glutt
@ispnetbilling.com | What does a CO look like ? Hi i was wondering if anybody had any pics of a telco CO, or knew where i might find some.
Thanks | |
|
 
justin
Australian
join:1999-05-28
Brooklyn, NY | Re: What does a CO look like ? some of them are pretty ugly, from what I have heard. They are rarely as nice as even a moderately well designed computer room. | |
|
 | 
Splitpair
Premium
join:2000-07-29
Cow Towne
 ·T-Mobile US
1 edit | Re: What does a CO look like ? said by justin  :some of them are pretty ugly, from what I have heard. They are rarely as nice as even a moderately well designed computer room. Never been in a BellSouth office have you. Most are so clean one could eat off the floor. No dust no dirt with an A/c system that filters out even the smallest particles.
Noisy hardly at all.
Another thing few relaize is they are using the same layout standards. As such a CO tech could go to any ILEC CO and work using only the WORD document as a guide.
That cannot be said for a computer/data room.
Wayne
--
If you cannot fix it with a buttset and some beanies you ain't a technician. | |
|
TomS_
debugger it
Premium,MVM
join:2002-07-19
Australia | Picture the isles in a supermarket, then picture the shelves as plain white/beige boxes with a couple of flashing lights on them. Thats about what you'd be looking at  | |
|
|
Splitpair
Premium
join:2000-07-29
Cow Towne
·T-Mobile US
| Re: What does a CO look like ? said by TomS_ :Picture the isles in a supermarket Substitute the term lineup for isles and you are in a CO.
Wayne
--
If you cannot fix it with a buttset and some beanies you ain't a technician. | |
|
UDubergamer
join:2004-03-03
Zeeland, MI | Yup they are covered in wires, and hum loudly from the Telco switchs. The cross connects are large and sometimes confusing! | |
|
|
|
|
glutt
@ispnetbilling.com
| Re: What does a CO look like ? I guess what i am asking is... How big are these things? are they like a building or just a little box? The reason i ask is, where i thought it should be i drove by there and all i see is a little tiny box on a pole, no way its a CO ? i live in a very small town, maybe 1000 people. maybe the map cords are off on the mapqwest map or somthing, but thats all i can see from where it says it is on a map, the map from this website. | |
|
| | |
| | hafizullah
join:2001-03-17
Flemington, NJ
 ·Embarq
| The COs i've seen (Qwest, Sprint) are basically very nondescript brick buildings with the telco name on them, some large HVAC ports, and little else. In small communities, they might be only one story; in Seattle, they are three or four stories high. | |
|
| | | FixManTx
Premium
join:2005-02-06
Carrollton, TX
| Re: What does a CO look like ? Here in Houston the CO's are concrete/brick buildings 2-3 stories tall, kinda plain looking with 2-3 dozen installer trucks/vans in a fenced-in lot, and the ILEC's logo on the building. Ours just changed from SBC to AT&T. I haven't noticed a CO out in the outlying towns but I'm sure they have the same kind of buildings with Verizon's logo. | |
|
| |
Splitpair
Premium
join:2000-07-29
Cow Towne
·T-Mobile US
| said by glutt :
I guess what i am asking is... How big are these things? They vary. There are a few in major cities that are 20+ stories high there are others that are in 10 x 20 foot pre-fab concrete huts. Once and a while I work in a CO in Pompano that is under a highway if you didn't know what you where looking for you would never see the hatch to get down there.
Wayne
--
If you cannot fix it with a buttset and some beanies you ain't a technician. | |
|
Brianv5
Low Level Functionary
Premium
join:2001-01-20
Keyser, WV
| Usually, the CO is an actual office. For a carrier that has multiple CO's in an area could have a main one then several smaller ones in an area. The smaller ones could be like an outside closet almost.
Space is limited which is why its hard to be an ILEC and get your DLSAM in with theirs.
--
More power never hurt anything. | |
|
| 
boethius
Boo-Yah
Premium
join:2002-01-28
Winters, CA
clubs:
| Re: What does a CO look like ? said by Brianv5 :Space is limited which is why its hard to be an ILEC and get your DLSAM in with theirs. I think you mean CLEC. The ILEC (Incumbent) by definition will be the one who built/owns the CO (usually one of the RBOCs).
