Author: Michael Blood
Making Dahdi work on asterisk on ubuntu 14.04
Making asterisk+Dahdi work on ubuntu 14.04
Asterisk and Dahdi Setup
I installed asterisk and the dahdi packages
apt-get install asterisk asterisk-config asterisk-core-sounds-en asterisk-core-sounds-en-gsm asterisk-dahdi asterisk-modules asterisk-moh-opsound-gsm asterisk-vocemail dahdi dahdi-dkms dahdi-linux
I rebooted at this point because it seems as though dahdi and asterisk act a bit different from a reload than from a reboot.
I confirmed that the dahdi modules were all loaded and then I ran:
dahdi_hardware #to confirm that my wcte12xp+ hardware was visible dahdi_genconf # to automatically setup my /etc/dahdi/system.conf file dahdi_scan # to make sure that my hardware was setup to run a PRI / T1 (it wasn't so I had to change the jumper from e1 to t1 and start over)
At this poing I am ready to run the config and make sure that my channels are all configured correctly
dahdi_cfg -vv # this display all of the channels that are were setup by dahdi_genconf, if dahdi_genconf set up your span wrong edit /etc/dahdi/system.conf
I also confirmed that in my ‘ /etc/modprobe.d/dahdi.conf’ file I had a couple of entries
options dahdi auto_assign_spans=1 options wcte12xp default_linemode=t1
(the linemode may have been unnecessary, and left over from when I was screwing around with figuring out the jumper)
After everything is setup again, I reboot (Rebooting is always good idea when verifying configuration changes, as it confirms that your changes will survive a reboot)
The Issue – Errors with the PRI
When the reboot came back up , I was able to confrim again that dahdi_scan and dahdi_cfg -vv came back as expected. Since the dahdi_genconf command autoatmically setup my dahdi-channels.conf file (included by chan_dahdi.conf) Then now calls that come in through the pri should now start showing up on the asterisk console.
asterisk -rvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv #attach to the asterisk console with a good amount of debugging
This is where I start to see errors:
[Apr 24 10:07:07] ERROR[2863] chan_dahdi.c: PRI Span: 1 Write to 36 failed: Invalid argument [Apr 24 10:07:07] ERROR[2863] chan_dahdi.c: PRI Span: 1 Short write: 0/5 (Invalid argument)
These errors occur 1000s of times an hour.
After digging around a bit more I found a couple more errors
#dmesg|grep dahdi [ 12.024807] dahdi: module verification failed: signature and/or required key missing - tainting kernel [ 12.025077] dahdi: unknown parameter 'auto_assign_spans' ignored
I did not know what these meant, but it seemed worth some research. It seems that when a kernel is tainted “It is in a state that is not supported by the community“. [http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/118116/linux-what-is-a-tainted-kernel]. However that just seems to show that there is a problem but does not help me figure out what it means. However the ‘unknown parameter’ auto_assign_spans leads me to believe that I somehow have an old version of dahdi installed
dahdi is upto version 2.11 as of 4/26/2016# cat /sys/module/dahdi/version 2.5.0.1
A quick check shows that the dahdi installed from the binary is seriously out of date.
Install Latest versions from source
So, I had to remove asterisk and dahdi as a set of packages and install from source.
#apt-get remove asterisk dahdi #apt-get autoremove
Removed about 70 packages and I was left with an asterisk-less system, then this article helped me to get asterisk and dahdi installed from source
#apt-get update && apt-get -y upgrade
#apt-get -y install linux-headers-$(uname -r)
#apt-get -y install build-essential subversion git libncurses5-dev uuid-dev libjansson-dev libxml2-dev libsqlite3-dev
#cd /usr/local/src #wget http://downloads.asterisk.org/pub/telephony/dahdi-linux-complete/dahdi-linux-complete-current.tar.gz #tar zxvf dahdi-linux-complete-current.tar.gz #cd dahdi-linux-complete*/ #I changed this from the article since the latest version was 2.11 when I installed #make all #make install #make config
#cd /usr/local/src
#wget http://downloads.asterisk.org/pub/telephony/libpri/libpri-current.tar.gz
#tar zxvf libpri*
#cd libpri*
#make install && cd ..
