Three kinds of busy
Ever try to dial up MSN and get a busy signal?

December 8, 1998

This does happen from time to time – even on MSN, which is consistently rated one of the most reliable dialup services.

We want you to be able to use MSN whenever you want, but some things are beyond our control.

Our modems can be too busy or the local phone circuits might be swamped. Either way, you might need to choose another dialup number. Below, we explain how to tell what kind of busy signal you’re getting, and how you can work around it.

Types of busy signals
First, there’s the normal busy signal.  You normally hear this when someone’s phone is off the hook, or when they’re on the phone and don’t have call waiting.  When your ISP’s modem "pools" are all at capacity, you’ll hear this busy signal.

The "fast busy" is what happens when there are so many calls going through to a specific area that the phone network can’t complete the circuit (put you through).  It’s sort of like an error message.

The third type of busy signal you might get isn’t a signal at all.  It’s a recorded message telling you "We’re sorry. All circuits are busy..." You’ve probably heard this message while trying to call and get tickets to a big concert. Basically, it’s saying the phone network doesn’t have the capacity to handle the call volume at the time.  This is generally not just limited to your ISP, but might be.

Pick another
Did your parents ever tell you "You can pick your friends, you can pick your nose, but you can’t pick your family"? They never mention you can also pick more than one dialup number to MSN. Go figure. This is important information that you might need to use some day.

If you run into a busy signal, you might need to find another number to dial into to avoid it*.  In our Member Services areas, you can link to lists of phone numbers to dial into.  Here are a couple of links:

• Standard access numbers
• Alternate access numbers

You can change the number you connect through by signing off MSN, right-clicking the MSN icon on your desktop, and selecting "Connection Settings."

Also, if you run into problems with the phone network, and our numbers are reporting a fast busy or "all circuits are busy" message, you might also want to let your telephone company know about it.

*Tip:  Call your telephone company and be sure the numbers you’re dialing are local calls – or you might end up paying additional toll (local toll or long distance) charges for your calls to MSN.  MSN can’t determine which numbers are local for you or not – it’s something you may need to check on.

Internet connections 101
When you dial up to the Internet, there are several points your call passes through before you connect to MSN.  The call itself involves these points of connection:

1. Your computer
2. Your modem
3. PSTN (the public switch telephone network)
4. ISP’s modem
5. ISP’s servers (the computers that verify your account and establish a connection to the services).

click to enlarge

So who covers what? 
Your computer (1) and your modem (2) are your responsibility, of course (we still try to help you with that wherever we can). 

The space between your modem (2) and your ISP’s modem (4) is a part of the phone network – the local phone company takes care of that stuff (if you get a fast or "all circuits are" busy signal, it’s because the pipe is ending somewhere in this area).

Your ISP’s modems (4) and the ISP services (5) are where the ISP takes care of its business.

Although what happens with the PSTN isn’t under our control, you can be sure that when we know there’s a problem, we will work with whatever parties necessary to make sure it’s resolved and our members can get online. 

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