Commercial Resale - Business and Residence Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) - V1.0

Product Description

CenturyLink™'s retail telecommunications services, Business and Residence local exchange access line services also known as Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) - Business and Residence, are available for resale by Resale Customers to their end-users. Additional information about resale of CenturyLink's retail services is available in Commercial Resale – General PCAT.

Both Business and Residence local exchange access line services provide access to the public switched network for local and long distance dialing. If your end-user chooses to use CenturyLink for Intra-Local Access and Transport Area (IntraLATA) long distance, the IntraLATA long distance is billed to you at the full tariff rate. The IntraLATA long distance is determined by the Local Primary Interexchange Carrier (LPIC). End-users designate a carrier of choice on calls that originate and terminate within the end-user's home LATA. The end-user's intraLATA carrier can be the same or different from their interLATA (long distance) carrier. Information describing long distance carrier selection is available in the Long Distance Carrier Selection Overview.

Types of Business Services include:

• Flat-rated Business service is unmeasured, allowing your end-user to make an unlimited number of calls within the local calling area at a flat, or fixed, monthly rate. The service utilizes the exchange access line, which includes the central office equipment and all the CenturyLink plant facilities up to and including the Standard Network Interface. The service provides basic dial tone.
• Stand-By Line™ is a Basic Exchange service that allows buiness end-users to expand and contract their telephone service according to call volume and pay for only the service that they need. Business end-users are billed the same nonrecurring charges as for a flat business line however they pay about half the monthly cost of a regular second line plus per-minute usage charges for both incoming and outgoing calls. Ideal uses include fax modem lines or lines with credit card machines. Standby Lines cannot be used as a primary line, cannot be billed separately and are not available with measured service.
• Measured-rated Business service provides access to the public switched network for local and long distance calling. 1MB service is billed at a flat monthly rate for a set number of local calls or messages per line with an additional charge for every local message in excess of the base allowance. Charges for local calls in excess of the allowance are billed for based upon length of call, originating and terminating point of call, and time of day each call was made.
• Public Response Calling Service (PRCS), also known as Choke Network, is currently available in the tariffs in NE, SD and MN and is being added to the CO, ID-S, IA, MT, NM, OR, UT, WA, and WY tariffs effective July 18, 2005, and to the ID-N tariff effective August 1, 2005. PRCS is a service offering which provides facilities for call-in programs, promotional activities and contests which are publicly advertised and result in mass calling by the general public to a telephone number. This service allows high volume incoming calls to a single number that exceeds 200 calls a minute without putting a switch at risk. This service is commonly used by radio stations for contests or by ticket outlets. For specific ordering requirements, refer to the Ordering section of this document. (Link blue text to the Ordering section of this document)

NOTE: The tariff states that certain conditions require your end-user customer to subscribe to PRCS. For additional information, refer to Tariffs/Catalogs/Price Lists.

Types of Residence Services include:

• Flat-rated Residence service is unmeasured, allowing the end-user to make an unlimited number of calls within the local calling area at a fixed monthly rate. The service consists of utilizing the exchange access line, which includes the central office equipment and all the CenturyLink plant facilities up to and including the Standard Network Interface. The service provides basic dial tone for residential end-users.
• Message/Measured Rated Residence service provides access to the public switched network for local and long distance calling.
• Measured Rated Service bills a flat monthly rate for a set number of local calls or messages per line with an additional charge for every local message in excess of the base allowance.
• Message Rated Service bills a flat monthly rate that includes a monetary usage allowance for calls completed to stations in the local calling area. Charges for local calls in excess of the allowance are also applicable and are based upon length of call, originating and terminating point of call, and time of day call was made.

For additional information on types of Business and Residence services and related USOCs view state specific Tariffs/Catalogs/Price Lists.

Availability

Business and Residence local exchange access line services are available for resale throughout CenturyLink QC.

For additional CenturyLink retail services available for resale by state, view state specific Tariffs/Catalogs/Price Lists.

Terms and Conditions

Business services can be installed in any business location and in a residential location where an end-user may be operating a 'home business.'

Residence services can only be installed in a residential location.

It is your responsibility to provide CenturyLink with accurate end-user address and location information for state regulated emergency databases. Information regarding 911/Enhanced 911 (E911) is located in Access to Emergency Services (911/E911).

For each main telephone number CenturyLink will accept one white page directory listing at no charge. Additional information about directory listing is available in White Pages Directory Listings.

Additional terms and conditions, rates and charges can be found in the Tariffs/Catalogs/Price Lists.

Technical Publications

Technical characteristics are contained in the applicable Tariff and may have references to certain Technical Publications.

Pricing

Rate Structure

General resale rate structure information is described in Commercial Resale – General.

Nonrecurring charges apply for the initial provisioning and installation of Residence service and most Business services. Nonrecurring charges also apply whenever there are additions or changes to existing services. Monthly recurring charges apply.

Business and Residence services and optional features are available on a month-to month basis. A minimum billing period of thirty days applies for monthly recurring charges.

CenturyLink retail rate elements for Business and Residence services, and how the rate elements apply are available in the state specific < Tariffs/Catalogs/Price Lists.

Rates

CenturyLink's retail rates can be found in the state specific Tariffs/Catalogs/Price Lists.

Tariffs, Regulations and Policies

Tariffs, regulations and policies applicable to CenturyLink retail products available for resale are located in the state specific Tariffs/Catalogs/Price Lists.

