Telecom/1996-04-telecom-walnutcreek.iso/miscellaneous/no-amer.isdn.users.group

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Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1993 19:06:37 -0600
From: TELECOM Moderator <[e-mail]>
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Subject: North American ISDN User's Group



  From: [e-mail] (Steve Rogers)
  Subject: Highlights of the October 1993 NIU-Forum Meeting
  Reply-To: [e-mail]
  Organization: EDS Management Consulting Services, Plano, TX
  Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1993 17:45:13 GMT

             NORTH AMERICAN ISDN USERS' FORUM
                                    (NIUF)

Volume 2                                                           Number 3

                   NIUF Meeting Highlights, October 19-22, 1993

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in
Gaithersburg, Maryland, hosted the nineteenth meeting of the NIUF on
October 19-22, 1993.  Over 200 users, implementors, and service
providers of ISDN technology attended the forum.

This NIUF meeting continued the tradition of providing continuing
education in ISDN-related topics by offering the following tutorials
as part of the regular meeting:

      - "Overview of NIUF/New Users & New Implementors," by Steve Rogers,
         Electronic Data Systems and Don Auble, Ameritech
      - "Basic ISDN," by Steve Rogers, Electronic Data Systems
      - "Introduction to NIUF-ISDN Wiring & Powering Work Program," by
     Steve Halpern, NYNEX S&T
      - "Application Software Interface," by Ben Stoltz, Sun Microsystems


Executive Steering Committee Highlights.

The Application Services Group (ASG) featured topics such as the DC
Metro- politan Area Clean Air Act Initiatives, presented by Rich
Raybold of Raybold Consulting.  Benefits of Telecommuting for the
employer and the employee were discussed by Don Brown of AT&T Network
Systems.  The ASG established a Clean Air Act committee and approved
mission statements for the Clean Air Act Project and the National
Information Infrastructure (NII) Project.  The group will develop a
collection of regional Clean Air Act mandates and impacts. Possible
agenda items for the February 1994 meeting include a speaker on NII
for a Q & A session, report of Clean Air Act activities, Development
of a Telecommuting Video, development of Telecommuting materials for
NIUF corporate members, categorizing telecommuting applications (high,
medium, low), and an invitation to mass market and Fortune 500
companies to participate in the ASG meeting and the NIUF in February.


ISDN Users' Workshop Highlights.

The ISDN Users' Workshop (IUW) of the NIUF had a number of significant
events take place and major work accomplished during this meeting.
One of the key activities of this meeting was the work accomplished by
the Public Policy and Strategic Planning Group of the IUW.  During
this week a number of meetings and a well-attended roundtable
discussion were held that dealt with the topics of changing the scope
of the NIUF to include the new National Information Infrastructure
(NII) initiative.  Jim Jacobson (JPL), IUW Vice Chair, and George
Abbott (North Carolina State University), Chair of the Broadband
Group, presented their views on the NII activity and how the NIUF
could participate as the "voice of the user" in this initiative.  As a
result of this roundtable and the various meetings of the Public
Policy and Strategic Planning Group, a motion was formulated, reviewed
and approved by the IUW and the NIUF Plenary that outlines the
capabilities of the NIUF, the benefits to its participation in the NII
initiative, and an action plan to include the NII initiatives in the
scope of the NIUF.

At the IUW General Meeting, representatives of the Regional Bell
Operating Companies (RBOCs), Interexchange Carriers (IXCs), and other
Common Carriers were given an opportunity to present their marketing
plans and initiative for ISDN service in their respective companies.
This well-attended session gave attendees a chance to hear what
service names are being used to market ISDN in the respective
companies and what each participating company thought were the key
applications and target markets for ISDN.  It was apparent from these
presentations that many of the participating companies have progressed
from the initial test deployment phase into major campaigns to sell
the benefits of ISDN service.  Questions from the audience dealt with
such topics as future deployment plans, issues related to IXC
interconnection, time to qualify loop and fulfill service orders, and
other general marketing questions.  An important document distributed
at this meeting was an update to the ISDN Tariff Summary developed by
Cathy Simon of Ameritech Services.  In Issue 2 Cathy explained that
there have been a number of corrections, clarifications and additional
information provided over what was given at the last NIUF meeting.
This issue includes new information regarding the message unit rates
for various ISDN service providers.

The Broadband ISDN Group established a task group to address user
requirements and interworking relationships between narrowband and
broadband ISDN.  Art Scarano of AT&T (703-412-0094) will be the
contact for those interested in participating in this task group.

