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PRACTICE DESCRIPTION:
The one-call centre is a critical link in the
communications chain between the digging community and facilities. It needs
to do whatever it can to provide adequate security to protect the centre since it
may well need to be operational when faced with natural disasters or other
threats. Security components may include:
Ÿ
Physical security for the building and employees; through locked operations
areas, lighting, employee key cards, and guard patrols
Ÿ
Physical security for critical systems components, which may include
locating the facilities well behind locked rooms or offices, and restricting
access to only necessary personnel
Ÿ
General fire protection for property and personnel
Ÿ
Specialized fire and theft protection for critical systems components
Ÿ
Telephone demarcation points in a protected area within the centre
Ÿ
Passwords and protections to limit access to computers and other systems,
and
Ÿ
Offsite storage of duplicate database and necessary system software
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HARDWARE DESIGNED TO TOLERATE A SINGLE POINT OF FAILURE
PRACTICE STATEMENT:
The one-call centre uses fault tolerant hardware for
its critical path operations, such as ticket taking, database access, and ticket
delivery.
PRACTICE DESCRIPTION:
A fault tolerant system can withstand any single
hardware malfunction without interruption or degradation of services. Such a
system can detect the malfunctioning component and initiate its replacement
while remaining online and processing its normal operations. In the event of a
failure or malfunction, this system maximizes the probability that the one-call
centre can continue to properly process a locate request.
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QUALITY STANDARDS
PRACTICE STATEMENT:
The one-call centre has performance standards for
the operation of the centre. This practice is for the purpose of promoting
accuracy, cost effectiveness, and efficiency.
PRACTICE DESCRIPTION:
A. Customer Quality of Service Performance Measurements – It is a best
Best Practices Version 3.0
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