And, yes, you're right, it usually is quite difficult to colo in a telco central office. The COs emptied out in the 70s, 80s and 90s with the advent of increasingly smaller digital switching hardware and away from the old huge, analog crossbar relay switching, but now they're filling back up with DSLAMs and CLECs and ISPs who want colo space.
On a totally weird tangent, there's a horror/suspense movie (compared to today, it's basically tame suspense) made in the 1970s called "Black Christmas" with Keir Dullea (Dave Bowman from "2001") and Olivia Hussey ("Romeo and Juliet") that has good video of the old crossbar equipment as they show how they manually traced phone calls to the sorority house Hussey lives in. | |
|
| | 
Greg_Z
Premium
join:2001-08-08
Springfield, IL
 ·Comcast
| Re: What does a CO look like ? Another good movie is Three Days of the Condor where Robert Redford is in the CO for NYBell. I grew up in CO's due to my father worked for the Telephone Co (Western Electric, then IL Bell). I have been in all but two CO's in Springfield, and still remember the largest one was in Columbus OH. that sat in the middle of nowhere, which now it no longer is, but surrounded by buildings.
A CO is nothing impressive, and really is nothing more then a room filled with racks of equipment, and can cause a Migraine if you stay in the room too long, due to the constant hum from the fans.
--
One man's customer loyalty is another man's misguided arrogance.
Another Tech forum site
Get your own Tekwear | |
|
|
|
justin
Australian
join:1999-05-28
Brooklyn, NY | Re: What does a CO look like ? thanks! | |
|
| mikebb278
join:2002-06-17
Cincinnati, OH | If I am not mistaken, that battery plant puts out +24vdc, that is a Lucent rectifier, and by the amount of cable (and lack of fiber) that this is a CO for a mainly residential area or a small town. | |
|
| | Dark_Fiber
Here We Go Again.
join:2004-06-13
Saint Charles, MO | Re: What does a CO look like ? That is a smaller office. It does have fiber in it, I just don't have any pictures of the fiber equipment. It is part of an OC-192 SONET ring and has several smaller OC-3 rings that feed RT's in the area. | |
|
| | LazMan
join:2003-03-26
Angus, ON
·TekSavvy Solutions..
| said by mikebb278 :If I am not mistaken, that battery plant puts out +24vdc, that is a Lucent rectifier, and by the amount of cable (and lack of fiber) that this is a CO for a mainly residential area or a small town. Typically +24vdc plants are for radio/cellular only. Most landline CO's are -48vdc.
Laz | |
|
| | | bilbusb
join:2003-04-10
Tucker, GA
·Service Electric B..
| Re: What does a CO look like ? The CO i was at (i got a tour from bellsouth)
another with all the data switches
another with 3 diesel generators
another with what looked like 100's of car batterys
A larger room with lots of 66 blocks (alot of em)
another room full of fiber stuff and dslams.
It was quite a place | |
|
| | |
Splitpair
Premium
join:2000-07-29
Cow Towne
·T-Mobile US
| said by LazMan :Typically +24vdc plants are for radio/cellular only. Most landline CO's are -48vdc. Laz If the office has a traditional switch it will be 48 volt based and I would guess that applies to 100% of ILEC offices under NEBS.
Cell sites are a mixed bag many of the older sites are 48 volt based while the x gens seem to be all 24 volt based.
Wayne
--
If you cannot fix it with a buttset and some beanies you ain't a technician. | |
|
| | | | 
DSL Lab Rat
Runnin' On The Wheel
join:2001-04-18
Pelham, AL
clubs:
| Re: What does a CO look like ? said by Splitpair :said by LazMan :Typically +24vdc plants are for radio/cellular only. Most landline CO's are -48vdc. Laz If the office has a traditional switch it will be 48 volt based and I would guess that applies to 100% of ILEC offices under NEBS. Cell sites are a mixed bag many of the older sites are 48 volt based while the x gens seem to be all 24 volt based. Wayne FWIW... There are more than a few 1AESS analog central offices still out there in both ILECS and CLECS. The 1AESS requires both -48v and +24 volt battery plants ....
--
Click here for my online photo gallery
"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts."
Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan
(Something I can agree on with a Democrat) | |
|
| | | | | 
iLive4Apple
Hybrid power
Premium
join:2006-07-13
Helena, AL
·Verizon BroadbandA..
