Prepare to activate a service

Learn about scheduled activation for your new services.

To schedule activation for On‑Demand services, click the chat icon in Lumen Connect, then click Network‑as‑a‑Service (NaaS). 

For other services, your customer care manager (CCM) will confirm a preferred activation scheduling window with you before the activation. The Lumen Scheduling team will confirm the activation schedule. Your designated contact needs to validate the date and time of this activation. Failing to show up for a scheduled activation is considered customer not ready.

A chat agent will work with you to match your preferred activation window with a technician. You will receive a confirmation email with a meeting invite for the scheduled activation period and additional information. 

Your customer care manager monitors the progression of your order. If your order includes managed devices, expect a site visit by a Lumen field technician to install and test the device before your scheduled activation. Once the service is ready, your assigned customer care manager or project manager will provide your site technical contact with necessary information for your configuration. Once Lumen has indicated that your installation is complete, a Lumen representative will contact you to coordinate the date(s) and time(s) for the equipment installation and other stages of your activation—including the activating your voice service and separately any porting in of telephone numbers.

Once confirmation of internal resource availability has been received with approval to schedule, Lumen will communicate the final date/time of your activation call. Before to your activation day, Lumen will contact you to confirm the date/time of your activation. If you need to change to the reserved activation date/time, please notify your customer care manager or project manager immediately so we can reschedule. If you are unable to be present for the activation or cancel/reschedule within 24 hours of the scheduled activation start time, additional charges may apply.

You will receive an email with the phone number and passcode for your scheduled activation call. If you need to access the call from a location outside the United States, use the phone numbers below, then enter your passcode.

If you are scheduled for an after‑hours or a weekend activation call and a Lumen resource doesn't show up for the event, please contact the Scheduling & Activations on‑call manager at 855‑572‑4322.

Use the checklists below to understand what takes place during the activation and what you are responsible for before your scheduled activation.

To help ensure a successful activation, please complete the following tasks:

• Install your equipment
• Ensure you're able to locate the circuit at the demarc provided
  
• Ensure circuit is extended to where the managed router will be located at your site
• Ensure access to all points from the MPOE to your requipment
• Ensure someone will be on site to assist with the activation (if needed)
• Ensure someone will have access to your equipment (if needed)
  
• Configure your hardware with applicable configuration information as ordered before your scheduled activation (if possible)
  • For IP and VLAN information, refer to your service activation email
• Confirm your hardware is set up and ready to be connected to the Lumen network
• Ensure you have the correct cable types
• Verify your cloud service provider (CSP) key for Ethernet On‑Demand

During the scheduled activation event, a conference call between you and Lumen, here are the service‑specific activation steps:
 

1. Verify connectivity.
   
   
2. Verify IPs and VLANs for Internet On‑Demand. 
   
   
3. Verify the data center token for Internet On‑Demand connections to data centers. 
   
   
4. Verify VLAN service configuration for Ethernet On‑Demand circuit termination and operation.
   
   
5. Confirm service with Lumen as ordered and expected.
   

To help ensure a successful activation, please complete the following tasks relevant to your service:

• Install your equipment
• Ensure you're able to locate the circuit at the demarc provided
  
• Ensure circuit is extended to where the managed router will be located at your site
• Ensure access to all points from the MPOE to your requipment
• Ensure someone will be on site to assist with the activation (if needed)
• Ensure someone will have access to your equipment (if needed)
  
• Configure your hardware with applicable configuration information as ordered before your scheduled activation (if possible)
  • For IP information, refer to your equipment data sheet
  • For SIP trunk, ensure your firewall and/or ACLs are set up for the Lumen signaling and RTP IPs
• Confirm your hardware is set up and ready to be connected to the Lumen network
• Ensure you have the correct cable types
• If Lumen provides an ADTRAN or Cisco on‑site as a voice gateway, PRIs and digital trunks will require you to use a T1 crossover cable (Learn more about crossover cables)

• Stand-alone PRIs and digital trunks will require you to use a T1 straight cable
• For SIP service where Lumen is providing an SBC (session border controller), make sure you have both Ethernet straight and crossover cables on hand

During equipment installation, which occurs prior to the scheduled voice-activation event, here are the specific installation tasks:

• You are not required to join a conference bridge during the equipment installation process.
• You must arrange and confirm site access for the Lumen field technician or Lumen vendor.
• Your local contact must have knowledge of your server/data room location.
• Your local contact must also have knowledge of rack space reserved for Lumen equipment.
• While the Lumen field technician will have the demarcation information from the LEC’s records, your local contact must have knowledge of the location of the Lumen circuit.
• You will need to provide adequate/necessary power to support Lumen routers or circuit-termination equipment as required.
• You will receive an IP configuration letter from your customer care manager after the equipment is installed.
  

