============================================================================= Information Item Proposal to decrease dial-up lines Christopher L. Cope Executive Director execdir@freenet.carleton.ca June 9, 1998 =========================================================================== At the May 19, 1998 Board meeting, the opportunity to reduce the number of dial-up modem lines and thereby reduce overhead was discussed. The proposal calls for eliminating a number of lines approximately equal to half the number of the lines that were added through the Extended Access project. We currently use 32 lines at Mitel and hope to expand this to 48 shortly. The software that we use to monitor the relative "busy-ness" of the main modem pool lines, reveals that even during peak periods, our lines can be accessed with only one attempt typically, peaking at six attempts at maximum. The following frequency table illustrates the number of attempts made during a 48 hour period: Frequency Number of attempts ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1,424 Connected in 1 attempt 26 Connected in 2 attempts 10 Connected in 3 attempts 5 Connected in 4 attempts 6 Connected in 5 attempts 3 Connected in 6 attempts 5 Connected in 7 attempts 0 Any other number of attempts ~~~~~ 1,479 Total number of attempts continuously, during 48 hours A further review of monitoring tools available at http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/sysadmin/stats-monitoring.html reveal some information about how our lines are used. The following table illustrates usage patterns during the previous month: Maximum Average Average number number percentage of lines of lines of lines Line Group in use in use in use ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ Main modem pool (520-1130/113535): 139 78 52.0% Express Lines 15 2 13.3% Freeweb 10 7 70.0% Extended Access 32 12 37.5% ~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~ 196 99 50.5% Our current monthly bill for these lines (not including Extended Access lines)is just over $4,300 or approximately $27 per line including taxes. Elimination of 15 lines would result in annual savings of nearly $5,000, as follows: 15 X $27 X 12 = $4,860. Bell Canada will charge no service fee for terminating service to a group of 15 of these lines. In future, should we wish to re-instate these or other lines, we would again be charged the same monthly rate (grandfathered under Carleton's contract), but there will be a hefty service fee based on $160 for the first line re-instated and $100 for each additional line for a total of $1,560 to re-instate a group of 15. Recommendation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In light of a clear usage trend It is recommended that the 15 express lines be eliminated immediately.