·Charter Pipeline
·AT&T Southeast
 ·ViaTalk
| Re: What does a CO look like ? said by DSL Lab Rat :said by Splitpair :said by LazMan :Typically +24vdc plants are for radio/cellular only. Most landline CO's are -48vdc. Laz If the office has a traditional switch it will be 48 volt based and I would guess that applies to 100% of ILEC offices under NEBS. Cell sites are a mixed bag many of the older sites are 48 volt based while the x gens seem to be all 24 volt based. Wayne FWIW... There are more than a few 1AESS analog central offices still out there in both ILECS and CLECS. The 1AESS requires both -48v and +24 volt battery plants .... I am in the Hoover/Helena Area and I am on a 205-426-xxxx line and we have a WECO #1AESS switch and you can hear alot of clicking during the call setup.. I am assuming that there is nothing digital about this switch? | |
|
| | | | | |
DSL Lab Rat
Runnin' On The Wheel
join:2001-04-18
Pelham, AL
clubs:
| Re: What does a CO look like ? The 1AESS is a stored program controlled electro-mechanical switch. The talk path thru the 1AESS is all metallic. The talk path is set up using reminant reed switches and copper junctors, and you can indeed hear the clicks during call setup and especially during call waiting and three-way calling. The operation of all those metallic paths is under computer control ... probably an AT&T 3B2 processor retrofit.
As for voice quality, except for the transient noise, the analog ESS voice quality should be as good as or better than a modern digital switch. The best that a G711 digital connection can be is only almost as good as a *properly operating* analog circuit.
However, if you are served by digital subscriber carrier from the analog switch, that adds an extra analog-to-digital conversion that can degrade quality ... especially analog modem performance.
Cheers,
Dennis
--
Click here for my online photo gallery
"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts."
Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan
(Something I can agree on with a Democrat) | |
|
| | | | | | |
iLive4Apple
Hybrid power
Premium
join:2006-07-13
Helena, AL | Re: What does a CO look like ? I am getting DSL installed. But the Voice quality should still be good though correct? | |
|
| | | | | | | |
Greg_Z
Premium
join:2001-08-08
Springfield, IL
·Comcast
| Re: What does a CO look like ? said by iLive4Apple :I am getting DSL installed. But the Voice quality should still be good though correct? Since DSL does not go through the switches, you may find that your voice may get better, or they could end up FUBAR'ng it up in the upgrade.
--
I threw out the map a long time ago. Now I follow my own direction! | |
|
| | | | | | | |
DSL Lab Rat
Runnin' On The Wheel
join:2001-04-18
Pelham, AL
clubs:
| said by iLive4Apple :I am getting DSL installed. But the Voice quality should still be good though correct? Correct | |
|
| |
Splitpair
Premium
join:2000-07-29
Cow Towne
·T-Mobile US
| said by mikebb278 :If I am not mistaken, that battery plant puts out +24vdc, that is a Lucent rectifier, and by the amount of cable (and lack of fiber) that this is a CO for a mainly residential area or a small town. I dont know about that the battery strings look wired for 48.
Wayne
--
If you cannot fix it with a buttset and some beanies you ain't a technician. | |
|
kewlkeed
Grouch
Premium
join:2005-02-05
Knowlton, QC | Heya Dark_Fiber,
If you've got any more keep 'em coming. Love it!
Thanks!  | |
|
CopperMux
join:2005-01-18 | Dark Fiber, that is the cleanest, neatest vault I have ever seen. Nothing like that here!! | |
|
jeffmoss26
join:2002-07-22
Beachwood, OH
| I was in one in california a few years back. A couple floors of the place were completely empty because of the ESS switches, they were able to replace all the older gear with the 5E's and get a lot of free space. They had a floor devoted to colo cages which was pretty cool. Also of course the miles of copper, fiber, and blocks!
It was pretty cool.