During the scheduled activation event, a conference call between you and Lumen, here are the service-specific activation steps:
 

1. Verify connectivity.
   
   
2. Verify IPs or circuit termination and operation.
   
   
3. Confirm service with Lumen as ordered and expected.
   
   
4. Complete test call requirements depending on service type: IP or TDM.

If you have activated your service but have not been able to pass any traffic open an activation ticket by clicking chat and selecting Network‑as‑a‑Service (NaaS). If you are experiencing issues after passing traffic for at least 12 hours open a repair ticket in Lumen Connect (our customer portal).

If you have recently activated your service, but have been unable to pass any traffic, please contact your customer care manager to engage the Post Activation Support team.

If you have activated your service but are experiencing issues after passing traffic for at least 12 hours, please contact the Lumen Repair Center at 877-453-8353. You can also open a repair ticket in Lumen Connect (our customer portal).

Lumen aims to deliver your service with your cooperation as of the customer commitment date (CCD). If we cannot deliver your service due to your inaction, unreadiness, delay, or failure to complete activities necessary for a successful delivery, we will not be liable for delay remedies otherwise available to you and we may send you an effective bill date notice. Thereafter, we will begin charging for service(s) and they will appear on your first invoice. If you have any questions about any site readiness or other actions you need to complete so we can achieve the CCD and assure you are ready, please contact your customer care manager as soon as possible. Additionally, communicating important information to your site technical contact as soon as possible will help identify and address any issues ahead of time. Our goal is to work with you to achieve an exceptional delivery experience.

This policy does not apply to On‑Demand services. 

If you need to cancel or reschedule your activation, click the chat icon in Lumen Connect, select Network‑as‑a‑Service (NaaS), and work with the chat agent to cancel or reschedule. 

You must cancel one business day before the confirmed activation date and time. If it is within one business day, the cancelation will result in a charge (see below).

Lumen will confirm the specified scheduled date and time of the requested activation submitted by the customer care manager on your behalf. Lumen Scheduling will provide a confirmed email with the scheduled activation date to you, your assigned customer care manager, and the remote activation tech. (If required, a confirmation to the field tech assigned to install the equipment will also be provided.) In addition, Lumen will provide additional best‑effort notifications to remind you about your scheduled activation date and time. Below are the cancellation options:
 

• You must cancel one business day before the confirmed activation date and time. If it is within one business day, the cancelation will result in a charge (see below).
  
  
• You may also contact your assigned customer care manager to cancel or reschedule the activation.

Any customer cancellation less than one business day from the scheduled event or if a customer is not ready during the scheduled event will be charged a cancellation fee. This is done on a per-site and per-region basis.

Learn how to prepare for scheduling activations for managed services.

Your customer care manager (CCM) will confirm a preferred activation scheduling window with you before the activation. This activation schedule will be confirmed by the Lumen scheduling team.

Your designated contact needs to validate the date and time of this activation. Failing to show up for a scheduled activation is considered customer not ready (see section below).

Scheduled activations for service(s) that include managed router or managed security equipment requires a two-step process that includes an equipment installation stage as well as a scheduled activation event between you and Lumen. If your order includes Managed Router Services (MRS) or Managed Security Services (MSS), expect a site visit by a Lumen field technician to install and test the equipment before the scheduled activation event.
 

• Provide the site technical contact with the IP configuration details early to allow more preparation time before the stage 2 installation.
  
  
• If the IP configuration details cannot be included, add “no auto-negotiate” to the IP letter.
   

Your assigned customer care manager will provide the site technical contact with an IP configuration letter once the equipment installation has been complete. This letter explains how to load the correct IP configuration on your device in preparation of the scheduled activation event.

Your customer care manager monitors the status of your order. Once we have indicated the order to be installation complete, a Lumen representative contacts you to coordinate the date(s) and time(s) for the equipment installation and scheduled activation events.

Once confirmation of internal resource availability has been received with approval to schedule, Lumen will communicate the final date/time of your activation call. Prior to your activation day, we will reach out to the provided contact information and confirm the date/time of your activation.

If you need to make any changes to the reserved activation date/time, please notify your customer care manager immediately to reschedule. In the event you are unable to be present for the activation or cancel/ reschedule within 24 hours of the scheduled activation start time, additional charges may apply.

If you have been scheduled for an afterhours or a weekend activation call, and a Lumen resource does not show up for the event, please contact the scheduling & activations on-call manager at 844­-427­-2875. Please see the checklist below to understand what will take place during the activation, as well as what responsibilities you have prior to the scheduled event.