# wget http://downloads.asterisk.org/pub/telephony/asterisk/asterisk-13-current.tar.gz
#tar xvzf asterisk*
#cd asterisk*
#contrib/scripts/get_mp3_source.sh
#contrib/scripts/install_prereq install
# make && make install && make config
Then I restart everything
/etc/init.d/dahdi start /etc/init.d/asterisk start
And my phone system is working, there are no more errors and all phone traffic (in and out of the PRI) is working.
Of course, I reboot, just to confirm that dahdi and asterisk do start on their own.
#reboot
mysqldump fails with ‘help_topic’ is marked as crashed and should be repaired
mysql table is marked crashed, but status is still ‘OK’
The Problem
We got an error when attempting to dump and backup the mysql database. It would get an error saying the table was crashed and needed to be retored.
mysqldump: Error 1194: Table 'help_topic' is marked as crashed and should be repaired when dumping table `help_topic` at row: 507
This most likely could apply to any table.
The analysis
We just run a check against the database and it shows a warning
#mysqlcheck -c mysql help_topic mysql.help_topic warning : Size of datafile is: 484552 Should be: 482440 status : OK
So it seems odd that we have a problem if it says the status is okay, but the data file size issue is the problem
The solution
Even though it says it is okay, it has to be repaired, so we run
#mysqlcheck -r mysql help_topic
Voila! No more error.
(This fix can be used on any table)
WordPress delay from a plugin – curl delay from plugin
The following is some documentation of how I found an odd random delay which showed up on a WordPress website using a plugin, this is how I found the issue and how I would more quickly find it next time.
The WordPress Plugin Delay Problem
Every time the WordPress website would load, it would take about 15 second (actually between 15.2 seconds and 15.9 seconds) to respond.
It was very consistent in the delay and I quickly assumed it is a plugin.
I used two methods of debugging.
TCPDUMP
I ran TCP dump on the server and made sure that the web server received the packet I sent it, and that the delay was fully on the server
tcpdump host x.x.x.x port 80 -Xvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
I found that the delay was on the server, the packets would be received by the server and the server would not respond until just over 15 seconds.
With this information I could confirm that without a doubt, the server was causing this 15 second delay.
LSOF
I used the lsof command to find out what open files were on the system when the command was delayed. I found that there was an outgoing http request to an odd IP address
#lsof -i:80 -n localip:28876->159.203.88.42:http
From experience with the website I knew that each time the WordPress application was called, it should not be calling ANY other website.
This did not help me find the problem, but I recognized that the issue was that some plugin was calling this IP address and it was stuck waiting to receive a result, which was blocking the page from loading. By running the lsof command multiple times during a request, I was able to see that this connection stayed open in the (SYN) mode for about 15 seconds. When I attempted to ping the IP, or open port 80 to the IP, I received no response.
To try to help me figure out what server this was and what plugin was calling this, I tried to lookup the IP
#dig -x 159.203.88.42 ;; QUESTION SECTION: ;42.88.203.159.in-addr.arpa. IN PTR ;; ANSWER SECTION: 42.88.203.159.in-addr.arpa. 1800 IN PTR 45215-36110.cloudwaysapps.com. ;; AUTHORITY SECTION: 203.159.in-addr.arpa. 80642 IN NS ns3.digitalocean.com. 203.159.in-addr.arpa. 80642 IN NS ns2.digitalocean.com. 203.159.in-addr.arpa. 80642 IN NS ns1.digitalocean.com.
With this I could have dug deeper to find out what plugins were hosted on the ip or something, but it seemed easier to just start disabling plugins until I no longer see the delay. So that is what I did, i just disabled one plugin at time (with a 15 second delay between each) until I reached ‘Easy Modal’. As soon as I disabled the plugin, the website loaded quickly.
Now, I could have just ditched the plugin since it clearly uses a method of verification which unacceptably blocks websites from using the plugin if their website is not running, but I dug deeper with the hopes that I will be able to more quickly figure out problems like this in the future.
I dug into the plugin and found that they have a hardcoded API url http://easy-modal.com . When I ping this url, i find that the IP resolves to:
#ping easy-modal.com 159.203.88.42
They luckily did use some WordPress built in functions in order make some calls to it server.
#wp_remote_get
wp_remote_get is a function which receives a url and returns information from the remote server for use in the programming, it appears they were using it to confirm that licensing was upto date, which would have been fine if they would have backgrounded the process in their code and then returned some sort of true in the case their server was not running correctly.