The Mass Markets Group had a number of well-attended sessions where
various representatives of the RBOCs presented their plans to provide
ISDN services for the Mass Market segment.  In addition, this group
has expressed an interest in participating with the COS ISDN Executive
Interest Group in the planning for a new ISDN Event in 1994 to include
mass market application of ISDN.

George Abbott of the North Carolina State University briefed the
Government Services Group on Narrowband and Broadband initiatives
ongoing at North Carolina State.  Ron Hodge from Booz, Allen and
Hamilton briefed the group on the Administration's emerging National
Information Infrastructure (NII).  Ron's view is that successful
evolution of the NII will depend on government policy and regulatory
decisions and also depends on the following incentives to industry to
build it:

         Cost Savings
         New Services and Markets
         Increased Market Share
         Improved Quality and Timeliness
         Increased Delivery Capability

Charles Brown of Connective Strategies, Inc. (CSI) outlined the ISDN
Applications that can be met with technology that had been developed
by CSI following profiles developed by the NIUF.  He outlined how the
products work and how they meet the user needs without sacrificing the
existing users' investment in equipment.

Art Scarano briefed the group on AT&T's advances in ATM and Broadband
ISDN.  Art also outlined the NIUF Broadband ISDN Group's initiative to
identify User Requirements and Interworking relationships between
narrowband and broadband ISDN.  This initiative will be worked on by
the Broadband subcommittee; progress and findings of this group will
be reported at the next NIUF.

Tom vonDeak of NASA briefed the group on the Advanced Communications
Technologies Satellite (ACTS) Program which is using ISDN over
Satellite.  This experimental network can handle 26 individual "SPOTS"
anywhere within the Northern Hemisphere.

Jay Brandstadter updated the group on the ISDN initiatives supported
by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA). The Government
Services Group supports the investigation of the NII motion as
possible future work items at the NIUF.

The Enterprise Network Data Interconnectivity Family (ENDIF) revised
and approved the Remote LAN Access Application.  The group views this
as a major milestone now that the user segment of this application is
completed.  The implementors will work to put the user requirements in
place.  In addition, ENDIF created and approved an interoperability
specification which is being coordinated with the Internet Engineering
Task Force.  ENDIF had representation at the Amsterdam meeting and
will be represented again at the next meeting in Houston.

Cisco, Combinet, Digiboard, Gandalf, IBM, and Network Express have
approved the interoperability agreement.  Other vendors are being
contacted.  The motivating force behind this agreement is the concept
of "plug and play."  It will allow a vendor's ISDN network device to
connect transparently to another vendor's ISDN network device.  This
means that users will be free to mix and match ISDN network equipment.
Bilateral arrangements were created to do testing and inter-
operability certification.  Guidelines for interoperability testing
are being created by the vendors.  A system for reporting
interoperability results back to users is under consideration.  This
will provide accountability to assure that the compatibility exists
and works.

The interoperability demonstration initially planned for the October
1993 NIUF meeting is now tentatively scheduled to occur at Interop in
Las Vegas (May 1994).  Details will be available when arrangements
have been confirmed.

The Issues Group recognized the enormous accomplishment of many people
resulting in a soon-to-be-published SR2102-ISDN Deployment Schedule
Issue 4.  Each new issue contains additional information and new
deployment information from new service providers.  The document
information is being used by other service providers, CPE
manufacturers, and software developers to plan and deploy their
products and services.  This is in addition to the users' use as a
planning tool.  SR2102 is available from Bellcore at 1-800-521-2673.

The IUW agreed that we need to establish a planning effort to identify
and tackle ISDN needs and issues relating to the Transaction
Processing industry.  The deployment of a national ISDN packet network
is key to the success and growth of the Transaction Processing
marketplace.  The IUW plans a series of tutorials and a User
Roundtable at the February 1994 meeting to initiate this effort.

"Plug and Play Roundtable."  An IUW User Roundtable was held to define
and discuss the popular term "Plug 'N Play."  The roundtable
discussion, chaired by Karen Patten (AT&T) Chair of the Issues Group,
resulted in the development of a definition and requirements for "Plug
and Play" ISDN equipment.  This lively discussion dealt with such
topics as ease of ordering, ease of activation and provisioning, and a
list of areas for future study.  The simplified definition is that
ISDN "Plug 'N Play" allows any person to be able to order ISDN service
using the same procedures currently in place for ordering POTS (Plain
Old Telephone Service) service.  The hardware should be available at
any retail electronics store, easily programmable, and
self-provisioning.  The service should be available in residences,
hotels, and small businesses as well as large businesses and
organizations.  It should be affordable and leasable.