To help ensure a successful activation, please complete the following tasks:

• Install your equipment
• Ensure circuit is extended to where the managed router will be located at your site
• Configure your hardware with applicable speed and duplex (not auto-negotiate)
• Confirm your hardware is set up and ready to make connection to the Lumen network
• Identify appropriate space and power available and be ready for equipment installation
   

During the installation of managed network or managed security equipment, which occurs prior to the scheduled activation event, the specific installation steps are as follows:

• You are NOT required to join a conference bridge during the equipment installation process.
• You must arrange and confirm site access for the Lumen field technician. Your local contact must have knowledge of your server/data room location.
• Your local contact must also have knowledge of rack space reserved for Lumen MNS or MSS equipment.
• While the Lumen field technician will have the demarcation information from the LEC’s records, your local contact must have knowledge of the location of the Lumen circuit
• You will need to provide adequate/necessary power to support Lumen MNS or MSS equipment
• You will receive an IP configuration letter from your customer care manager after the install of the MNS or MSS equipment
   

During the scheduled activation event, which is conducted as a conference call between Lumen and the customer, the service-specific activation steps are as follows:
 

1. Verify connectivity.
   
2. Ensure LAN block is being routed correctly; Establish routing protocols.
3. Establish routing protocols.
4. Confirm service with Lumen.
5. Verify connectivity to other locations.

If you have recently activated your service, but have been unable to pass any traffic, please contact your customer care manager to engage the Post Activation Support team.

If you have activated your service but are experiencing issues after passing traffic for at least 12 hours, please contact us at 877-453-8353.

• If we are simply adding sites to your existing network: we will start billing upon activating each site.
  
  
• If we are installing a new network: we will start billing once we have activated two sites. If you prefer which two sites we activate first, please contact your customer care manager.
  
  
• In both instances, you will receive a connection notification letter confirming that we have started billing your VPN service.

The following have been found to be common causes for not being able to successfully pass traffic. To help you quickly resolve this, we recommend that you double check these items before calling Lumen for support.
 

• Verify power is correctly connected to your equipment by cycling the power (turning off and then back on).
  
  
• Confirm cabling is installed correctly by simply unplugging the cable and plugging it back in.
  
  
• Confirm the current state of equipment interface is in an ‘up’ state. The interface setting must match the Lumen configuration speed and duplex.
  
  
• Validate that the circuit you (or your LEC—local exchange carrier) provided is working as ordered. Ensure that you can confirm power to the LEC devices. If there appears to be power and still no service, please obtain the LEC circuit ID before contacting us.
  
  
• Confirm that the internal routing is configured correctly.
  
  
• Verify that your class of service (CoS) has been configured.
  
  
• Verify you’re not exceeding port capacity as ordered. If you have Ethernet service(s), it is usually necessary to ensure traffic shaping (or packet shaping) is enabled on the router. Contact your Lumen representative for additional capacity.
  
  
• If you are experiencing an impairment involving packet loss or routing; Trace routes, source and destination pings are necessary for Lumen to assist in resolving the issue.
  
  
• To verify your quality of service (QoS), you can use the speed test link below. Note: Testing the speed of an off-network circuit is not a reliable indication of QoS. This testing should not be confused with class of service (CoS) testing.

Lumen aims to deliver your service with your cooperation as of the customer commitment date (CCD). If your delay or inaction prevents Lumen from completing service installation, Lumen will begin charging for service(s) starting on the customer commitment date. Service charges will continue to accrue until the customer is ready and Lumen can complete service installation. Accrued service charges will appear on your first invoice. If you have any questions about any site readiness or other actions you need to perform to enable us to achieve the CCD and assure you are ready, please contact your customer care manager as soon as possible. Additionally, communicating important information to your site technical contact as soon as possible will help identify and address any issues ahead of time. Our goal is to work with you to achieve and exceptional delivery experience.

Lumen will confirm the specified scheduled date and time of the requested managed activation submitted by the customer care manager on behalf of the customer. Lumen Scheduling will provide a confirmed email with the scheduled managed activation date to you, your assigned customer care manager and the remote managed activation tech (a confirmation to the field tech assigned to install the equipment will also be provided). In addition, Lumen will provide additional best effort notifications to remind the customer about their respective scheduled managed activation date and time. Below are the cancellation options:
 

• You must cancel one business day before the confirmed managed activation date and time. If it is within one business day, the cancelation will result in a charge (see below).
  
  
• You will have the option to cancel or rescheduled your managed activation without charges one business day before the confirmed activation date by calling 844-427-2875 Monday–Friday, 7:00am–7:00pm CT.
  
  
• You may also contact your assigned customer care manager to cancel or reschedule the managed activation.

Any customer cancellation less than one business day from the scheduled event or if a customer is not ready during the scheduled event will be charged a cancellation fee. This is done on a per-site and per-region basis.