COMSATS Institute of information and technology

Lahore

Telecommunication Systems
Engineering
EEE354
By
Mian Ahmed Yaser
Assistant Professor EE
CIIT Lahore

10/3/15

Mian Ahmed Yaser

SIMPLE TELEPHONE
CONNECTION

8 point Full Mesh

Star Connection

Sources, Sinks, Networks, Nodal

Points
Sources
Call is initiated at a traffic Source

Sinks
Call is terminated at a traffic Sink

Networks
A means of connecting subscribers

Nodal Points
Switches

Trunks or Junctions
Telephone lines connecting one
switch to another switch is called a
junction or trunk line
LINES
Telephone lines connecting subscribers to an
exchange are called lines or loops

TRUNKS
Number of lines connecting one exchange to
another exchange are called trunks or
junctions

CONCENTRATION
Ratio of lines to trunks is called
CONCENTRATION
e.g. Two cities with 100 subscribers
each are connected via a 6 line
junction/trunk, then the
concentration is 100:6= 16:1

Local Area Vs. Toll Area

Local Area
A subscriber can call another subscriber
without incurring extra charges for callCharged as flat monthly rate or as time
metered call

Toll Area
Also called a long distance call. Separate
details are available in the bill

TRAFFIC ENGINEERING
Dimensioning the route
Determine the number of trunks
required on a route or connection
between exchanges
To dimension a route we must have an
idea of its usage

Route Usage
Route Usage is defined by two
parameters
Calling Rate
Number of times a route or traffic path is
used per unit period
Or-Call intensity per traffic path during busy
hour

Holding Time
Average duration of occupancy of one or
more paths by calls

TRAFFIC PATH

A
A
A
A
A
A
A

Channel
Time Slot
Frequency Band
Line
Trunk
Switch or
Circuit

Over which individual communications pass

in sequence

Carried Traffic and Offered

Traffic
Carried Traffic is the volume of traffic
actually carried by the switch
Offered Traffic is the volume of traffic
offered to the switch

Traffic Intensity over 24 hours of the

day

Traffic is Random
To dimension a traffic path or size a
switch we must know the traffic
intensity of normal busy season
There are weekly variations and daily
variations
What is the busy hour in the previous
graph?

BH
Busy Hour
Continuous one hour period lying wholly in the
time interval concerned for which the call
attempts/traffic volume is maximum

Peak Busy Hour

Busy hour each day , it is not the same over a
number of days

Time Consistent Busy Hour

1 hour period starting at the same time each
day for which the average traffic volume is
greatest over days under consideration

BSBH and ABSBH

BSBH: (Busy Season Busy Hour) Busiest
Clock hour of the busiest weeks of the year
with a certain GOS criteria applied
ABSBH: Average Busy Season Busy Hour
(used for trunk groups) with a certain GOS
criteria applied
GOS: Grade of Service: e.g. for the ABSBH
load a call requiring a circuit in trunk group
should encounter ATB (All Trunks Busy) no
more than 1% of the time

TRAFFIC MEASUREMENT
Aggregate of Telephone Calls over a
group of circuits with regards to the
duration of calls as well as their
number
Traffic Flow (A)=C x T
C=Number of Calls during 1 hour period
T=Average holding time (Hours)
A is dimensionless

Example
Average Holding Time=2.5 min
Calling rate in the BH of a particular day
=237
Average Traffic Flow=237 x 2.5= 592.5 Cm
(Call Minutes)
Or 592.5/60=9.87 Call Hours (Ch)

Traffic Density and Traffic

Intensity
Traffic Density: Number of
Simultaneous Calls at a given moment
Traffic Intensity: Average Traffic
Density during one hour period
We use Traffic Intensity for calculation
of dimensions of switches

TRAFFIC INTENSITY
Its unit is Erlang: (dimensionless unit)
One Erlang means a circuit occupied
for one hour
For a group of circuits, Traffic
Intensity in Erlangs is the number of
Call-Seconds per Second or Call
Hours per Hour

TRAFFIC INTENSITY
(Example)
A group of 10 circuits with a traffic of
5 Erlangs means that half of the
circuits are busy at the time of
measurement

Traffic Measurement in US
UC: Unit Call or Hundred Callsecond i.e. CCS
Sum of the number of busy circuits
provided the busy trunks were
observed once every 100 seconds
(36 observations in one hour)