ISDN Implementors Workshop Highlights.

The Powering and Wiring ad-hoc committee of the ISDN CPE & Software
Technical Working Group (ICSW) addresses the need for practical
solutions and guidelines.  The group's goal is to publish documents
that will clarify:

        1)     the use of existing wire for ISDN,
        2)     the selection of ISDN premises wiring configurations and
               components for new and renovated installations,
        3)     the selection of CPE powering options,
        4)     support for POTS-like extension phone capabilities in an
               ISDN installation, and
        5)     initial application documents are targeted for the first
               quarter of 1994.

The Messaging and Answering Family and Profile Team held two full days
of meetings regarding the Unified Message Retrieval Application
Profile and tutorials regarding the use of ISDN for various messaging
and answering applications.  As a result of this effort by the Family
Chair, Lynn Case of Bellcore, and her team, a number of new
participating vendors of voice messaging products have become active
in the NIUF.

The Application Analysis Working Group plans an outreach program to
higher education to build technical support for NIUF activities.
Contact David LaPier, Bellcore, at 908-758-5283 with your ideas.

A draft of the second edition of "A Catalog of National ISDN Solutions
for Selected NIUF Applications" was made available for general comment
and declared working group stable by the Application Analysis Group
headed by David LaPier of Bellcore.  This document is an expansion of
the original Applications Catalog and includes new applications based
on National ISDN-2 capabilities.  It also include an expanded vendor
and equipment section.  The document was well received by all
attendees and may be ordered from Bellcore by calling 1-800-521-CORE
(2673) and requesting document GP-1.

The ISDN Conformance Testing Technical Working Groups have developed
comprehensive guidelines to vendors of ISDN Basic Rate Terminal
Equipment.  These guidelines describe how to produce a single
implementation that will meet both National ISDN 1 (NI-1) and NIUF
conformance requirements for Layer 3 basic call control.  The
document, produced by the ACT23 subgroup, may be obtained by
contacting the ACT23 Chair, Leslie Collica of NIST at 301-975-4856.

The Signaling/Supplementary Services Technical Working Group conducted
a line-by-line review of SSWG 305 (BRI Class II point-to-point)
Implementation Agreement.  The groupaddressed VMS concerns to generate
Implementation Agreements on supplementary services to satisfy its
profiles and applications.

The Network Management Technical Working Group and the Security
Technical Working Group merged.  The group plans to begin the
development of Implementation Agreements for T1.216, 217, and 218 at
the February 1994 NIUF.  Development of a model for ISDN Security and
Network Management will be addressed at the February 1994 meeting.
Telecommunication Management Network (TMN) will be reviewed to
determine its use as a model.

The Wireless Technical Working Group gave an overview for the NASA
ISDN demonstration over satellite to be conducted at the Denver NIUF
in February 1994.  Also planned for February are tutorials on Personal
Communications Service (PCS).

At the NIUF Banquet, Sean Parham of Motorola presented a talk on "The
Myths and Realities of Next-Generation LAN Technology - Why and How
Users are Becoming Involved in the Rollout of ATM."

The Closing Plenary approved the following documents on October 22, 1993:

      - Video Conference Application Profile (VAC 93-1) (89-007.4, 940007.0)
        [NIUF 426-93]
      - Frame Relay Conformance Test Suite for ANS T1.617 Annex D-Permanent
        Virtual Connection:
           Part I: Test Suite Structure and Test Purpose (ICOT-93-01
                   ACTFR-92-014.08)
                    [NIUF 422-93]
           Part 2: Protocol Implementation Extra Information for Testing
                    (PIXIT) (ICOT-93-02, ACTFR-92-025.05) [NIUF 423-93]
           Part 3: Conformance Test Suite (ICOT-93-03, ACTFR-92-026.06)
                   [NIUF 424-93]
      - ISDN Layer 1 Conformance Testing - Basic Access S/T Interface
        (ICOT-93-04, ACT1-93-010) [NIUF 425-93]
      - ISDN Layer 3 Basic Call Control Abstract Test Suite - Primary Rate
        Interface (PRI)/Class II User Side (ICOT-93-05, ACT23-93-08)
        [NIUF 421-93]
      - NIUF ISDN Parameter Groups (NIPGs):  Phase 2 Simplification (Issue:
        91-007.6, 160007.0) [NIUF 427-93]

The following documents were announced as working group stable and
will be voted at the next meeting, if no substantive comments are
received:

      - Guidelines for Implementors of ISDN CPE to Conform to Both National
        ISDN 1 and NIUF Layer 3 Basic Rate Interface Basic Call Control
        Abstract Test Suites [ICOT-93-07, ACT23-92/42.3R7]
      - Telecommuting Application Profile [PAP 89039.4]
      - NIUF Application Packages:  Phase 3 Simplification [Issue #91-007.6
        (16007.0)]
      - A Catalog of National ISDN Solutions for Selected NIUF Applications,
        Second Edition

The following working group charters were approved:

      - Application Services Group (ASG)
      - Security & Network Management Technical Working Group

One new application was submitted to the IUW:
      93-009.1         SMDR-P Call Accounting/Real Time

NIUF Chair, Dan Stokesberry, announced that he will be reassigned to
another project at NIST.  Leslie Collica of NIST will assume the NIUF
Chair position.  Leslie has participated in the NIUF for five years
and has served as Vice Chair of the ISDN Conformance Testing (ICOT)
Group and the Chair of the ICOT ACT 23 group for two years.

This nineteenth meeting of the NIUF continued to demonstrate the power
of the user voice in developing and deploying ISDN service.  The NIUF
continues to be a vibrant and active organization furthering the cause
of ISDN and providing a place for discussion of issues and concerns to
both the users and implementors of ISDN as well as a vast body of
technical work on applications, implementation agreements, ordering
procedures, conformance tests, education and information regarding the
benefits of ISDN.

The next NIUF meeting will be held at the Hyatt Regency Tech Center in
Denver, Colorado, February 8-11, 1994.  U S WEST will be hosting the
meeting.  Contact Dawn Hoffman of NIST at 301-975-2937 for further
information.

                        !!!NIUF News!!!

         Motion to Include NII Initiatives into Scope of NIUF


The following motion dealing with expanding the role of the NIUF to
include the National Information INfrastructure was accepted by the
NIUF:

        Whereas, this October 1993 Closing Plenary of the NIUF
believes that the objectives of the NIUF should be re-examined (based
upon the National Information Infrastructure (NII): Agenda for Action
initiative) to incorporate a strong user voice in the directions of
the North American Information Infrastructure (NAII); and

        Whereas, the NIUF is essentially the only existing body with
experience and proven results in the USER STEERING and IMPLEMENTOR
ROWING concept in advanced communications technology; and

        Whereas, the NII: Agenda for Action cites the need for "close
cooperation between government, users, service providers, and public
interest groups" and promotes a "user-driven operation of the NII" and
there currently exists no other organization capable of fulfilling
these objectives; and

        Whereas, the current objectives of the NIUF are not fully
accomplished and that the ongoing activities are necessary and must be
continued to provide a fundamental element of the North American
Information Infrastructure, and since activities within the forum
include existing Cooperative Research and Development Agreements for
ISDN and other advanced technologies essential to the development and
deployment of the information infrastructure; and

         Whereas, the NIUF has developed over the past six years a
substantial and comprehensive body of work that emphasizes end user
application solutions utilizing a standards based information
technology, and can provide essential technical details on user
requirements and applications to many components of the Information
Infrastructure initiative; and

        Whereas, the NIUF is experienced in providing administrative
services, facilities, staff and other support services capable of
supporting the user goals of the NII;

        Be it therefore resolved that this October 1993 Closing
Plenary of the NIUF, in order to support the goals of its members,
recommends the following actions;

        (1) That the NIUF Chairman, the three group Chairs, and such
others as they believe appropriate inform the Information
Infrastructure Task Force (IITF) and other NII agencies of the
structure, process, activities and accomplishments of the NIUF and
investigate the desirability of establishing formal liaisons between
those principals, and that we explore ways that the existing NIUF
process and product be used to further the stated objectives of the
NII; and

        (2) That the NIUF Chairman, the three group Chairs, and such
others as appropriate, form a special committee and participate in
reviewing the form and function of the NIUF and its attendant
practices and procedures, to cover the anticipated scope of work that
would permit the NIUF to embrace the objectives of the NII Initiative,
and to propose appropriate courses of action, if necessary, to better
position the NIUF to become the "user voice" for the NII.

        (3) That the results of the above actions be brought back to
the February 1994 NIUF and for such following NIUF sessions as
necessary for further discussion and appropriate action.  It should be
understood that it may take several Forums to fully resolve the
necessary agreements and of the resulting internal organization of the
expanded NIUF.

        It is understood that none of the efforts to explore new
activities for the NIUF will in any way dilute the current and planned
activities in support of basic and primary rate ISDN.

