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I keep getting a rapid busy or a recorded voice saying
'All Trunks Busy,' is ElkNet getting too big?

 

  • Wrong Number
    If your computer is incorrectly dialing ElkNet, you will often get a busy message. Your computer should never dial more than 7 digits. If your computer is dialing an area code or an incorrect outside access code, you will receive a busy message. Outside access codes should only be used by business telephone systems that require a code to be entered, typically a '9', to get an outside line. Your computer should always be configured with an area code that matches the area code entered for ElkNet. Sometimes people incorrectly enter their own number for the computer to dial, and you will again get a busy message.
  • Call Waiting
    If you have Call Waiting on the telephone line your computer uses to access ElkNet, then you should configure your computer to disable it each time you call ElkNet. Often, the ability to disable call waiting is an extra feature your phone company must enable for you, it does not always come automatically when you order call waiting. If you configure your computer to disable call waiting, and you do not have the disable feature enabled on your line, you will get a busy message. Also, if you configure your computer with the incorrect disable code, you will get a busy. To test this, pick up a phone on the same line as your computer, and manually dial the disable code you have configured your computer for. If all is correct, you will hear a short silence, and then a second dial tone. If something is wrong, you will hear a busy signal.
  • True Busy Signals
    The type of telephone lines used by an Internet service, called digital trunks, have a different type of busy signal than what most customers are familiar with. Sometimes you may hear what sounds like a busy signal, but more rapid than usual. Other times you may hear a recorded voice that gives a message to the effect that all lines are busy, please try again later. If you can not hear your modem dialing, and therefore can not hear these sounds or messages, then sometimes your computer may pop up a window that says the number dialed was busy. This pop up window can sometimes come up for reasons unrelated to an actual busy, and we suggest that if you can not hear the busy message when the computer dials, then pick up your home phone and dial the same ElkNet access number your computer just dialed. If there really is a busy condition, you will hear the busy signal or recorded message yourself. Otherwise you will hear a high pitched screech which means you successfully got through to ElkNet.
  • Trunks, Ports
    When you try to access ElkNet, there are two reasons you can get a true busy message; ElkNet is out of ports at that time, or there are not enough telephone company trunks between your telephone company and ElkNet's location. There is no way that a customer can determine which is the cause, so we suggest contacting our offices when this happens.
  • Shortage of Ports
    The national average for access ports to customers is 12:1. At ElkNet we always try to better this average by running 10:1, thereby reducing the chance of our customers ever getting a busy because we are out of available ports.
  • Shortage of trunks
    Just like on Mother's Day, when there is a lot of calls between telephone company central offices, you can get a busy message because all of the telephone capacity between areas is exhausted. Note that if your telephone service is in the same central office as the ElkNet access number you are calling (e.g. you live in Sharon, Elkhorn, or Mukwonago), you will never get a busy message due to a shortage of trunks. This problem only occurs between telephone central offices. The telephone companies involved will get alarms when this happens, and if it happens repeatedly, they will add trunks on their own initiative. When ElkNet is informed by our customers of busy messages, and it is caused by a shortage of trunks, we also contact the telephone companies.
  • No Busy Policy
    When customers do get busy messages, we want to know about it. If the cause is that we were out of ports, due to a higher than normal number of customers wanting access, we can add additional ports ahead of schedule, even if it means going lower than 10:1 for a short time. If the cause of the busy message was a lack of telephone company trunks, we can notify the phone companies involved and ask them to increase the number of trunks.
  • Equipment
    ElkNet always stocks additional equipment, so that when more ports are required, there is no delay in obtaining equipment. As soon as the telephone companies can fill an order for additional lines, typically within a few days, we can have the added ports operational.
  • Capacity
    ElkNet is always adding new access lines for our growing customer base. We are committed to never over subscribe our network. As we add additional ports, we always add additional network capacity, servers, and load balancing as required. New customer growth will never impact our existing customers because of ElkNet's capacity.

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