While this is not nearly as big of a deal it reminds of How one developer just broke Node, Babel and thousands of projects in 11 lines of JavaScript.
Now the quicker way to find out where some plugin is blocking based on a url request.
Code to evaluate external URL calls which might be slowing your page
I wrote the following to help me then track down all the locations in your site that are doing remote calls. It does not identify the url it is calling but it shows a backtrace in your error log which will lead you right to the location in the wp install that is making the call (whether it is a plugin or not)
I was VERY surprised how much network activity was occuring from the website server to other servers on EACH website request. you can write a plugin that does the following.
Add the following code to a plugin in your WordPress install
add_filter('http_request_args','log_wp_start_request'); add_filter('http_response','log_wp_end_request'); function log_wp_end_request($args) { global $page_log_tag,$log_request_tag; error_log("WPEND $log_request_tag Characters returned: ".strlen(print_r($args,true))); } function log_wp_start_request($arg) { global $page_log_tag,$log_request_tag; if(!$page_log_tag) $page_log_tag=chr(rand(65,80)).chr(rand(65,80)); $log_request_tag=$page_log_tag."_".chr(rand(65,80)).chr(rand(65,80)); $bt=debug_backtrace(); array_shift($bt); error_log("WPSTART $log_request_tag $nm $args"); foreach($bt as $fl) { $add.=" "; $btout="WPBACKT $log_request_tag $add $fl[file]:$fl[line]"; $btout=str_replace($_SERVER[DOCUMENT_ROOT],"",$btout); error_log($btout); } }
or you can check-remote plugin zip I created with the code. There are NO warranties on this.
If you have any debugging you would like done on your WordPress Plugins, Matraex does custom WordPress plugin development and would be happy to help you troubleshoot.
How are WordPress installs getting hacked?
Our friends at WordFence wrote an article today about a survey they recently ran showing that over 55% of all WordPress hacks are through plugins and more than 15% are from Brute Force attacks.
Credit: WordFence articleThe Managed WordPress Service by Matraex is a diligent oversight of your WordPress installation. We provide constant monitoring with weekly in depth review keeping your sight up to date.
Out of Date Plugins
To deal with out of date or insecure plugins we have some rather simple solutios
- Update or replace with an updated secure plugin
- Rebuild the plugin
- or when neither of those are an option, plug known holes, and backup regularly.
Brute Force
To deal with the plethora of Brute Force login attempts we
- Block all IP addresses that attempt to login with an invalid username
- Block all IP addresses if they make 2 failed login attempts
We consider anything less to be a security hole, we even built a WordPress Website Check tool identify whether a site is vulnerable to brute force attempts.
Find out more about our Managed WordPress Service.
Copy Register and Restart a VMWare instance
The scenario: we have two separate VMWare servers version 4.1.0 (260247) 192.168.210.20(server1) and 192.168.210.21 (server2)
We have copied a vmware guest from server1 datastore to server2 datastore. it shows when we browse the datastore, but it will not show in the inventory in vSphere, here is how to address this.
First lets get connected to the command line console on server2.
Enable the local or remote ESXi Shell from the vSphere Client
- Select the host, click the Configuration tab, and click Security Profile in the Software panel.
- In the Services section, click Properties.
- Select ESXi Shell and click Options.
- Temporarily Start the service by clicking the Start button.
- Click OK.
Login to the Console
- Download or start putty.exe,
- Enter the IP address of the VMWare host
- Enter the same username and password you use to login to VSphere.
Register the VM
Find the datastore and vmx file you want to registered
- cd into /vmfs/volumes/
- list the contents to find the datastore your vm is located in
- cd in that directory [#cd datastore1]
- explore the directories to find the .vmx file you want
- Or youcould have just run this command and picked the file you want
# find / -name ‘*.vmx’
Run the Register Command
- vim-cmd /solo/register /vmfs/volumes/datastore1/vm.server.name/vm.server.name.vmx
If you receive a message “(vim.fault.AlreadyExists)”, this means you will just need to remove the previous registration that you already copied over from the other location by moving the vmxf file to a backup location
- mv /vmfs/volumes/datastore1/vm.server.name/vm.server.name.vmxf /vmfs/volumes/datastore1/vm.server.name/vm.server.name.BAK.vmxf
And rerun the register command.
