TelEm Group technicians will be resuming the transfer of residential and commercial telephone lines in the Simpson Bay area from today (Monday, November15th).
The work involves transfer of telephone lines in Simpson Bay from the company’s DMS 100 digital switch to a more modern software-based CS2K Softswitch.
The cutover team has so far transferred more than 3,000 numbers from the company’s DMS100 digital switches in Dawn Beach, Ebenezer, Belvedere and the first part of Simpson Bay, to a the new state-of-the-art CS2K Softswitch that operates with Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) technology.
CS2K Project Manager and Supervisor Switching Networks, Mr. Kenneth Blijden, says work will begin in the Cole Bay and Philipsburg areas only after the Simpson Bay cutover is completed.
"Because of the high volume of commercial properties in the Simpson Bay area and also based on experiences from the cutovers completed so far, we will be carrying out a more targeted cutover by working on one group of numbers at a time instead of taking the whole area at once," said Mr. Blijden.
Mr. Blijden said number transfers begin in the morning hours and TelEm Group will be doing all it can to ensure the least impact possible to residential and commercial properties in the area.
Company personnel will be assisting the technicians by calling customers throughout the day by testing and confirming the number transfers when necessary.
TelEm Group customers in the Simpson Bay area are asked to be patient and to expect their lines to be interrupted only for a short time while being transferred from the old to the new switch.
As a result of the cutover and to ensure numbers are reconnected immediately after the cutover TElEm Group technicians will not be carrying out any repairs or new installations in the Simpson Bay area until the cutover exercise is completed.
Based on the schedule of work and barring any unforeseen problems all transfers will be completed by the end of the workday Wednesday.
TelEm Group Chief Technical Officer, Eldert Louisa, said technicians and engineers from several departments in the company will be working together on the cutover project which once completed, will greatly improve the efficiency and quality of telecommunication services offered to customers island-side.
Meantime TelEm Group has announced that customers without landline service during the months of August and September because of the passage of Hurricane Earl and Tropical Storm Otto will be receiving a credit to their November billing account.
The credit is posted in the "Adjustments" line in the Billing statement.
Customers receiving November bills are asked to note that the amount credited in the "Adjustments" line may also include other credits of payments that are not related to loss of service from inclement weather.
A more detailed breakdown of credits received in the November bills of TelEm Group customer accounts is available upon request and for which a fee will be charged.