SXC, Strategy and War Games

What is the SXC?

I sit here and look at one of my old training certificates from Telstra Ltd it says Siemens Ltd, SXC R1.24 First in Mainenance, 12th February 1997. The SXC is an adavnced version of the SDH or Synchronized Digital Heigherachy (SDH) where the SXC or Synchronized Cross (X) Connect (SXC) would automaticaly rapidly swtich any digital customer links through some boxes in a telephone exchange equipment room on an equipment floor. I was sent to a training course to learn about it, I liked what it did although my thoughts were that it will probably eventually put me out of a job. I thought I got to find new ways to eventually do something else, I got to look at some future skills to survive, one day I could be out of this job in the future too. Today it's 2018, I am doing fine... still here and surviving.

Strategy and War Games

I went to the training course and got my SXC First in Maintenance Certificate, I learnt what to do if there was a failure with the customer links and the stratergy was to work with the GOC or Global Operations Centre in Melbourne Australia, the respect was unbelieveable, teamwork at it's finest, we trusted the command and control and everything worked as it should. The SXC had War Games which was a dunmy fault in the system and how we would go resolving customer faults if their were to be any in the SXC equipment.

War Games in the SXC Equipment

There I was in late February 1997 doing my thing at Kent Street Transmission Terminal on the 5th Floor at KNST. I got a call from the Shift Leader at the GOC in Melbourne he found me there at KNST on the 5th Floor and I was instructed to put what I was doing on hold and then go up to the 6th Floor and find the SXC equipment. On the 6th Floor I spoke to the GOC Shift Leader who said, "Tony we have had a failure in the SXC you hear the alarm?" Errrrrrh! I heard the allarm one Errrrrrh! sound it was the SXC alarm to say that something has failed and then the GOC shift leader asked me, "Okay the SXC has falied what are you going to do to fix it Tony?" My reply to the GOC Shift Leader was "I need to follow my training and go with what I know in this job. You are the shift leader at the GOC sir, you have EMOS there in front of you, look in EMOS and see what has failed please. I can put up some 140 Mb/s monitoring on the outside on the DDF to see if the links are working through the SXC and let you know if the customer links are fine with the 140 Mb/s monitoring and if you think that I should patch around the SXC with permenanent 140 MB/s patches, you provide me with the Patch Plan for the 140 Mb/s links on the DDF."

The shift leader from the Telstra GOC in Mebourne said, "No Tony these are War Games and you did exceptional well with your methods... so well that this is what you would do if the SXC had failed". I repled, "I did well? This is War Games in the SXC? All I could do is look at it on the floor and that's teamwork sir hehehe 100% trust and respect, Now that's teamwork alright, we would work not work any other way but that way sir, trust and respect all the way to the end.... You have a lovely day and I will clear off the TOW for the SXC War Games as I am suppost to do."

I remember it like it was Yesterday although that was 21 Years ago, loyalty, trust, respect and teamwork there is no other way to work a Strategy. With everything you do no matter what it is, you can make the impossible actually possible if you believe in it... and you got to believe in yourself.