17 Years of apple.com – Website Design
Matraex is a Website Design and Development company in Boise, Idaho. As leaders in our field, we study and document web design from many angles, building tools which record and help evaluate the design of websites.
Announcing – The Website Design – History Browsing Tool
Matraex recently created the Website Design History Browsing tool which allows a visitor to browse through several years of designs from a particular website. Take a look we have posted the history of apple.com website design from 2000 to 2016.
The first page shows a list of 17 thumbnail shots of the apple.com home page over the 17 years between 2000 and 2016. The visitor can click on any one of the thumbnails and view the full screenshot from the beginning of that year. While the apple.com website did change during the year, we generally pulled the screen shot from the earliest day of the year that a change was recorded on the web archive.
Each page that shows the detail of the year, also show a thumbnail of the previous and after years with the ability to browse to those years.
A quick evaluation of the website design of apple.com:
- apple.com’s website design layout has been very consistent layout over the years.
- their navigation bar, has had an identical layout from 2000 to 2006, with only a couple of button changing.
- each year we see that the devices they are highlighting change, but within a similar layout.
- in 2006 apple.com highlighted their introduction of the intel chip into the mac. This was the first time that we saw a departure from the white background, and they gave a blue background to the concept
- in 2007 the iphone was introduced on apple.com and the entire background was changed to black. This year sticks out the most in the overview of the apple.com website design over the years
- in 2008 the apple.com site didn’t introduce any products, but they alluded to something coming by advertising Steve Job’s keynote speech. This was the first year they introduced a design change to the navigation bar.
- from 2009 to 2013, they continued to use the 2008 navigation bar, however they returned to a plain white background and a site that introduced their hardware products.
- In 2014, apple.com’s website design used a call to action for the first time, asking ‘What will your verse be’ with a button to watch a video. This seems to be their website design switch to be to nurturing users instead of selling hardware
- in 2015 and 2016, they continued the call to action method of marketing and nurturing visitors instead of only selling hardware by encouraging users to view a gallery of photos.
Matraex will be adding this same type of history for other popular websites. If you have a suggestion, please let us know via our contact us form.
Matraex Domain Lookup Services
Matraex provides Website Design and Development services to local, regional and national business in many industries. One step that is often overlooked, for new websites and new ideas, is the selection and purchase of a Domain Name.
Many times our clients will already have picked out or purchased their domain name. However, many times, they have an idea, but have not purchased a domain name for it. In these cases, we will search available names, suggest, propose and ultimately help our clients select their domain name.
Once selected, we can quickly purchase and setup the domain name with our name servers to enable our web and mail services. Often the process takes only a few minutes with the biggest delay is from our clients as they decide which available domains to choose.
Bulk Domain Search
There are a few cases when the process of purchasing domains is a bit more involved. In particular, when clients would like to purchase a portfolio of domain names for related websites or services (or simply to make sure no competing company has access to them). In this case, clients will often do their own searches, there are plenty of bulk domain lookup tools out there. Name.com bulk search is one of my goto searches since we register all of our domains through them, however this only works to help us quickly lookup availability of names that we already know. The client often does these searches on there own.
When the client is not sure what they want to do, we often spent a bit more time finding names using some of the bulk domain suggestion tools, in this case we have to dig a little deeper to find good suggestion tools. The suggestion tools below try synonyms in their search for a perfect domain name:
If you have a list of words that you want to easily find a good combination for try: bustaname.com. You will need to know all of the synonyms you would like to try, but the interface is great.
Domain Broker
In a few cases, we have worked to seek and negotiate the purchase of a domain name for a client. Occassionally clients have wanted to keep their names out of the offer, because sellers can get big eyes and ask for more money.
In these cases we have used our name to purchase the domain name.
The services above are typically free when we also do the Website Design for the domains, otherwise we offer the services on a simple hourly consulting basis.
XenServer and XenCenter
Why do we Blog about XenServer and XenCenter?
First, a quick bit about why we chose XenServer
We are small users of the XenServer and XenCenter software, and when we were first evaluating the Hyper Visor, we didn’t know much at all about Virtualizing servers.
