ISDN (wierd) problem

Well today I discovered an odd issue with a new customer network. For some reason, if the External phone number mask on a phone was anything else than what was deemed "valid" such as when (example numbers used):

Trunk number: 01234 115115
DDI number: 01234 115200
Valid EPNM to send is "200"
Invalid number such as 01234 115200 results in CLI presented to called party as 01234 115115.

...then the call would not complete. IE, if I sent 01234 115200 to the PSTN then the following symptoms would occur:

• IP Phone gets busy tone
• My mobile phone would ring out for half a ring, presenting 01234 115115 before hanging up. Odd!
• What's more is the debug isdn q931 from the Cisco router:

*Jan 26 09:01:29.606: ISDN Se0/0/0:15 Q931: Applying typeplan for sw-type 0x12 is 0x0 0x0, Calling num 01234115200*Jan 26 09:01:29.610: ISDN Se0/0/0:15 Q931: Applying typeplan for sw-type 0x12 is 0x0 0x0, Called num 07989163892*Jan 26 09:01:29.610: ISDN Se0/0/0:15 Q931: TX -> SETUP pd = 8 callref = 0x0117 Bearer Capability i = 0x8090A3 Standard = CCITT Transfer Capability = Speech Transfer Mode = Circuit Transfer Rate = 64 kbit/s Channel ID i = 0xA98399 Exclusive, Channel 25 Progress Ind i = 0x8183 - Origination address is non-ISDN Calling Party Number i = 0x0081, '01234115200' Plan:Unknown, Type:Unknown Called Party Number i = 0x80, '07989163892' Plan:Unknown, Type:Unknown*Jan 26 09:01:29.822: ISDN Se0/0/0:15 Q931: RX <- CALL_PROC pd = 8 callref = 0x8117 Channel ID i = 0xA98399 Exclusive, Channel 25 Notification Ind i = 0xE8*Jan 26 09:01:33.614: ISDN Se0/0/0:15 Q931: RX <- ALERTING pd = 8 callref = 0x8117*Jan 26 09:01:33.654: ISDN Se0/0/0:15 Q931: TX -> DISCONNECT pd = 8 callref = 0x0117 Cause i = 0x80AC - Requested circuit/channel not available*Jan 26 09:01:33.830: ISDN Se0/0/0:15 Q931: RX <- RELEASE pd = 8 callref = 0x8117*Jan 26 09:01:33.834: ISDN Se0/0/0:15 Q931: TX -> RELEASE_COMP pd = 8 callref = 0x0117

Yes that's right! The call completes, yet the Q.931 debug says the bearer isn't available! It did make me wonder whether i'd configured too many bearers than the customer had paid for, but by a stroke of luck I determined that sending the correct CLI to the PSTN allowed the call to proceed:

*Jan 26 09:04:53.326: ISDN Se0/0/0:15 Q931: Applying typeplan for sw-type 0x12 is 0x0 0x0, Calling num 200*Jan 26 09:04:53.330: ISDN Se0/0/0:15 Q931: Applying typeplan for sw-type 0x12 is 0x0 0x0, Called num 07989163892*Jan 26 09:04:53.330: ISDN Se0/0/0:15 Q931: TX -> SETUP pd = 8 callref = 0x011A Bearer Capability i = 0x8090A3 Standard = CCITT Transfer Capability = Speech Transfer Mode = Circuit Transfer Rate = 64 kbit/s Channel ID i = 0xA98399 Exclusive, Channel 25 Progress Ind i = 0x8183 - Origination address is non-ISDN Calling Party Number i = 0x0081, '200' Plan:Unknown, Type:Unknown Called Party Number i = 0x80, '07989163892' Plan:Unknown, Type:Unknown*Jan 26 09:04:53.534: ISDN Se0/0/0:15 Q931: RX <- CALL_PROC pd = 8 callref = 0x811A Channel ID i = 0xA98399 Exclusive, Channel 25 Notification Ind i = 0xE8*Jan 26 09:04:56.770: ISDN Se0/0/0:15 Q931: RX <- ALERTING pd = 8 callref = 0x811A*Jan 26 09:04:58.538: ISDN Se0/0/0:15 Q931: TX -> DISCONNECT pd = 8 callref = 0x011A Cause i = 0x8090 - Normal call clearing*Jan 26 09:04:58.706: ISDN Se0/0/0:15 Q931: RX <- RELEASE pd = 8 callref = 0x811A*Jan 26 09:04:58.710: ISDN Se0/0/0:15 Q931: TX -> RELEASE_COMP pd = 8 callref = 0x011A

Blackberries

We lost the blackberry's!

