Case Study

County of Monterey

In late September 2006 we got an urgent call from the County of Monterey relaying the fact that their County courthouse located on Church Street was under Asbestos Abatement and was closed until further notice. Not only was this disastrous in and of itself, but to add to the urgency, the building housed LIMs 1 and 2 the the Group Switch!

The County asked D&S for any help that we could offer to support their LIMs and Group Switch at that site during this critical period. Needless to say we had a lot to take on due to the potentially hazardous conditions. D&S was not certified to work in asbestos environments, but our primary objective was to take care of our customer, and take care we did. Within days and assistance from the County we rallied our team and quickly got 2 of our engineers certified.

Once certified, our engineers were permitted to enter the facility to move the equipment without disturbing or touching any of the asbestos. Over the course of several weeklong round robin trips, we ventured into the building to do the prep work to relocate LIMs 1 and 2 and to prep for the flash cut of a new fully loaded Group Switch with relocated PCM links. With the criticality of LIM 1 and the Group Switch, accuracy and quality work was paramount. Prep work included the identification of the circuits in and out of the old span rack and Group Switch.

While prep work was going on, D&S ordered and tracked the delivery of the new Group Switch every step of the way. At one point in time, we were having daily calls with Ericsson and the shipping company to expedite the Group Switch out of customs.

Once the prep work was completed, the transfer to the new Group Switch was scheduled for 3 days. The cutover started at 6:00 PM with the move of the old span converters from the old cabinet in the basement to the new rack at the Moffit Street switch room. Our installers cut 52 T-1 lines and 32 E-1 circuits in 3.5 hours with 100% accuracy! This successful implementation was a result of teamwork and was completed well ahead of schedule. The project could not have gone as smoothly had it not been for Mike Perez’s diligent coordination with the County, Harvey Langley’s work with the Telco in ordering and commissioning new facilities, and Dan Mikulich’s planning and records which kept everyone on the same page. Furthermore, the Telco was also instrumental in this achievement.

Dan Mikulich, Telecommunications Operations Manager for the County of Monterey, expressed the following about the project: “D&S Communications was instrumental in the success of our group switch move. Their vast and comprehensive technical experience allowed them to make the necessary recommendations that provided me the information I needed so that I could make key decisions that were pivotal to the project being so successful. I am also very appreciative of their ability to track and manage the arrival of the hardware from Ericsson Enterprise. Without their assistance I would never have been able to complete a group switch move in 6 weeks. Thank you D&S.“