At the same time as we were looking at XenServer, we were also looking into HyperV and VMWare. Of the 3, I found the open source model that XenServer had, backed by Cytrix’s large company status, to be the most appealing.
XenServer was also what Amazon AWS was based on, and with our experience with AWS it helped us lean towards XenServer.
To add to this, the XenCenter software was very simple to use, way that we were able to quickly create and manage Pools of servers and simply connect to the console seemed to address the features we would need, and not overcomplicate it like the VM Ware software did. An I liked the simple fast interface.
And finally, since we dont like to have Windows or GUI interfaces in our windows environment, we loved that the Hypervisor is a Linux install we can log into and run ‘xe’ command on.. This makes XenServer is very scriptable.
XenServer is scriptable
Looking back and why we have created so many blog posts about XenServer is simply, because it is so easy to do. As we have run into things that we have had difficulty doing, it has been simple to document the process of figuring it out, We have the option to simply cut and paste our command line history. This seem so much easier than creating picture snippets of a GUI based management system, and it makes it simple to turn our documentation of the process of troubleshooting an issue into a blog post.
Solutions to Problems are easy to forget
When we find a solution to a problem, they can be very easy to implement and forget. What happens here is that we end up doing the same research a year later to find a solution to a problem. This is one of the reasons that many of our blog posts are not polished, the posts just read like a stream of consciousness troubleshooting session. We are not expert article writers, we are expert Website Developers, Server Administrators and technical implementers. However we recognized that when we solve a difficult problem, if we document that problem in a place that is easy to find (our own blog) we can easily come back to it. We simply search our own blog for it.
All of our blog topics
So really, the reasons above apply to many of our blog topics.
- Easy to script, or describe in text (without pictures of it) we are able to cut and paste
- Solution is one that we want to easily be able to find and solve again
Examples of XenServer Blog Posts
- Script for Patching XenServer 6.5
- Changing IP Addresses on a XenServer 6.5 Pool
- Adding and Removing Local Storage from XenServer
- Automating patch installation on XenServer
- Disk write speed on XenServer – single vs mdadm vs hardware raid
- Creating a Bootable USB Install Thumb drive for XenServer
- Deleting Orphaned Disks in Citrix XenServer
- Promoting a XenServer host to pool master
- All XenServer posts
Local Company Bank Switch Notification Form
A Local Company Bank Switch Notification Form helps a customer notify a company of their updated banking information for Automatic Payments.
I am writing this post to help define and discuss the difference between a Local Company Bank Switch Notification Form and a Generic Bank Switch Notification Form.
Take an example company, Big State Power. Many customers of Big State use Automatic Payments to pay their monthly payment. Big State automatically deducts their
Idaho Power – Example Local Company Bank Switch Notification Formpayment from their bank account as it becomes due. When a customer needs to change their bank account, they have to notify Big State Power of the change.
Big State creates a Bank Switch Notification Form so a customer can notify them of the change. Big State is the Local Company in Local Company Bank Switch Notification Form
For Big State, the form has several places to fill out information that is required in order to change the Bank Account automatic payments are deducted from:
- Customer Account Identity (Customer Name, Customer Account)
- New Bank Account Information (Bank Name, Routing Number, Account Number)
- Customer Authorization (Signature , Date)
The document has to be sent to the Big State Power billing offices to process, so the form also has sending instructions and contact information to help with questions.
Benefits of a Local Company Form vs a Generic Bank Switch Notification Form
Many banks also provide forms which can be filled out and sent to Big State Power to notify then of the Automatic Payments change.
Both forms include places to enter:
- Customer Information
- New Bank Account Information
- Customer Authorization
Finding the sending process for a Local Company
However A Generic Bank Switch Notification form does NOT have details about the Company that the form will be mailed to. Some generic forms do have fields where the customer could enter this information once they have found it. Others do not prompt the customer to fill out the name of the company or address that the form is being send to, the form is generic enough to apply to which ever company receives it.
If a customer uses a Generic Bank Switch Notification forms, they will have to research how they will need to deliver the notification form to the company. Typically this would be done by researching on the company website, or calling the company and getting an address. This is the biggest problem with using a Generic Bank Switch Notification Form, the difficulty with finding addresses and processes and noting them, especially when dealing with multiple companies.
To be fair, if the Bank does not provide the user with any Switch Notification form, the user is likely going to have to go to the website or make a phone call in order to find the Local Company Bank Notification Form that has the address on it.