Cs, Ch, TU, EBHC, CCS and

Erlang
1 Cs One or more calls having an
aggregate duration of one second
1 Ch is One or more calls having an
aggregate duration of one hour
1 TU is the average intensity in one
or more traffic paths carrying an
average traffic of 1Ch in 1 hour (the
busy hour)
1 TU=1 Erlang

Cs, Ch, TU, EBHC, CCS and

Erlang
EBHC (Equated Busy Hour Call)
1 EBHC is the average intensity in one
or more traffic paths occupied in the
BUSY HOUR by one two minute call or
an aggregate duration of 2 minutes
So,
1 Erlang=30 EBHC=36 CCS=60 Cm
(assuming 1 hour time interval)

Traditional Traffic Measurements on

Trunks
Peg Count (Calls offered)
Usage (CCS or Erlangs carried)
Overflow (Calls encountering ATB-All
Trunks Busy)
From the above measurements following
terms can be calculated:
Blocking Probability
Mean Traffic load carried by the trunk group

Traffic Measurements for Short Term

Network Management
Network Congestion is detected
Calls offered (peg count) and overflow calls are
used to calculate
ACH (Attempts per Circuit per Hour)
CCH (Connections per Circuit per Hour)
Normal Conditions
ACH is approximately equal to CCH

Abnormal Conditions
ACH High, CCH Normal
High Traffic but low congestion, Normal Holding times for connected
calls, meaning that most of the switched calls completed
ACH High, CCH High
High Traffic with High Congestion, short Trunk Holding times
showing uncompleted call attempts being switched

Blockage, Lost Calls, Grade of

Service
Blockage
An exchange serving 5000 subscribers is dimensioned
for 500 as 10% subscribers are expected to use the
service at a time. 501th subscriber will not be able to
reach the other end even if the other end is idle. This
is the Lost Call or Blocked call

Lost Calls
Lost Call Attempts due to the limited dimension of the
switch are lost calls

Grade of Service
Probability of meeting Blockage during the BH is GOS.
Typically 1% i.e. p=0.01 (First call attempt)

GOS (Example)
GOS= (Number of Lost Calls)/(Total
Number of Calls Offered)
If Number of Seizures=354, and Number
of Lost calls =6
Then, GOS=6/(354+6)
p=0.017

Availability
Switches have Lines and Trunks
We can call them Inlets and Outlets
If each Inlet has access to an Outlet, the Availability is
FULL
When not all inlets have access to an Outlet it is called
Limited Availability
Smaller exchange switches may achieve Full Availability
Larger Exchanges do not have full availability. To
improve Availability Grading is used which means inter
connecting switching sub-groups to make the switching
load more Uniform.
Many new digital switches Full availability is achieved

A Switch with Limited

Availability

A Switch with Full

Availability

Handling of Lost Calls

There are three methods of Handling Lost Calls:
1. LCH (Lost Calls Held)- US standard
It is assumed that caller will immediately re-dial as soon as he gets a
congestion signal. (Calls are waiting at the users telephone). It is
assumed that lost calls extend the average holding time theoretically,
and in this case holding time is 0 and all the time is waiting time

2. LCC (Lost Calls Cleared)-European Standard

Assumes that User will hang up and attempt some time later if he
hears a congestion signal. Re-attempt is considered a new call. Erlang
formula is based on LCC

3. LCD (Lost Calls Delayed)

User is put in a queue if there is congestion and is handled as follows:

LIFO
FIFO
Random

Infinite and Finite Sources

Infinite Source
Probability of call arrival is constant and does not
depend on the occupancy of the system
Infinite number of call arrivals with infinitely small
holding time

Finite Source
Arrival rate is proportional to the number of sources
that are not already engaged in sending a call
Number of sources offering traffic to a group of
circuits is comparatively small as compared to the
number of circuits

Probability Distribution
Curves
Calls originating and arrivals at an
exchange closely fit a probability
distribution curves of Poisson
distribution
Mean and Variance
Mean is the x coordinate of the center of
the area under the probability-density
curve for population
Standard Deviation or Variance is the
measure of how much the values or
population are dispersed about the

Variance to Mean ratio

(VMR)
VMR=Variance/Mean==

Smooth, Rough and Random Traffic

For
Smooth Traffic is less than 1
For Rough Traffic is greater than 1
For random Traffic is equal to 1
Poisson distribution defines random Traffic
with VMR=1
Rough Traffic is peakier than Random or
Smooth Traffic
For a given Grade of Service more Circuits
are required for Rough Traffic because of the
greater spread of the distribution curve