                        !!!!NIUF News!!!!
              ISDN Applications Catalog Released

The draft of the second edition of "A Catalog of National ISDN
Solutions for Selected NIUF Applications" was distributed at the
October 19-22, 1993 meeting of the North American ISDN Users' Forum
(NIUF).  The NIUF's goal is to publish the second edition in February
1994.  The new edition focuses on new solutions which include NI-2 and
PRI capabilities.  It will also include a new ISDN overview targeted
at the decision-making consumer.

How, when, and why ISDN can work for business and residential users.
This is the focus of "A Catalog of National ISDN Solutions for
Selected NIUF Applications".  This second edition is aimed at users,
systems integrators, and applications developers who want to learn
about ISDN applications, products, and technology.

"The document draws on expertise from across the ISDN community,"
notes David LaPier of Bellcore, who chaired the NIUF catalog project.
"Contributions came from more than 30 different organizations
representing users, manufacturers of end-user equipment, systems
integrators and telephone companies," he said.

LaPier explained how the catalog's new format provides feasibility
studies and tools that help telecommunications users decide whether or
not to use ISDN.  The body of the document is a collection of 60
sample solutions showing how ISDN can meet a variety of communication
needs, he said.  Each segment includes an easy to understand
description of the solution, a diagram showing the office and
telecommunications equipment required, and an explanation of how the
solution works.  It details functions that each component supports,
and specifies the ISDN interface that is needed.  General technical
information is covered in a separate section.

The catalog covers specifications for both National ISDN-1, which was
introduced in 1992, and National ISDN-2 that will become available in
early 1994.  The updated chapter on ISDN products and services offers
summaries of 238 new items offered by 98 companies.

Copies of the draft are now available, at $43 from Bellcore by calling
1-800- 521-CORE (2673).  Request document GP-1.


                        !!!!NIUF News!!!!
      The NIUF Addresses ISDN Wiring and Powering Issues


In November 1992, the North American ISDN Users Forum (NIUF)
co-sponsored the Transcontinental ISDN Project 1992 (TRIP 92) to
celebrate the beginning of a North American ISDN network that will
provide ISDN services throughout North America.  By 1995, these ISDN
services are expected to be available on approximately 80 percent of
the telephone lines in North America.

As more and more customers order these ISDN services, there is a
growing awareness that the customer's perception of the value of an
ISDN network service is dependent on the quality of the wiring and
powering arrangements for the customers equipment, i.e., that part of
the system located on the customer's side of the interface.  As a
result, ISDN service providers and CPE vendors have become concerned
with the resolution of issues related to simplification of customer
premises provisioning.

While the technical requirements associated with many of these issues
are dictated by ANSI and EIA/TIA standards, the practical information
required by installers has not been generally available.  Some CPE
vendors have provided practical interpretations of the standards in
customer manuals, but these documents do not solve the industry-wide
problem of information dissemination.  In many instances this vendor
documentation is targeted at the large business market and is not
available to the general public.

The NIUF has formed an ad-hoc Wiring & Powering Working Group to
address the need for practical solutions and guidelines.  This program
is conducted in an open forum with participation open to all
interested parties.  The group's goal is to publish documents that
will demystify:

        1)     the use of existing wire for ISDN,
        2)     the selection of ISDN premises wiring configurations and components
               for new and renovated installations,
        3)     the selection of CPE powering options,
        4)     support for POTS-like extension phone capabilities in an ISDN
               installation, and
        5)     initial application documents are targeted for the first quarter
               of 1994.

The Wiring & Powering Working Group was officially formed at the June
NIUF and has since held two interim meetings.  The group intends to
provide practical recommendations and guidelines for all market
segments but it will concentrate initially on the mass market, which
includes the residential and small business premises.  This work
effort has already attracted considerable attention and participation
from the industry.  The present active participants in the group
include Ameritech, AT&T, Bellcore, IBM, Northern Telecom, NYNEX and
SEI Systems.  A number of other stakeholders are monitoring the work
in progress.  This work is of major interest to ISDN service
providers, ISDN CPE vendors, wiring component vendors, communications
planners, installers and consultants.

To facilitate communications between meetings, a file server at NYNEX
S&T has been made available for electronic mail and anonymous ftp over
the internet.  The email address, [e-mail], provides a
broadcast mail service to group members and other interested parties.
Requests for inclusion to the mailing list should be sent to
[e-mail].  Work in progress as well as completed documents will
be available via anonymous ftp from ftphost.nynexst.com.  Interested
parties without access to the internet should contact Steve Halpern at
[phone].


Standard Disclaimers...I don't talk for EDS...Opinions are my own, etc.
Steve Rogers        [e-mail]
EDS Technology Architecture    Plano, Texas