Filling out the same information multiple times
Generic forms often have lots of information about the customer to make sure that the Local Company has enough information to switch the account, that means that the Customer has to fill out lots of information on each of these Generic forms. They have to fill out this information even if the Local Company may not have required it. With a Local Company form, the customer would only have to fill out the information required. This situation is compounded when the customer has to fill out multiple forms, they have to write in MORE information than necessary several times.
In some cases Generic Bank Notification Forms, have the user write in the details of the OLD bank account. For purposes of being complete, this seems like a good idea, however most Local Companies simply don’t require it. When the customer has to fill out this information multiple times, there is even more frustration.
Best of Both Worlds: Generic and Local Company Bank Switch Notification Form
Two different solutions can overcome the frustration that Customers switching banks go through when having to lookup Company switching details.
- The bank can provide the Local Company Bank Switch Notification form at the time the new account is open instead of a Generic Form
- The bank can print the sending instructions for each account on the Generic Bank Switch Notification Form
Bank Prints Local Company Bank Switch Notification Form
In this scenario, when a new customer is switching to the new bank, the New Account Rep’s job is to make it easy. So they would ask the customer which companies they have automatic payments with that they would need to switch. In the case of utilities like Big State Power, this would be simple to have the forms available. There is likely only one or two power companies close to the branch that most customers would be switching to. However it would be very difficult to be able to track down all of the forms for all of the different mobile phone providers, cable and satellite TV providers, mortgage companies, etc.
This is the reason that Banks have created Generic Bank Switch Kits, so they do not have to provide this service.
Bank Prints Local Company Information on Generic Bank Switch Notification
The bank does already have their Generic Form which they could provide to the customer, so if they could fill in the instructions for how the customer should send this information to the Local Company that would save the customer time. The bank does deal with many customers, and is in a prime position to collect this information and save the Customer time and frustration from having to look the information up.
The same issue applies here though, there are simply too many companies out there and the time that it would take to organize all of these companies, quickly identify the companies that the Customer is using and print out the forms, is not feasible using paper.
Examples of Local Company Bank Switch Notification Forms
To help describe what these forms look like, We have included a couple links to some Local Company Bank Switch Notification Forms. Companies do change these occasionally, so please let us know if you find that some of these have changed.
If you have any suggestions of good examples, please let us know and we will add them:
- Idaho Power – idahopower-bankswitch-notification.pdf
- Mirimar, Florida Water & Sewer – ACH Authorization – ACHauthorization.pdf
Matraex writes about Bank Switch Kits as it researches the Switch Kit industry to improve our Auto Switch Kit product
Components of a Coordinated Bank Switch Kit
A Bank Switch Kit is a form or set of forms that helps a customer switch their bank account from one bank to a new bank account. Generally this is focused around transferring automatic payments from the old bank to the new bank.
We have identified several types of Bank Switch Kits and we discuss each of them in this series
- Simple – contains a Notification Form to send to each company
- Organized – contains a Notification Form to send to each company and a Worksheet to help coordinate the transfers
Within the Switch Kits we have identified two types of Notification Forms
- Generic – A form created by the bank, which can be used to send to each company
- Specific – A form specific to each vendor company to assist their customer with switching banks
Organized Bank Switch Kit
Washington Federal Switch Organizer Company Type ListOrganized Bank Switch Kits have a form or a worksheet to help the bank customer keep track of transferring automatic payments for the multiple companies they use.
Identifying and Listing the Companies
The Organizer Worksheet is typically made up of a way to check a box next to a list the companies that will need to have automatic payments transferred over. They are typically made up of one or more of the following:
- Blank Lines – The customer has blank fields where they can write down each of the companies that they need to notify
- Common Company Types – Lists the common types of companies that each customer may have. (Mortgage, Power, Gas, Phone, Cable, HOA)
- Specific Company List – Smaller Community Banks have fewer utilities their customers might be working with and they might be able to list the company names for Power, Gas or other utilities.
Each of these methods prompts the customer to identify each of the companies that they have automatic payments with. These worksheets simplify a task that could seem overwhelming to identify each of the companies they work with on auto payment.