Smooth Traffic
Smooth Traffic Behaves like filtered
Random Traffic
Smooth Traffic is the Traffic at the
Exchange outlets
Filtering is done by the Call blockage
during the BH
Smooth Traffic is characterized by a
positive Binomial Distribution function
or Bernoullis Distribution

Example of Bernoullis
Distribution
Subscribers make calls
independently of each other
Each has a probability of p of getting
engaged in a conversation
If n subscribers are examined, the
probability that x of them will be
engaged is

Smooth Traffic
Smooth Traffic is assumed for small
number of subscribers-200 is a
breakpoint

Binomial Distribution of Rough

Traffic
Rough Traffic is characterized by a negative
index
Let k=Number of Traffic Sources
q=Occupancy per source (between 0 and 1)
Where,
R =Probability of finding x calls in progress
Rough Traffic is used for dimensioning Toll Trunks
with alternate routing

Bernoullis Formula

Is the number of combination of s things

taken x at a time
h=probability of finding the first line of an
exchange busy
(1-h)= Probability of finding the first line of an
exchange idle
s=Number of subscribers
Probability of finding two lines busy=
Probability of finding s lines busy=

Probability of finding x of s lines busy

Poisson probability distribution
can be derived from Binomial
distribution,
assuming that the number of
subscribers (s) is very large
And assuming that calling rate per
subscriber is very low i.e. h is low
Such that (s.h) =m is constant
Assuming s tends to infinity, applying the
limit

Call Holding Times

Call Holding Times are considered to
have a negative exponential
distribution
Where t/h is the average holding time
P is the Probability that a call lasts
longer than an arbitrary time t

Smooth Random and Rough Traffic

Probability Distributions

Erlang and Poisson Traffic

Formula
While dimensioning a route, we need to
find out the number of circuits that serve
the route
Several formulas are available, but we
select the formula on the basis of the
following factors:
Call Arrivals and Holding Time Distribution
Number of Traffic Sources
Availability
Handling of lost Calls

Erlang B Formula
of Service
Grade

Probability of finding x channels busy

Factors in Erlang B formula are the mean
of the offered traffic and number of
trunks
Here, n=Number of Trunks
A=Mean of the offered Traffic
=Grade of service Using Erlang B formula

Assumptions of Erlang B
Formula
Traffic originates from an infinite
number of sources
Lost Calls are Cleared assuming a
zero Holding Time
Number of Trunks is Limited
Full Availability exists

Time Congestion and Call

Congestion
Time Congestion
Time fraction of the hour during which
all Trunks are busy simultaneously

Call Congestion
Number of Calls that fail at first attempt

Alternative Traffic Formula

Conventions
Poisson Formula
Erlang B Formula
Erlang C Formula
Binomial Formula

Notations in the formulas

A=Expected Traffic Density, expressed in busy
hour erlangs
P=Probability that the calls will be lost or
delayed because of insufficient channels
n=number of channels in the group of channels
s=number of sources in the group of sources
p=probability that a single source will be busy
at the instant of observation=A/s
x=A variable representing a number of busy
sources or busy channels

Assumptions for formulas

Poisson
Formula

Erlang B
Formula

Erlang C
Formula

Binomial
Formula

Infinite Sources

Infinite Sources

Infinite Sources

Finite Sources

Equal Traffic
Density per
source

Equal Traffic
Density per
source

Lost Calls held

(LCH)

Lost Calls
cleared (LCC)

Equal Traffic
Density Per
source
Lost Calls
Delayed (LCD)
Exponential
Holding Times
Calls Served in
the order of
arrival

Lost Calls Held

(LCH)

Assignment
Use MATLAB to implement Traffic
formulas as per section 6.2 of
Chapter 1 (TSE-Freeman)
Erlang B Formula
Poisson Formula
Erlang C Formula

Compare results with the book

Waiting System (Queueing)

Based on LCD (Lost Calls Delayed)
Serving Time:
The a call takes to be served from the moment of arrival
in the queue to the moment of being served by the switch

It is assumed that the call arrivals are random and

Poissonian
Traffic Engineer calculates the number of serving
circuits or Trunks
Following parameters are provided to the Traffic Engineer:
Offered Traffic
Size of Queue
Specified Grade of Service

Queue Discipline
Method by which a waiting call is selected to be
served from the pool
First Come First Served
It requires equipment to keep order of the queue, so it is costly

