In the world of project management, consistency in process is crucial. At a high level all key areas of a project should be followed as well as the processes within those key areas.Telecommunications is a unique industry with its own special language. In order to effectively manage a project in the telecommunications industry, you must first learn the language. Managing the implementation of a PRI circuit can be much different than managing the implementation of a DS3 or Advanced Features.However, there are some basic high level guidelines you can follow on almost every telecommunications project that will help guide you through the process. These steps are by no means the only considerations in a telecommunications project, but they will help make sure you have a basic understanding as to how these projects move along. You can then embed basic project management principles with these specific telecommunication steps to comprehensively manage a circuit implementation project.Basic Telecommunications Project Steps:
In telecommunications, it is likely that the sales person and the project manager are two different people. As the project manager, you need to make sure you talk with both the sales person and the customer to gain a full understanding of the customer’s objectives and timeframes. Make sure you have a good understanding as to how the customer plans to use the new telecommunications circuit.
Be sure you understand if there is new building construction involved. If a large pipeline is required such as a DS3 or larger, talk with whomever you can on the service provider that actually works with resources near the customer’s install site to ensure special construction is not required. Construction of any kind can vastly change a project timeline. A good salesperson may have already done this type of up-front legwork, but many will not.
Make sure you understand basic installation timeframes for specific circuit types. There are hard timeline limitations with telecommunications and you want to be sure you do not promise dates where you have no business doing so. You can quote typical timelines for specific types of circuits, but be sure not to over promise if you do not know every last detail involved in the implementation. Telecommunications can offer many surprises, so tread lightly.
Once you review the technical specifications of the project with the customer and a telecom service technician, make sure the timeline for the project matches the customer’s expectations.
There are specific telecom related steps in a circuit implementation project that ring true for most circuits. You can monitor whether these tasks have taken place to help keep the project on track. Steps A. through E. should be able to occur within a 30 day timeframe. This includes:
The project going into circuit design quickly after the technical specifications are reviewed
Receipt of the Circuit ID’s (generally 10 business days after going into circuit design)
The ASR being submitted to the actual service provider
The FOC date being issued
The Actual FOC date itself (usually 5 business days after FOC date is issued)
Carrier Test and Acceptance of the Circuit, prior to activation of the circuit with the customer (generally takes 2 days after the FOC date)
Actual Customer circuit activation and cut-over date