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Important information about the Daylight Savings Time change brought on by the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
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| OVERVIEW
In late 2005, the United States Congress passed the Energy Policy Act. Among its provisions, this law states that Daylight Saving Time (DST) must begin and end at different dates beginning in 2007, as follows:
- The starting date for DST moves from the first Sunday in April to the second Sunday in March
- The ending date for DST moves from the last Sunday in October to the first Sunday in November
Note: As in previous years, DST begins and ends at 2:00 AM (02:00).
To ensure that your server platform functions correctly, you must update its copy of Windows according to Microsoft's instructions, so that it observes the correct transitions into and out of DST.
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CALLXPRESS
Due to the late release by AVST, of the CallXpress DST patch, we are providing detailed instructions below to customers with capable IT departments. This is not to state that Newcastle Communications will not be available to assist all customers, but to simply provide some customers with the option to perform the upgrade as soon as possible, utilizing in-house resources. (If you choose to perform the updates, or have already completed the updates, please notify Newcastle Communications by replying to this e-mail. Please state if both, the Windows operating system and AVST CallXpress software have been completed successfully).
SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS BY OPERATING SYSTEM
On Friday February 9th, 2007, AVST officially released a patch to update the CallXpress software for Daylight Savings Time. Over the past few days, Newcastle Communications has feverishly tested this patch, and in conjunction with AVST has developed a procedure in order to keep your CallXpress Voicemail Server current with the new Daylight Savings Time (DST), Energy Policy Act.
For CallXpress voice processing systems, this change will require updates to the operating system software used in Windows-based PCs and servers. A patch will also be required for all CallXpress 7.00 versions of software and above. Failure to apply these patches will result in improper time stamping of call records, error logs and all other stored data, as well as possible message and data loss.
Two factors need to be considered before updating your Windows Operating System and the CallXpress software;
Updating Windows (Must be performed prior to updating CallXpress)
Microsoft has made patches and instructions available on their web site at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931836/.
Important notes from this website that may impact Newcastle customers are
- The patches are ONLY for
Windows 2003 Server and Windows XP SP2 operating systems
- Windows XP must have Service Pack 2 applied prior to applying the patch, otherwise you must follow instructions for Windows 2000 operating systems
- Customers who have not updated their PCs from Windows NT or Windows 2000 will not be able to use these patches and will have to update their computers manually. Newcastle recommends disabling automatic DST time changes then manually updating the clock following the instructions provided. Please refer to the Microsoft knowledgebase article http://support.microsoft.com/kb/914387.
Updating AVST CallXpress
AVST provided the (DST) patch for all CallXpress 7.00, 7.50, 7.70, 7.71, and 7.80 versions of software. The Windows based portion of the updates should be completed prior to updating CallXpress.
Above under the section labeled "SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS BY OPERATING SYSTEM", you will find instructions based on the type of operating system loaded on your CallXpress server. Please choose the appropriate file and follow the instructions precisely.
Please Note: If you wish for Newcastle to complete this process for you, you must contact us immediately to schedule an appointment, in order to execute this procedure prior to (DST).
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RIGHTFAX
The Captaris RightFax® program does not calculate daylight savings time information and strictly relies on the Microsoft Windows Operating System to provide the time information and to perform this function. Therefore, this change will have no affect on the operation of RightFax. We make the assumption that any changes necessary to accommodate the new DST settings will be performed by Microsoft within the operating systems. We recommend that you refer to Microsoft for more information: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/timezone/dst2007.mspx.
Other information about daylight savings time and other national time standards can be found at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) at http://www.nist.gov. Information about the Energy Policy Act of 2005 can be found at the U.S. Department of Energy site at http://www.energy.gov/about/EPAct.htm
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SPHERE
URGENCY
Sphere is posting this bulletin proactively to give customers time to make changes on their system and third-party products prior to March 11, 2007. More updates may become available from Sphere as we are aware of update information from third-party vendors related to Daylight Saving Time in the U.S.A. and Canada.