Random
Waiting time of a call is disregarded and call is selected
randomly

Last Come First Served

Bulk Service Discipline
Batches of waiting calls are admitted

Priority Service Discipline

Preemptive
Non Preemptive

Queuing System-GoS
In Queuing system, the Grade of Service is the
Probability of Delay P(t)
P(t) is the probability that a call is not immediately
served and is delayed for a time more than t
GoS based on Probability of Delay is used with
Full Availability
And Poissonian Call Arrival process

Probability of Delay GoS is found using Erlang-C

formula which assumes an infinity long queue
Grade of Service is also expressed based on
Average delay on all calls or
Length of the queue

Server-Pool Traffic
Server Pools are groups of traffic resources which
are used on shared basis like:
Signaling Registers
Operator Positions
AS = (AT TS C)/TC
where AS = server-pool traffic in erlangs
AT = total traffic served in erlangs
TS = mean server-holding time in hours
TC = mean call-holding time in hours
C = call-attempt factor (dimensionless)

Server-Pool Traffic
Service requests that cannot be
served are placed in a queue and
served on FIFO basis
Server Pool Traffic is directly related
to:
Offered Traffic
Server Holding Time
Call Attempt Factor
And inversely proportional to Call Holding
Time

Server Pool-Total Traffic

Served
Total Traffic Served is the Total offered Traffic that
requires the services of the specific Server-Pool for
some portion of the call
Mean Server Holding Time is the Arithmetic Average
of all Server Holding Times for the Specific ServerPool
TS = a T1 + b T2 + +k Tn
where TS = mean server-holding time in hours
T1, T2, . . . , Tn = individual server-holding times in hours
a,b, . . . , k = fractions of total traffic served (a + b +
+k = 1)

Server-Pool Example
Determine the mean DTMF receiver-holding time for a switch
where subscribers dial local calls using a 7-digit number and
long-distance calls using an 11-digit number. Assume that
70% of the calls are local calls, the remainder are longdistance calls, and the typical signaling register holding times
found in Table 1.1 are applicable.

Ts = (0.7)(8.1 s) + (0.3)(12.0 s) = 9.27 s

Call Attempt Factors

C adjust offered Traffic Intensity to
compensate for call attempts that do
not result in completed calls
So, Call Attempt Factor is inversely
proportional to the fraction of
completed calls
C = 1/k
where C = call-attempt factor (dimensionless)
k = fraction of calls completed (decimal fraction)

Server Pool Traffic

Determine the Call-Attempt Factor the
data in Table 1.2, where 70.7% of the
calls were completed

C = 1/k
= 1/0.707
= 1.414

Dimensioning and Efficiency

If the number of trunks equals the
Erlang load then 100% Efficiency is
achieved
All trunks will be busy all the time or
at least during the BH
This will not allow even a few
moments for a trunk to be idle, while
the switch decides to take the next
call
But the customers will be unhappy

Dimensioning and
Efficiency-GoS
GoS is a measure of Customer satisfaction
Example
There are 100 trunks between cities X and Y. Tarrif
depends on the Erlangs of carried traffic
Assume $1 for Erlang-hour Traffic
If the upper limit of the Traffic on this route is 100
Erlangs, the maximum return on investment will be
$2400 for one day
But the customers are unhappy because they have
to wait a lot before getting connected to the
destination

Dimensioning and
Efficiency-GoS
How do we improve customer satisfaction?
Take GoS=0.001, For 100 trunks 75.4 Erlangs of traffic will
be supported
75.4 Erlangs will earn $75.24, which is less than $2400 per
day
Now reduce the GoS to 0.01, 100 trunks will support 84.06
Erlangs, meaning $84.06 for the BH per hour
So revenue has improved by reducing GoS
Another approach for saving money is to keep the traffic
(Erlang load) constant and reduce the number of trunks as
GoS is reduced
e.g. 70 Erlang of Traffic at p=0.001 requires 96 trunks and
p=0.01 requires only 86 trunks

Alternative Routing
Alternative Routing Improves efficiency
Example: X, Y and Z are three exchanges in their respective serving areas
Let GoS=0.005
It would require 67 trunks to carry 50 erlangs of traffic during the BH to meet that grade
of service between X and Y
Suppose that we reduced the number of trunks between X and Y , still keeping the BH
traffic intensity at 50 erlangs
We would thereby increase the efficiency on the XY route at the cost of reducing the
grade of service
With a modification of the switch at X, we could route the traffic bound for Y that met
congestion on the XY route via Z.
Then Z would route this traffic on the ZY link
This is alternative routing in its simplest form
Congestion probably would only occur during very short peaky periods in the BH, and
chances are that these peaks would not occur simultaneously with peaks in traffic
intensity on the ZY route. Furthermore, the added load on the XZY route would be
very small
Some idea of traffic peakiness that would overflow onto the secondary route (X + Z + Y)
is shown in the figure