Implementation

Product Prerequisites

If you are a new Customer and are ready to do business with CenturyLink, view Getting Started as a Resellers.

Pre-Ordering

General pre-ordering activities are described in the Pre-Ordering Overview.

Requirements for pre-ordering are described in Local Service Ordering Guidelines (LSOG) Pre-Order.

Ordering

It is important to understand the Commercial Resale - General procedures before ordering local exchange services.

General ordering activities are described in the Ordering Overview.

Service requests should be placed using https://ease.lumen.com/">EASE-LSR Extensible Markup Language (XML) or EASE-LSR Graphical User Interface (GUI).

Local Exchange Services, Business and Residence POTS service requests are submitted using the following LSOG forms:

• Local Service Request (LSR)
• End User (EU)
• Resale Service (RS)
• Directory Listing (DL), if applicable

Field entry requirements are described in the LSOG.

When requesting a full conversion from existing Retail/Resale/commercial local exchange services products e.g. CenturyLink Local Service PlatformTM (CLSPTM) using the LSR ACT Type = V, all listings on the current account must be addressed by providing the end-state of the listing on your LSR. If there are no change(s) to the listing(s), the listing(s) should have the LACT value of Z. If the LSR ACT Type = V, and a LACT value of Z is present on the DL form, the TN will be used for validation purposes, but all other information on the DL form will be ignored. The listing will remain exactly as it exists on CenturyLink's Customer Service Record. LSRs with 'LACT = N - New Listing' selected when changes are being made to existing listings will be manually rejected by CenturyLink. Only new listings may be added with LACT = N during conversion activity. Existing listings may be deleted during conversion activity with LACT = D - Delete Listing.

Requests for multiple line conversions may be made on the same LSR, provided the request is based on the same CSR, for the same end-user, at the same location, and for the same due date.

LSRs related to Public Response Calling Service (Choke Network) must be submitted by fax until further notice. Additionally, the following three USOCs are required on the RS form:

• 1MN – Public Response Calling Service
• GE6 – Traffic Load Protector
• NRC83 – Non-Recurring Charge

In addition, the Remarks section must include the following information:

• "Choke Network"
• Group Size/Number of Lines
• New or Existing Call Forwarding 'To' Number, if needed

Additional information regarding the restrictions and limitations of Choke Network Service:

• Call Forwarding Restrictions – whenever Choke calls are forwarded or hunt outside the choke network, they lose their choking properties. Be advised to NEVER call forward a Choke line outside of the Choke Network.
• Multi-Line Hunt Concerns – Call Forwarding features may be used on a one-to-one basis with Multi-Line Hunting, however no Series Hunting is allowed. Many Choke Network lines have multiple Multi-Line Hunt groups, which in turn have multiple Call Forwarding Variable (CFV) features active. This leads to abuse and loss of control of the network as the forwarding feature can be used to forward these numbers to other service providers.

Provisioning and Installation

General provisioning and installation activities are described in the Provisioning and Installation Overview.

Loss and Completion Reports are based on loss and gain account activity. Loss and Completion Reports are described in Billing Information – Additional Outputs – SMDR, Completion Report, Loss Report.

Some products or features require the addition of a Line Class Code (LCC) to provision the service in the CenturyLink switch. When a LCC is required, the CLEC is not responsible for providing it on the LSR; CenturyLink adds it to the service order.

In some cases, several products associated with a single line may each require a LCC. Only one LCC may be used on a line. Therefore, in these situations, CenturyLink will assign a single LCC that provides the function for multiple products. There are also times when one LCC may be translated into another LCC to accommodate various switch types and/or Multi-line Hunting requirements.

CenturyLink enters the LCC on the service order following each line USOC to be equipped with the product or feature, as in the following example:

• 1FB/PIC xxxx/LCC KXB
• RTY

For information on the LCCs used in provisioning Resale POTS services refer to the LCC Job Aid. The LCC Job Aid is provided as an informational tool and should not be used by the CLEC when submitting an LSR.

Maintenance and Repair

General maintenance and repair activities are described in the Maintenance and Repair Overview.

In certain communities where CenturyLink has deployed Fiber To The Premise (FTTP) architecture, CenturyLink will not be able to technically line power the customer phone from the serving wire center. In the event of a power outage, lifeline capability would not be available. Therefore, a Battery Back Up unit is recommended at the end user customer location for lifeline capability. If a battery back-up is not currently installed at the end user premise, CenturyLink will install or replace a unit at your request but it must be ordered on an LSR. To order this on the install, the related USOC for a battery back-up unit is 1CRMG. Alternatively, you or your end user customer may provide and install your own battery back-up unit that is purchased commercially.

The maintenance and/or replacement of the battery in the backup unit will be the responsibility of you and your end user customer. For maintenance, you may submit an LSR to have a battery back-up unit installed or replaced.

Billing

On a monthly basis, CenturyLink will provide you with billing information that will provide summary account information as well as end-user account information.

Ensemble is the new billing system for customers. For questions about the bill, please follow the instructions on the reverse side of each billing statement.

The Ensemble bill is described in Billing Information – Ensemble.

Training

View CenturyLink courses by clicking on Training Catalog.

Contacts

CenturyLink contact information is located in Wholesale Customer Contacts.

Last Update: October 20, 2020

Last Reviewed: February 26, 2024