WAH

:-(

Jed get's a Blackberry...

Sadly at the moment all the techbods at Nowcomm have to carry the Support phone on a rota basis. I don't mind being on call, but when you have to carry round a Nokia E60, the embarrassment factor is through the roof! I mean, just look at it...

So as a demontration for a customer what Blackberry is like (And furthermore, how well it works with Cisco Unified Messaging - the new curve is able to play voicemail WAV attachments!) we ended up with a couple of Blackberries to play with for an undetermined amount of time. The two devices are the BlackBerry 8120...

...and the BlackBerry 8310:

Personally I felt the 8120 felt quite tacky to feel, put perhaps i'm used to using re-assuring heavy devices? Both BlackBerry's were very very light!

Once i'd figured out the interface on the 8310 (Now the support phone) I was very impressed with the features, format and battery life of the device. Though the viewing of attachments such as Excel files didnt work as well as i'd hoped. If only we had Push Email working on Windows Smartphones...

Musings...

I've spent the last few days pondering several things, such as the UMPC form factor, ink blogging, and the price of devices in the marketplace. Hmmm...

The first thing to say is there are some fantastic ink blogs out there, from the likes of Sumocat and various others - but while i'd like to give it a go it does present various problems:

• Without a decent UI (Such as the windows live ink interface) for blogger.com (Or your blog weapon of choice) inkblogging is really really painful. If i'm on my UMPC then i'd have to write the blog in OneNote or Journal and then do either a printscreen or some kind of export - and then upload it as a JPEG to the blog site. I wrote two inkblogs last night and just couldn't be bothered to follow it through. Kudos to the other bloggers out there that do all their work in ink.
• If it's all in ink, how do Search engines spider the pages??
• Certain blogs out there that use Ink just don't display things correctly.
• I like URL's in my text, but I would guess doing this in ink would prove to be difficult.

...which is a real shame!

One other trouble with what I attempted to do last night was the whole concept of printscreening on the UMPC, and further more, using the UMPC for various things that I know will be a chore.

Printscreening my InkBlog just proved to be impossible on the UMPC because the screen is too claustrophobic, and i'm finding this for quite a few things lately - even OneNote could do with the extra screen real-estate.

So is moving to the Asus R50A a good idea? I don't think so! Judging by what i've seen, even the OQO2 sized devices that everyone seems to love aren't going to cut the mustard. The only device that really fits the bill, is the new Fujitsu (P1620) unit or maybe even the older P1610.



I guess i'm still dreaming of the ultimate UMPC:

The Amtek u560

Mmmm !

A nice alternative to the Asus on my shopping list would be this little baby. I think judging by forum posts I've seen that this device has come under flak for it's specs but most people don't realise that the CPU in this platform is pretty impressive, as is the battery life. There's also been criticism for the device being a shameless rip off of the Sony device. But hopefully if the price is right then things can really start to get interesting in UMPC land. There is a hands on video of this device on the net somewhere but I cant find it!

Another wow post!

I love news like this. Hopefully this story has a fairytale ending - because then there would be no reason to put a ULV CPU in a UMPC...

Linky.

CES Highlight - The Asus R50A

The Asus R50A sure is a pretty little beast and was by far the most interesting device to crop up from CES this year. There were alot of MID devices to be shown off but i'm not convinced that an MID device is going to be a big hit with consumers - I don't think they're useful enough to warrant their cost. I know that personally, a "lifestyle" device means I need to do more than just play music and browse the Internet!

But anyway, Gottabemobile's Asus R50A video drew a crowd round my PC when I played it at work! It has the potential to get me to sell off my R2H as long as the price is right. The screen size will be a bit smaller but i'm hoping that better battery life and lower weight will be a big bonus.

