COMM-PRO
MAY 1999 MEMO

Our Area Code is Changing From 805 to 661

Effective February 13, 1999, certain portions of the 805 area code will be changing to 661. Our business is one of those affected by this change. Use of the new area code will become mandatory on August 13, 1999.

NCP V7R7 (TYPGEN=NCP), with EP R14 (TYPGEN=PEP) - Supported

IBM ACF/NCP Version 7 Release 7 (V7R7) and IBM Emulation Program Version 1, Release 14 (V1R14) - Products are officially supported by Comm-Pro in a TYPGEN=(PEP or NCP) environment.

EP Version 1, Release 14 Standalone Support - Testing

Standalone Support for IBM Emulation Program Version 1 Release 14 - Product is currently being tested and is expected to become available sometime in July 1999.

SSP Version 4, Release 7 - Supported

IBM ACF/SSP Version 4 Release 7  for OS/390, MVS/ESA, VM/ESA and VSE/ESA - SSP V4R7 products are required for load module generation and utility functions for ACF/NCP V7R7 and EP R1V14 support. Note that this product is downward compatible with earlier NCP and EP distributions still supported by IBM. This product also requires that you have the High Level Assembler installed at you location.

MVS OS/390 Version 2 Release 5, 37XX Environments - Supported

Comm-Pro 37XX X.25 NAS products with current product maintenance run under MVS OS/390 Version 2 Release 5 with no known problems.

X.25 Host NAS for OS/390, MVS/ESA and VM/ESA - Testing
(NPSI Mainframe Connectivity Without 3745 NCP/NPSI Requirement)

X.25 connectivity via IBM routers into OS/390, MVS/ESA and VM/ESA applications via the host resident TCP/IP stack. Installation's that no longer have a requirement for 270x emulator program applications, should consider Comm-Pro's X.25 Host NAS (HostNAS) product as a replacement for IBM 3745's running NCP with NPSI or X.25 37XX NAS. The X.25 Host NAS product is used in conjunction with the following IBM routers: 2210, 2212, 2216, 3746-900 and Net Utility.

This product is currently undergoing testing in MVS OS/390 environments running at level V2R4, V2R5 and V2R7. Product component availability dates will be provided once testing is completed for the first phase of the support.

Additional information regarding this product is available via our X.25 Host NAS web address www.comm-pro.com/hostnas. We will provide additional information on this product once the current test phase is completed.

New European Business Partners for X.25 Host NAS Products

Aztec Computers Europe ltd. and Centron International have recently come onboard as Comm-Pro Business Partners. They will promote, market and provide first level support for our X.25 Host NAS products in Europe. We are very excited about the interest, energy and professional approach that these two organizations are exhibiting. Links will be added to the International Marketing Support and Business Partners section of our web page by late May 1999.

37XX Upgrade Activity, Y2K and Other Test Schedule Considerations

Many of our customers have completed their Y2K testing and are ready for the upcoming millennium date change. The majority of these customers upgraded their Operating System, VTAM, Applications, SSP, NCP and EP software to levels supported by IBM through the Year 2000.

We are continually fulfilling requests for Comm-Pro product maintenance refreshes and upgrade distributions that support more recent IBM NCP|EP|SSP|VTAM product levels.

Customer's with extensive custom Comm-Pro modifications or enhancements should contact Comm-Pro ASAP to ensure that their products are available in a timely manner should they require a refresh or upgrade. Those who have already ordered and received their refresh or upgrade should consider implementation before too much time elapses.

Our intention is to avoid any potential scheduling conflicts that could arise should too many customers wait until the last minute to implement a refresh or upgrade. If you are planning an upgrade this year, please be sure and send us your proposed test schedule so that we can schedule you in, if available. We will also provide some standby times should another client cancel their test schedule.

Please note that we do not consider problems with product refresh or upgrade installation and generation processing as "Emergency Support Items". We suggest that you perform your tape product installation and generation so that any error conditions can be reported to a Comm-Pro Technical Support Representative during our normal business hours. We also suggest that you  schedule test time with Comm-Pro for any upcoming weekend or late night testing periods that may require Comm-Pro's support.

Not all customers will upgrade or change their 37mm software or hardware due to their internal support or maintenance policies. Some have already decided that they will continue to run with software unsupported by IBM although they are obviously making some environment changes for Y2K support. We actually still have some 3705 EP customers running with the 'free EP' who are very satisfied with the performance and stability of their environment.

Again, we would like to assure you that Comm-Pro's software is not Year 2000 date sensitive.

Comm-Pro Year 2000 Support, Compliance or Readiness

Comm-Pro's software is not year 2000 date sensitive.

We do not process date data in any of our 37XX software packages. Our 37XX software uses an interval timer (100 millisecond resolution) for all of our internal 37XX timer processing and time stamp event logging.

Note that our source members and object modules may contain any of the following imbedded date formats: mmddyy, mm-dd-yy, mm/dd/yy, mmddyyyy, mm-dd-yyyy or mm/dd/yyyy. These noted date formats are for programmer maintenance log activity (change control) and assembly date remembrances although none of the dates are used for any date data processing.

Please contact your IBM or Amdahl representative to ensure that your existing 37mm (3745, 3720, 3725, 3705) or 47mm (4745, 4725, 4705E or 4705) NCP, EP or PEP communication controller software and SSP (utilities and programs) are not date sensitive.

Some 3745 models do require micro code EC updates for Y2K support.

Comm-Pro's Holiday Schedule

Comm-Pro's general business offices are closed on the following holidays:

    * Closed for the Holiday Season

In celebration of the coming holiday season, Comm-Pro's general business offices will be closed during Thanksgiving week, (Saturday, November 20 through Sunday, November 28). We will be back in the office on Monday, November 29, 1999.

    ** Special Support for Y2K New Years Eve/New Years Day

Our general business offices have historically been closed for the period between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day. In consideration of potential Y2K activity during transition to the new millennium, we have decided to provide staffing on December 31, 1999 through January 1, 2000. Staff member(s) may be located on site at our main office in Santa Clarita California or will be available via our standard emergency notification procedure.

As indicated earlier, Comm-Pro's software is not year 2000 date sensitive. We do not process date data in any of our 37XX software packages. This extended support is being provided so that we can answer any potential questions in a timely manner for our valued customers.

Our offices will be closed from Friday, December 24 through Thursday,   December 30, 1999.

If you are planning to make changes or conduct testing that will require Comm-Pro support, please keep these date's in mind and help us to schedule around them. Your flexibility and consideration are appreciated.

Comm-Pro Information Resources - Contact Information

Please refer to one of the following information resources for additional information:

    * Note that our 805 area code will continue to operate until August 13, 1999.