Jeff | |
|
|
|
DigitalXeron
There is a lack of sanity
join:2003-12-17
Hamilton, ON
1 edit | COs are simply glorified Datacenters run by telcos =p | |
|
forefun
join:2004-04-21
Austin, TX
| I worked for AT&T from 1996 to 1999 in KC in Sales. I attended a CO tour at their downtown office several times as well as a Disaster Recovery Seminar. This CO (14th & Oak in KC)contained the largest LD (4ESS) switch at the time. This was the most impressive CO I have ever seen. At one time, the 4ESS Switch took up 4 floors. The first time I toured this CO, it took up half of 1 floor. Quite impressive at the time. The other thing that impressed me about this CO was the Power. Two seperate power feeds with wet-cell batteries that would power the entire building for 8 hours and a deisel generator that would power the building indefinitely. The Network Disaster Recovery Exercise was Incredible in and of itself. Link: »www.corp.att.com/ndr/ | |
|
spg
Grrrr
join:2001-10-31
NOT Texas!
| Check out this one. I don't work this one anymore, thank goodness. It's called the Madison Complex and used to be the tallest building in LA. You could get lost in the first manhole out of this one!
»www.thecentraloffice.com/Calif/L···ison.htm | |
|
Dude111
An Awesome Dude
Premium
join:2003-08-04
USA | Boy that CO looks HUGE | |
|
|
Javik
Premium
join:2006-10-02
Gilman, WI
| If you're looking for extreme-detail historical information and actual video footage of operating centrol offices, you need to head over to the Internet Archive at archive.org RIGHT NOW.
.
1935 Movie: Development from the beginning in 1877 to 1935, shows a map of the US as local exchanges were first installed, then long distance lines, and intercontinental lines. How loading coils improve the distance of signals, how the vacuum tube produced an explosion of growth.
Far Speaking - History of Telephone
»www.archive.org/details/FarSpeak1935
-----------
1950s Movies: Customers did not have dials. They pick up a handset on a party line and then a central office human phone operator makes the call for them on partially automated dialing equipment.
How operator toll dialing worked before automation, how the "new" automated switched toll dialing works, sounds of the early DTMF tones, a view of the relays and equipment of the CO, the construction of switching equipment at a Western Electric factory, the process of upgrading to automation across the United States.
Speeding Speech
»www.archive.org/details/Speeding1950
.
How to be a CO operator, how to use a rotary dial, and the call routing lookup process:
Operator Toll Dialing: Dialing
»www.archive.org/details/Operator1949_2
.
Various signals from the equipment to the operator.
Operator Toll Dialing: Cord Signals
»www.archive.org/details/Operator1949
.
Sharing the work of making connections and customer billing under heavy system load.
Operator Toll Dialing: Teamwork
»www.archive.org/details/Operator1949_4
.
- Javik | |
|
Lvl4Installer
@ccarnes.com
| I haven't read this entire thread, but I scanned and one post by Wayne caught my eye. He said that "most Bellsouth CO's are so clean you can eat off the floor." As a turf vendor who installs in over 100 CO's, I partially agree with that statment. The one that is totally false is when he claims that they're "hardly noisy at all."
Todays CO's are incredibly loud. There is no debating that. The Nortel switches hum like mad, and the Alcatel backbone is horrible. Probably the worst of all is the cooling fans of the Alcatel 1000's. In a moderate sized office these DSLAM's were lined up 4 to 40 bays deep, and had 2 to 3 fans per bay!
A close third are the Cisco GigE switches... the 7600's I think? One local tech even called in OSHA because he felt his desk was to close to the Nortel switch. I don't know what OSHA said, but his desk was moved... | |
|
| dsdarling
join:2005-04-01
Spokane, WA
1 edit | Re: What does a CO look like ? You want noise...
If you could play 100 of the following file at the same time....
You would have an idea of what noise is.
And then add a #5 Crossbar switch on the same floor....
Oh and this was just 3 numbers dialed.... add 4 more for effect. | |
|
| | 
alphapointe
Premium,MVM
join:2002-02-10
Columbia, MO
clubs:
·Mediacom
| Re: What does a CO look like ? You mean like this 1200 station SxS PABX? | |
|
kewlkeed
Grouch
Premium
join:2005-02-05
Knowlton, QC
1 edit | LMAO then you need to go visit some SxS and Crossbar COs.
Yes yes I know they don't exist now. But I would imagine the original poster was referring to them being quiet compared to these two monsters. You ain't heard noise 'till you've heard a SxS or XB switch in action.
Edit - Fans hum or roar... But there's nothing out there now that sounds like a group of 100 people, all holding a coffee can of nuts and bolts, and shaking them all at once. | |
|
|
|
|
·
• 