 One of the most accepted methods of

dimensioning switches and trunks using
alternative routing is the equivalent random
group (ERG) method developed by Wilkinson
which uses the mean M and the variance V
Here the overflow traffic is the lost traffic
in the Erlang B calculations
Let M be the mean value of that overflow
and A be the random traffic offered to a
group of n circuits (trunks). Then

 When the overflow traffic from several sources is combined and

offered to a single second (or third, fourth, etc.) choice of a group of
circuits, both the mean and the variance of the combined traffic are
the arithmetical sums of the means and variances of the contributors
The basic problem in alternative routing is to optimize circuit group
efficiency (e.g., to dimension a route with an optimum number of
trunks)
Thus we are to find what circuit quantities result in minimum cost for
a given grade of service, or to find the optimum number of circuits
(trunks) to assign to a direct route allowing the remainder to overflow
on alternative choices
There are two approaches to the optimization
The first method is to solve the problem by successive approximations,
which is better done by computers
Manual Approaches

Efficiency versus Circuit

Group Size
A circuit group refers to a group of circuits performing a
specific function
For instance, all the trunks (circuits) routed from X to Y in
Figure 1.8 make up a circuit group, irrespective of size.
If we assume full loading, it can be stated that efficiency
improves with circuit group size.
Given p = 0.001, 5 erlangs of traffic requires a group with
11 trunks, more than a 2 : 1 ratio of trunks to erlangs, and
20 erlangs requires 30 trunks, a 3 : 2 ratio
Note how the efficiency has improved
One hundred twenty trunks will carry 100 erlangs, or 6
trunks for every 5 erlangs for a group of this size. Figure
1.10 shows how efficiency improves with group size.

Basic Network
Configurations
A network in telecommunications may be defined as a method of
connecting exchanges so that any one subscriber in the network can
communicate with any other subscriber
Assume that subscribers access the network by a nearby local exchange
Thus the problem is essentially how to connect exchanges efficiently
There are three basic methods of connection in conventional telephony: (1)
mesh, (2) star, and (3) double and higher-order star
The mesh connection is one in which each and every exchange is connected
by trunks (or junctions) to each and every other exchange as shown in
Figure 1.11A
A star connection utilizes an intervening exchange, called a tandem
exchange, such that each and every exchange is interconnected via a single
tandem exchange as in Figure 1.11B
A double-star configuration is one where sets of pure star sub-networks are
connected via higher-order tandem exchanges, as shown in Figure 1.11C
This trend can be carried still further to hierarchical networks

 Mesh connections are used when there are comparatively high

traffic levels between exchanges, such as in metropolitan
networks
Star network are applied when traffic levels are comparatively
low
Another factor that leads to star and multiple-star network
configurations is network complexity in the trunking outlets (and
inlets) of a switch in a full mesh. For instance, an area with 20
exchanges would require 380 traffic groups (or links), and an area
with 100 exchanges would require 9900 traffic groups.
A one-way group is best defined considering the connection
between two exchanges, A and B. Traffic originating at A bound
for B is carried in one group and the traffic originating at B bound
for A is carried in another group, as shown in the following
diagram:

 Most networks compromises of mesh and star

configurations. For instance, outlying suburban
exchanges may be connected to a nearby major
exchange in the central metropolitan area
This exchange may serve nearby subscribers and be
connected in mesh to other large exchanges in the city
proper
Another example is the citys long-distance exchange,
which is a tandem exchange looking into the national
long-distance network, whereas the major exchanges in
the city are connected to it in mesh
An example of a real life compromise among mesh, star,
and multiple-star configurations is shown in Figure 1.12.

A Telephone Network Serving a

Small City

Higher Order Star Network

Higher Order Star Network

Another high-order star network is shown in Figure 1.11C. In
these types of networks the higher layers are given more
importance than the lower layers i.e. a hierarchical network
There are three levels or ranks of exchanges in the figure.
The smallest blocks in the diagram are the lowest-ranked
exchanges, which have been marked with a 3 to indicate the
third level or rank.
There are restrictions or rules of traffic flow. As the figure is
drawn, traffic from 3A1 to 3A2 would have to flow through
exchange 2A1.
Likewise, traffic from exchange 2A2 to 2A3 would have to
flow through exchange 1A
Traffic from any A exchange to any B exchange would
necessarily have to be routed through exchange 1A.