Tracking Notification of Bank Account Switch
Notifying a company that you would like them to switch automatic payments to a new bank accounts takes time. Bank Switch Kit Organizer Worksheets are designed to simply the process.
Not all worksheets are designed the same but they attempt to help collect some amount of information so that the customer has a single place they have to refer to. Then they organize the process of notifying and tracking the progress of notifying the companies.
Bremer Bank Organized Switch Kit with places to track company name and contact info, account and payment information and whether the switch is complete- Collect the company names and account numbers of all accounts
- Track the notification instructions for notifying each specific company (mailing address, phone number, etc)
- Track dates and methods that notification was sent or started
- Track dates of when the switch was successful ans confirmed
This will typcially be done by listing out a number of fields next to each of the companies that were identified or listed on the Organizer Worksheet. The most common types of fields are:
- Company Name – A place to write the actual name of the company, this is the only way that a company name is listed on a Blank Lines style of worksheet, some Common Company Types worksheets do not make room for this, since the customer often already knows exactly who their power, gas and cable provider is.
- Date – A date to track the process of when transfer is started, often room for more than one date can be made so that the form can track the date the switch was confirmed.
- Notification Instructions – a place to note how the company should be notified when a bank account switch needs to occur
- Account #- a convenient place to write the number of the account the customer holds with that company
- Amount – you can write the amount of the automatic payment that is made
- Notified – a place to mark a check or a date when you sent a notice to the company requesting a switch to the new account
- Switched – a place to mark a check or a date after you have confirmed that the company has official switched over to your new bank.
When a bank includes an Organizer worksheet in their Bank Switch Kit, they give a tool for the customer to keep track of the process and know where the next step is.
Examples of Organizer Worksheets for Switch Kits
In researching the different Organizer Worksheets, we found many different styles and we have linked to several of them below
- Washington Federal [link] – Has an overview page for their switch kit which lists several steps for switching, Step 2 is to download their Switch Organizer which lists several Common Company Types. The form helps the customers collect their account numbers and mark whether the company has been ‘Notified’ and whether the automatic payment has been ‘Switched’. The form does not have any place to list the name of the company next to the company type, and it does not attempt to help collect Notifications Instructions for any of the companies. The form does provide blanks and lines for a great number of possible companies and company types that might need to be switched.
- Bremer [link] – A community bank in Ohio, has single pdf file Switch Kit which has all of the instructions for how to fill out the switch kit. On page 5 they have a list of less than 10 Common Company Types that may need to have automatic payments transferred from. The Table has a grid with columns to enter the phone number, account number, amount , payment date, and a check box for when the switch was completed. Better the Washington Federal option, the Kit has a place to list the phone number, which could be useful help coordinate the and verify that the transfer went through. Many companies require that you mail them a form though, and this form falls short of providing a place to track the address to send the form. One unique item on this table is the payment date. While this is often a bit more complex, sometimes the date that transfers have to be made, must be carefully timed with the date the date that automatic payments will be withdrawn to make sure funds are available and not split between two banks.
Examples of Switch Kits which fall short of Organizer Worksheets
- Central Bank [link] – Has an overview page similar to Washington Federal, where they describe the process of switching accounts starts with opening an account and then “Gather your account information and enter it on the Easy Switch Kit Account Information Worksheet-Form A (below) designed specifically for this purpose.” Later on the page they provide the link to the PDF Switch Kit Organizer Worksheet file named ‘SwitchKit_formA-LexWin.pdf’. Oddly, when opening this file, it has a title that shows ‘Microsoft Word – Switch Kit Acct_Form-A.doc’. If you look at the document, there is very little information that you would actually need as part of a switch kit. Typcially you simply need the NEW routing number and account number that you need to send to each company to let them know where they need to go. In this form, they prompt you to enter a plethora of information about the account owner, joint account owner and the new account information. In most cases you already have this information in your other documentation on the bank, which seems to make this form unnecessary. It does not help the customer switch their automatic payments and direct deposits over to the new bank, it actually just helps the new account owner collect information about them selves which will help them to open their account more quickly, saving the New Accounts banker time. We actually call this type of Kit a New Account Information Organization Kit as it helps a customer setup a new account, without any assistance related to moving money, automatic payments or direct deposits from a previous bank.
Matraex studies and produces articles related to Bank Switch kits as part of our research to release upgraded features in our Auto Switch Kit product.