I just downloaded and installed the NMS Natural Access software and drivers. I also downloaded the board's documentation about installation and configuration, but I have a couple of questions regarding configuration...

One of the first steps is to run the pciscan.exe utility in order to know the PCI bus and slot in use by the board... In my case, the ouput says:



The AGLOAD environment variable is defined and includes several directories, including NMS\CG\CFG and many others (BTW, can I delete the unneeded NMS\AG\* references in there?)

Also, the documentation suggest to run the oamcfg.exe utility in order to load the configuration. I plan to copy/paste one of the many .CFG files under NMS\CG\CFG directory into a different directory, so as to set the suggested configuration (the one you previously gave me with the "T1_ISDN_Service_Specs_NMS.pdf" file).

However, I'm not sure about the configuration options... From the 23 channels available, I plan to use them this way:

* The first 17 channels for incoming calls
* 3 more just for call switching (using the place call & switch steps, then the hangup step to free up the channel on both the incoming 1..17th channel and the 18..20th channel used to place the call)
* 3 for outgoing faxes (just that, no voice processing in them)

I don't know if I have to enable or disable any option or setting for the last 3 channels (mind the 24th, signaling control channel)... May I just use the NMS\CG\CFG\cg6060fax.cfg template, or just the cg6060isdn.cfg template, or should I build a combination of both?

Besides, I'm not sure if I have to enable or disable the Echo cancellation feature... should I?

Please, I need to document your suggestions as well to my customer, so they may change it in the future in case they buy another board.

Thanks in advance.

The pciscan.exe now works and detects the board.

I also ran the oamgen.exe to create a sample.cfg file for oamsys.exe which I later edited to use a suitable configuration, but I still have issues with the DSP resources, I guess... this is the output from the oamsys execution:



I can provide the pdom-sys.cfg and pdom-cg6060.cfg configuration files if needed.

Where can I get a description for that error code 519? I have downloaded many documentation files to no avail...

BTW, I don't have anything connected to the board, not even a cross-over cable to test in loopback mode... Should I build such a cable (following the docs wiring suggestions) to start it up?

I just made the loopback cable and retested the configuration/startup procedures with oamsys and oamcfg alone: Same behaviour...



This time I configured the ClockMode as STANDALONE (also tried MASTER_A and SLAVE) and the ClockSource as OSC (also tried A_MASTER)... every retry outputs the same 519 error code, which I have not been able to locate in the documentation so far...

However, now that I have set the loopback cable, there's a slowly blinking green light on the board indicating (according to the docs) that it's started successfully...

So, I guess this is as far as I can go with testing without connecting to the Nortel PBX's T1 Lineside (which is missing... I'm still awaiting it to arrive and be installed).

Any comments?

Directly from NMS' help desk:



This helped me a lot. Basically, you have to allocate resource pools with your CG card, and define how many ports are allowed to use those pools.

Looking at your plan for port utilization, it would make sense to have 2 resource pools, one for your standard IVR functionality, and one dedicated to faxing. If you configure all your ports to be fax capable, you may not have enough resources to drive them all.

I have never needed 2 resource pools before. All the applications I've been working on require full functionality on all ports. The best document to get information about this is the "CG 6060 Installation and Developer's Manual" (which I'm sure you're already referring to).

You can also post configuration questions to NMS's Help Desk:
http://www.nmscommunications.com/DevPlatforms/Support/HelpDesk/default.htm

This is a free service for developers (like us), but they won't help you with any programming questions, or technical questions outside of getting a board configured. Sticking with the process of configuring and starting a board, I have found them to be very helpful. That's where I got the above answer about the 519 error.

Their free support (like most) is not terribly speedy, though.

Was PCISCAN not working due to a user rights issue?

Typically, you have to be logged on as a user that has Local Administrator rights on that machine to query the hardware directly, as PCISCAN does.

Just curious.

I'm logged in as the administrator, no restrictions, but pciscan worked fine just after a second reboot of the server... might be a Windows issue, dunno.

Well, after following the help desk suggestions, the board started just fine and the proper lights turned on:



Certainly, I thought I needed two resource pools because of the applications I plan to run on the board (three so far, one for faxing out documents). I will give a good read to the resource pool configuration section on that manual which, you're right, I already have.

Thanks a lot again!

The T1 Lineside just installed into the Nortel CS1000M PBX can only configure the 24 channels as analog ports. As such, the telco technicians tell me it's a T1 emulation, not a real T1.

They accepted to configure almost all of the parameters you suggest in the T1_ISDN_Service_Specs_NMS.doc document, except for the protocol: Instead of PRI (ISDN) they can only provide CAS.

Now, the CG6060 board that will receive those 24 T1-emulated channels (configured as analog in the PBX), does support CAS and the use of the WNK0 TCP (instead of ISD0, which I planned to use with PRI protocol).

Can I use CAS instead of PRI?

The fact that the channels will be configured as analog channels, brings me the doubt about the 2B-Transfer... Will I still be able to use the Transfer step (freeing the incoming & outgoing IVR channels, and leaving the customer and call center agent having their conversation at the PBX) or should I use the Switch step instead (leaving the IVR silently listening to the conversation until any party hangs up)?

You can certainly use CAS instead of PRI.

Unfortunately, the Transfer step only works with 2B-Transfer, which is only available on the NI2 variant of PRI.

You could ask the Nortel technicians how to activate the transfer capabilities of the PBX through the interface they have provided for you. It may be that you can issue a flash-hook, or dial a particular string of digits. If that fails, use the Switch step. It will definitely work.

Thanks, it's good news I can configure the board to use the CAS protocol.

I was thinking about using the Flash Hook step as well, that's more or less what they had explained me about how I should perform the transfer.

Does this change in protocol (CAS instead of PRI) and the fact the they're going to configure the T1 as 'analog' lines to the IVR, affect my ability to send faxes through the NMS board (through the same 'analog' lines)?

I hope not...

What I would expect to happen is that the Flash Hook step will signal to the PBX an on-hook/off-hook state, just as it would in a true analog configuration. In CAS this would result in your signalling bits to revert to 00 for about a half second, and then back to 11. What the PBX will do with that is a mystery to me.

Faxing should still work. A fax transmission is audio, in actual fact, so once your connection is established, a fax can be sent without concern for the underlying protocol.

Please help me. I have to install and work with a CG6000 board (for my thesis) in order to make isdn calls. Could anyone tell me the right configuration file? I've used the cgi6ei.cfg file and the board starts, but the demos don't work! I connected the 2 ports in loopback mode, did anyone make some tests in this way?
I don't know if this is the right place to ask my question, but I need someone who can help me step by step...

You might want to take a look at this other thread: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=528

There are details on how to diagnose and test using NMS programs first. I didn't know I had to keep "isdncta" program running on the background for the TeleFlow demos to run properly.

Thank you fesquivel. I read the other thread but I can't solve my problem, since I've started another topic... I hope in more replies from the other people in this forum.