IMPORTANT: Please check for an updated version of this bulletin at: http://www.spherecom.com/support/custcare/self_support.php
OVERVIEW
Daylight Saving Time (DST) in the USA and CANADA extends by approximately four weeks. In compliance with this provision in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, DST dates in the United States and Canada will start three weeks earlier (2:00 A.M. on the second Sunday in March) and will end one week later (2:00 A.M. on the first Sunday in November).
In Sphere systems, applications and third-party products may need to be updated directly, while in some applications may inherit the date and time information from the underlying system.
DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME UPDATE
MICROSOFT ANNOUNCEMENT
This year Daylight Saving Time (DST) extends by approximately four weeks. In compliance with this provision in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, DST dates in the United States and Canada will start three weeks earlier (2:00 A.M. on the second Sunday in March) and will end one week later (2:00 A.M. on the first Sunday in November).
In some instances, effort will be required to accommodate the new DST legislation. For example, systems and applications may need to be updated directly, while in other circumstances the application may inherit the date and time information from the underlying system.
Microsoft is committed to helping customers that are affected by the DST changes make this transition as seamless as possible. Microsoft is producing updates for Windows products as well as other Microsoft products affected by the new U.S. statute. These updates will be released through technical support channels including Microsoft Customer Service & Support (CSS), as well as online channels such as Windows Update and Microsoft Update.
Details of the updates for Microsoft Windows and affected Microsoft applications, how customers can acquire
them and when they will be available can be found on the Microsoft website at http://www.microsoft.com/dst2007. Corresponding technical Knowledge Base articles are linked from this website as well.
Microsoft is providing the Time Zone updates at no-cost for customers on Windows platforms that are covered by Mainstream Support. For more information on the Microsoft Support Lifecycle Policy including options available for products in Extended Support, please visit http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle.
Further Microsoft Assistance
Microsoft values your business. For more information visit http://www.microsoft.com/dst2007
OTHER PRODUCTS
POLYCOM
Affecting which products:
This information applies to:
• SoundPoint IP 300, 301, 500, 501, 600, 601, desktop phones
• SoundPoint IP 430, 650, and SoundStation IP 4000 SIP conference phones.
Note: This information applies to the SoundPoint IP 650, where software releases exist to support the IP 650 (see Software Release Notes for platform compatibility).
Polycom Changes
With respect to the State of Indiana, no special configuration is required to support this change, but any special configuration that had been made previously to exempt phones in Indiana from DST needs to be removed.
Note: The following change can be safely be made now that it is after 6 November 2006, as the old settings are required until that date for 2006 DST to be calculated correctly.
To configure phones for the new DST rules, the SNTP configuration section from ipmid.cfg (MGCP phones) or sip.cfg (IP 4000 SIP phone only) needs to change as follows:
tcpIpApp.sntp.daylightSavings.enable="1"
tcpIpApp.sntp.daylightSavings.fixedDayEnable="0"
tcpIpApp.sntp.daylightSavings.start.month="3"
tcpIpApp.sntp.daylightSavings.start.date="8"
tcpIpApp.sntp.daylightSavings.start.time="2"
tcpIpApp.sntp.daylightSavings.start.dayOfWeek="1"
tcpIpApp.sntp.daylightSavings.start.dayOfWeek.lastInMonth="0"
tcpIpApp.sntp.daylightSavings.stop.month="11"
tcpIpApp.sntp.daylightSavings.stop.date="1"
tcpIpApp.sntp.daylightSavings.stop.time="2"
tcpIpApp.sntp.daylightSavings.stop.dayOfWeek="1"
tcpIpApp.sntp.daylightSavings.stop.dayOfWeek.lastInMonth="0"
STATUS
Polycom recommends that this configuration change be made.
RESTART
• Restart the phone when the changes are complete.
Polycom changes and updates can be obtained by CLICKING HERE
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CALLACCOUNTING
Call Newcastle Technical Support at (212)780-9680 option 5 for more information.
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