Identify/Confirm CLEC’s Expectation It was confirmed that Eschelon was looking for a process to allow them to dispute charges before they get billed.

Identify any Dependent Systems Change Requests Eschelon submitted a Systems CR, SCR060402-04, which has to do with information being added to the bills. Kathy advised that per Alice’s comments at the CLEC forum, the information is not on the bills. Kathy to submit examples to Ric.

Establish Action Plan (Resolution Time Frame) Ric advised that the CR would have the CLEC Clarification at the CMP Meeting on June 19th. After the meeting Qwest will evaluate and present its response by the next CMP meeting.


CenturyLink Response

September 6, 2002

Kathleen Stichter Eschelon

SUBJECT: Qwest’s Revised Change Request Response - CR PC053002-1 “Real Time Dispute of TIC, Maintenance of Service and Dispatch Charges.”

This CR requests that Qwest develop “a process to allow CLECs to dispute miscellaneous repair charges before Qwest bills them.” During the clarification call with Eschelon and at the General Clarification at the June CMP meeting, the two repair processes (designed and non-designed) and the fact that the solution may be different for the different processes were discussed.

At the July CMP meeting Qwest responded that the current Designed Services process meets this request. Qwest uses a Maintenance Control Organization (MCO) to manage Designed Services trouble tickets. The process for Designed Services is to hold trouble tickets for two weeks after closure before sending charges to billing. When Qwest is discussing the resolution of Designed Services trouble tickets with the CLEC, the MCO technician will advise the CLEC that charges will be applied. If the CLEC disputes the resolution of the ticket, the ticket will not be closed. If a CLEC was advised during a previous trouble ticket that charges would be applied and that ticket has not been sent to billing, the CLEC can dispute that with the MCO technician during a subsequent trouble ticket. After the charges have been sent to billing, the CLEC must contact their Billing Representative to dispute any charges.

Because of the large number of Change Requests related to Maintenance and Repair a meeting was held on August 27, 2002 to discuss possible synergies between the various CRs. It was agreed at the August CMP meeting to defer the response regarding Non-Designed Services trouble tickets until after the August 27 meeting. At that meeting Eschelon agreed that the Designed Services process met their needs. It was also determined that this CR should have its own response to address the Non-Designed process. Qwest agreed to supply a revised response at the September CMP meeting. However, Qwest believes that the Systems CRs CRs SCR030702-1 – CLEC Trouble Ticket Cross Reference and SCR042902-01 – Use CLEC Internal Repair Ticket number on CLEC bill to identify maintenance and repair charges will aide CLECs in auditing their bills and address some of the CLECs underlying concerns.

Because Non-Designed trouble tickets are generally less complex and have much larger volumes, Qwest doesn’t use an MCO technician to manage their closure. For non-designed trouble tickets the technician that resolves the trouble closes the ticket. Any applicable charges are then automatically sent to billing for inclusion on the next bill. Waiting for a customer to clear voice mail and reply back to Qwest before closing a Non-Designed trouble ticket may result in increased resolution time, missed appointments, and technician idle time. It is not economically feasible for Qwest to create a new organization to manage non-designed trouble tickets, and at this time Qwest’s systems are not technically capable of holding non-designed trouble tickets before charges are sent to billing. Therefore, Qwest respectfully denies this request as it relates to the Non-Designed trouble ticket process.

Sincerely,

Craig Suellentrop Staff Advocate, Policy & Law Qwest

Cc: Mary Retka, Director-Legal Issues, Qwest Alice Matthews, Senior Process Analyst, Qwest Catherine R. Garcia, Lead Process Analyst, Qwest Don Tolman, Manager-Process Management, Qwest

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August 13, 2002

Kathleen Stichter ILEC Relations Manager Eschelon

SUBJECT: Qwest’s Supplemental Change Request Response - CR PC053002-1 “Real Time Dispute of TIC, Maintenance of Service and Dispatch Charges.”

This CR requests that Qwest develop “a process to allow CLECs to dispute miscellaneous repair charges before Qwest bills them.” During the clarification call with Eschelon and at the General Clarification at the June CMP meeting, the two repair processes (designed and non-designed) and the fact that the solution may be different for the different processes was discussed.

At the July CMP meeting Qwest responded that the current Designed Services process meets this request. Qwest also said that investigation of alternatives for the Non-Designed Process would continue and further information would be available at the August CMP meeting. However, because of the large number of Charge Requests related to Maintenance and Repair billing, a meeting will be scheduled for late August to discuss all of these, including this CR. Further clarification and direction for this CR will be determined after this meeting.

Sincerely,

Craig Suellentrop Staff Advocate, Policy & Law Qwest

Cc: Mary Retka, Director-Legal Issues, Qwest

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July 10, 2002

Kathleen Stichter ILEC Relations Manager Eschelon

SUBJECT: Qwest’s Change Request Response - CR PC053002-1 "Real Time Dispute of TIC, Maintenance of Service and Dispatch Charges."

This CR requests that Qwest develop "a process to allow CLECs to dispute miscellaneous repair charges before Qwest bills them." During the clarification call with Eschelon and at the General Clarification at the June CMP meeting, the two repair processes (designed and non-designed) and the fact that the solution may be different for the different processes was discussed.

The current repair process for Designed Services Trouble Tickets supports this request by allowing CLECs to dispute charges before they are billed. For Designed Services Qwest uses a Maintenance Control Organization (MCO) to manage trouble tickets. Qwest’s process is to hold a Designed Services Trouble Ticket for two weeks after closure before sending the charges to billing. When Qwest is discussing the resolution of Designed Services Trouble Tickets with the CLEC, the MCO technician will advise the CLEC that charges will be applied. If the CLEC disputes the resolution of the ticket, the ticket will not be closed. If a CLEC was advised during a previous Trouble Ticket that charges would be applied and that ticket has not been sent to billing, the CLEC can dispute that with the MCO technician during a subsequent Trouble Ticket. After the charges have been sent to billing, the CLEC must contact their Billing Representative to dispute any charges.

Because Qwest does not use an MCO for Non-Designed Trouble Tickets, the above process cannot be applied to these tickets. Qwest will continue to investigate alternatives that meet the needs of both Qwest and the CLECs. Qwest intends to respond to this CR regarding Non-Designed Trouble Tickets at the August CMP meeting.

Sincerely,

Craig Suellentrop Staff Advocate, Policy & Law Qwest

Cc: Mary Retka, Director-Legal Issues, Qwest Don Tolman, Manager-Process Management, Qwest Alice Matthews, Senior Process Analyst, Qwest


Information Current as of 1/11/2021