NOC Services

proactive: (adj.) 2. Acting in anticipation of future problems, needs, or changes

Proactive network monitoring is not a buzzword at MAI, rather, it is the basis of the Network Operations Center (NOC) services that we provide all of our customers. MAI's robust implementation of tools and services can actually head off or prevent many incidents from happening in the first place. Even when an event occurs, our staff of dedicated NOC technicians and engineers are already in action, in most cases notifying you, the customer, before you are even aware of a problem.

MAI's NOC services provide:

· Full time, 24x7x365 worldwide monitoring of each location's circuits (Frame Relay, HDLC/PPP, Wireless and VSAT/Satellite links), devices and interfaces
· Single Point-of-Contact (POC) for all network issues, simplifying your network management issues into a "one call does all" solution
· Rapid notification of outages, impairments or other issues network-wide
· Complete help desk services
· Fast restoration of connectivity and resumption of service
· Complete device management for virtually any network device or element, including repairs and/or replacements
· Complete WAN analysis, both real-time and historically, on all 7 layers of the OSI model
· Proactive monitoring, designed to catch failures before they occur
· Detailed troubleshooting providing rapid assessments of the cause of the failure
· Performance reporting on SLAs and capabilities of the network
· Ongoing planning services to help maximize return on investment (ROI)
· Advanced packet capture and filtering

With these capabilities, MAI would monitor the necessary devices and circuits, in real-time, for:

· AVAILABILITY: Is the site or circuit up or down?
· ERROR STATUS: Is the site or circuit putting out errored data? Is it receiving errored data?
· CONFIGURATION: Is the site or circuit misconfigured?
· THRESHOLD MONITORING: Is the site or circuit exceeding set thresholds for utilization, throughput, errors or other measures?

Once a condition that needs attention is received, the MAI NOC would perform the following tasks:

· NOTIFICATION: MAI will notify appropriate customer personnel, including but not limited to network personnel, remote personnel, technical support staff or management staff by voice, pager or email.

· TROUBLESHOOTING AND ANALYSIS : MAI will troubleshoot the issue to determine the root cause and the effects upon the site or network.

· CORRECTIVE MEASURES: MAI will undertake corrective measures to resolve the issue, including but not limited to: contacting customer personnel to walk through repairs, opening and updating carrier, LEC and ISP trouble tickets, coordinating repair or replacement efforts with 3rd party vendors, confirming and testing of final repairs or corrective measures.

· REPORTING AND LOGGING: MAI will log and provide access to all trouble ticket related information, to allow for analysis and lessons-learned deconstruction.

In addition, MAI will make available:

· NETWORK-WIDE REPORTING ON SLAs, DEVICES AND CIRCUITS: MAI will allow full reporting capabilities to be granted to appropriate customer personnel, allowing customers to view the status of each remote location and the entire network.

· PLANNING AND REPORTING ACCESS: MAI will provide customer personnel access into planning toolsets for purposes of determining future needs and budgeting.

· HELP DESK ACCESS: MAI will make available our 24x7x365 help desk to assist our customers with network-related questions and issues.

To help illustrate MAI's monitoring process please see MAI's narrative of "A Circuit in Alarm".