High Usage Route

The next consideration is the high-usage (HU) route. For instance, if
we found that there were high traffic intensities (e.g., >20 erlangs)
between 2B1 and 2B2, trunks and switch gear might well be saved
by establishing a HU route between the two (shown by a dashed
line in Figure 1.13).
Thus we might call the high usage route a highly traveled shortcut.
HU routes could be established between any pair of exchanges in
the network if traffic intensities and distances involved proved this
strategy economical
When HU routes are established, traffic between the exchanges
involved will first be offered to the HU route, and overflow would
take place through a last choice route or, as shown in Figure 1.13,
up to the next level and down
If routing is through the highest level of higher-order star network,
we call this route the final route, a hierarchical network term

Variations of Traffic Flow

In networks covering large geographic expanses and even in cases of
certain local networks, there may be a variation in time of day of the BH
or in the direction of traffic flow
In the United States, business traffic peaks during several hours before
and after the noon lunch period on weekdays, and social calls peak in
early evening
Traffic flow tends to be from suburban living areas to urban centers in
the morning, and the reverse in the evening.
In national networks covering several time zones where the differences
in local time may be appreciable, long-distance traffic tends to be
concentrated in a few hours common to BH peaks at both ends
In such cases it is possible to direct traffic so that peaks of traffic in one
area fall into valleys of traffic in another (non-coincident busy hour)
The network design can be made more economical if configured to take
advantage of these phenomena, particularly in the design and
configuration of direct routes versus overflow

One-way and Two way (both-way)

Circuits
In one-way circuits traffic from A to B is assigned to one group of circuits, and
traffic from B to A is assigned to another separate group
In both-way (or two-way) operation a circuit group may be engineered to
carry traffic in both directions
The individual circuits in the group may be used in either direction, depending
on which exchange seizes the circuit first.
In engineering networks it is most economical to have a combination of oneway and both-way circuits on longer routes
Signaling and control arrangements on both-way circuits are substantially
more expensive
However, when dimensioning a system for a given traffic intensity, fewer
circuits are needed in both-way operation, with notable savings on lowintensity routes (i.e., below about 10 erlangs in each direction)
For long circuits, both-way operation has obvious advantages when dealing
with a non-coincident BH
During overload conditions, both-way operation is also advantageous because
the direction of traffic flow in these conditions is usually unequal.

 The major detriment to two-way operation, besides its increased signaling

cost, is the possibility of double seizure. This occurs when both ends seize a
circuit at the same time. There is a period of time when double seizure can
occur in a two way circuit; this extends from the moment the circuit is
seized to send a call and the moment when it becomes blocked at the other
end
Signaling arrangements can help to circumvent this problem
Likewise, switching arrangements can be made such that double seizure
can occur only on the last free circuit of a group
This can be done by arranging in turn the sequence of scanning circuits so
that the sequence on one end of a two-way circuit is reversed from that of
the other end
Of course, great care must be taken on circuits having long propagation
times, such as satellite and long undersea cable circuits
By extending the time between initial seizure and blockage at the other end,
these circuits are the most susceptible, just because a blocking signal takes
that much longer to reach the other end

Quality of Service
Quality of service also means how
happy the telephone company (or
other common carrier) is keeping the
customer. For instance, we might find
that about half the time a customer
dials, the call goes awry or the caller
cannot get a dial tone or cannot hear
what is being said by the party at the
other end

 All these have an impact on quality of service.

QoS means different for different services
The transmission engineer calls quality of service customer satisfaction, which is
commonly measured by how well the customer can hear the calling party. It is called
loudness rating and is measured in decibels.
Lost calls or blockage certainly constitute another measure of service quality
If this is measured in a decimal quantity, one target figure for grade of service would
be p = 0.01. Other items listed under service quality are:
Delay before receiving dial tone (dial-tone delay).
Post-dial(ing) delay (time from completion of dialing a number to first ring of
telephone called).
Availability of service tones (busy tone, telephone out of order, ATB, etc.).
Correctness of billing.
Reasonable cost to customer of service.
Responsiveness to servicing requests.
Responsiveness and courtesy of operators.
Time to installation of new telephone, and, by some, the additional services offered
by the telephone company

 Furthermore, each item on the list

can be quantified, usually
statistically, such as loudness rating,
or in time, such as time taken to
install a telephone