Big problem though - it doesn't have a stand! And they only cost pence to make!

Click To Play

HD-DVD on it's way out?

Let's face it, it wasn't too long before we saw something like this link on the inquirer.net show up. But what should we make of it?

I personally don't think that the war is over yet! Being a Briton all I see is adverts on TV for Blue Ray (Maybe I have seen a HD-DVD advert? But obviously it didn't make that much of an impression on me!).

There are still alot of deals out there on HD-DVD products and I think there's alot to be said about cheaper products and HD-DVD could still be the market's choice...

I just wouldn't go out and buy that HD-DVD player for the Xbox 360 in a hurry!

HTC Phone models

Has anyone else noticed HTC have gone a bit quiet when it comes to releasing new model specifications? I'm not sure whether it's the season, or for any other reason, but I was used to reading on CoolSmartPhone or MoDaCo about the new phone models to be released.

But there aren't any?

The last I remember reading about was the HTC Polaris and the HTC Shift - and now all seems to be silent!

Not that that's a problem - the HTC Touch is the best phone i've had in years!

An update to previous post

This link is perfect! JKK is a God, and has managed to get the Eee PC a Touch Screen! I think the only problem is the lack of Tablet PC XP Software for handwriting, and a Swivel screen. But at least it's a start!

2008 - the end of the UMPC?

Well it's certainly what Warner Crocker over at GottabeMobile has predicted, and it's an interesting prediction that I thought was worth touching upon.

Nicely enough GottabeMobile put up this link regarding their prediction on the rise of the UMPC in 2008 though they refer only to the Asus Eee PC as the basis of their predictions.

For me, there have always been attractive bits of equipment on the market that satisfy mobility requirements. For instance a few years ago (around 2004) I owned a Dell X1 laptop, and it was awesome. It had a 12.1" widescreen TFT screen, 4 hour battery life, 1.1GHz ULV Centrino CPU and 1GB RAM/60GB HD. Ok I got a bit lucky on this one as I bought it new from the Dell online warehouse for £660. This was 4 years ago!

Move forward to the present, and I paid £575 for a 2nd hand UMPC that has a 900MHz Celeron, 512mb RAM/60GB Hard Drive and a battery that lasts 3 hours if i'm lucky. So aside from a Touch-screen and GPS, i've lost power and performance - I really miss that X1 you know!

So what has defined the (Origami project specifically) UMPC? I'll divide this into subsections:

Market: While the UMPC had a difficult birth due to market confusion (and I suspect it still does judging by sales) the UMPC is a very flash note taking device, capable of showing a few films and brilliant for browsing in front of the telly. The reason why i'd miss the device so much by far is the form factor. While the Asus R2H could do with losing some weight I just love the one handed freedom, or the Sega GameGear double handed control for reading PDF's. I love the stand, the "grab and go" functionality and obviously the ability to use your finger to do stuff is just ace. I think the problem is that the market doesn't think the touch screen niche is worth the extra cash because the majority of people can't think of a reason to use it. That reason is OneNote 2007...

Handwriting/Inking: From the Origami project perspective this is the big point. Once you ink you just don't go back! Though how important inking is to you will have a big impact on what you buy. If you don't ink often, buy an Eee PC.

Price/Technology: As I talked about above with the Dell X1, the price and technology of UMPC's is a disaster. I just don't understand how I could buy a laptop 4 years ago that's more powerful and had better battery life (and was almost as light as the UMPC) for around the same price as a UMPC nowadays. Price will be the death of Origami.

So is the Eee PC a UMPC? It's a cheap, note-taking device that's capable of (probably) watching a film and is light enough to sit in front of the telly and browse. Sound familiar? The only real difference is about £400 and the ability to ink. I don't think that 2008 will be the death of the UMPC, but I think now that the Eee PC has broken the ice with it's price point, i'd love to see touch technology end up on an Eee PC-like device for £350-£400 ish. Fingers crossed that the form factor doesn't disappear!

Over 1000 visits!

It may be small dice to most, but I hit the 1000 views mark - woohoo! Thanks for reading, and Happy New Year to all.