Narrative:

I am reporting this issue due to new information which came to light this morning. I was flm (front line manager) in area B of an en route facility. Our sector 55 uret (user request evaluation tool) malfunctioned and I made the decision to move sector 55 from its normal location to a vacant scope- sector 67. I assigned a cpc (certified professional controller) to set up and staff sector 67 and determined that due to the recently certified cpc's experience level it would help if the vscs (voice switching & control system) map at 67 was swapped via a logical to physical (ltp) swap at the supervisor's vscs station. I had the cpc set up sector 67 as normal for 55. I then advised the controllers that I would do the inputs to swap the vscs maps. Upon entry of the ltp swap all of the frequencies at both sector 55 and sector 67 reverted to transmitter-off; receiver-on and loud speaker-on. This was unexpected and caused disruption in the area because: 1- all of the frequencies are located on the sector 67 vscs map and they all turned onto loud speaker so each time anybody in the area transmitted the response was on loud speaker at sector 55 (using 67's vscs map). The same was happening at sector 67 (using 55's vscs map) although the loud speakers were on much lower settings. I believed that the transition should be virtually invisible to the controllers except for several buttons on their vscs screens moving to other locations than their normal. The problem: the information I relied on in making that assumption came from the 6690.17- air traffic controller operators manual for the vscs. I had read through a good portion of the manual including section 4.5- effects of reconfiguration on ATC positions; specifically: 4.5.2 effects on a/G operations; when configuration maps are downloaded to vces (vscs console equipment) and the reconfiguration has completed at that vce; all new frequencies are displayed on the vdm (visual display monitor) screen with the receiver disabled; transmitter disabled; and frequency voice routed to the ls. Configuration does not modify previously selected hs and ls selections; main and standby transmitter and receiver selections; radio; or buec (back up emergency communications) assignments. I have had several conversations with one of our vscs specialists regarding this and he informed me that a reconfiguration and an ltp are two different items and processes and the results on a/G communications will be different. The 6690.17 does not differentiate between the two and in fact several times refers to a ltp as a 'ltp reconfiguration'. The 6690.17 is the official air traffic controller training document and needs to be updated to include this information so this does not happen in the future. Recommendation; update the 6690.17 to indicate that there are different expected results on a/G and G/G communications when doing a ltp versus doing a reconfiguration.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ARTCC supervisor describe an attempt to move and combine one position to another and change the land line/frequency configuration via the VSCS equipment; the air traffic VSCS training/information document provided incorrect procedures that resulted in confusion and disruptions at the sector.

Narrative: I am reporting this issue due to new information which came to light this morning. I was FLM (Front Line Manager) in Area B of an en route facility. Our Sector 55 URET (User Request Evaluation Tool) malfunctioned and I made the decision to move Sector 55 from its normal location to a vacant scope- Sector 67. I assigned a CPC (Certified Professional Controller) to set up and staff Sector 67 and determined that due to the recently certified CPC's experience level it would help if the VSCS (Voice Switching & Control System) map at 67 was swapped via a Logical to Physical (LTP) swap at the Supervisor's VSCS station. I had the CPC set up Sector 67 as normal for 55. I then advised the controllers that I would do the inputs to swap the VSCS maps. Upon entry of the LTP swap all of the frequencies at both Sector 55 and Sector 67 reverted to transmitter-off; receiver-on and loud speaker-on. This was unexpected and caused disruption in the area because: 1- All of the frequencies are located on the Sector 67 VSCS map and they all turned onto loud speaker so each time ANYBODY in the area transmitted the response was on loud speaker at Sector 55 (using 67's VSCS map). The same was happening at Sector 67 (Using 55's VSCS map) although the loud speakers were on much lower settings. I believed that the transition should be virtually invisible to the controllers except for several buttons on their VSCS screens moving to other locations than their normal. The problem: The information I relied on in making that assumption came from the 6690.17- Air Traffic Controller Operators Manual for the VSCS. I had read through a good portion of the manual including section 4.5- Effects of Reconfiguration on ATC Positions; specifically: 4.5.2 Effects on A/G Operations; when configuration maps are downloaded to VCEs (VSCS Console Equipment) and the reconfiguration has completed at that VCE; all new frequencies are displayed on the VDM (Visual Display Monitor) screen with the receiver disabled; transmitter disabled; and frequency voice routed to the LS. Configuration does not modify previously selected HS and LS selections; main and standby transmitter and receiver selections; radio; or BUEC (back up emergency communications) assignments. I have had several conversations with one of our VSCS specialists regarding this and he informed me that a RECONFIGURATION and an LTP are two different items and processes and the results on A/G communications will be different. The 6690.17 does not differentiate between the two and in fact several times refers to a LTP as a 'LTP Reconfiguration'. The 6690.17 is the official Air Traffic Controller training document and needs to be updated to include this information so this does not happen in the future. Recommendation; update the 6690.17 to indicate that there are different expected results on A/G and G/G communications when doing a LTP versus doing a Reconfiguration.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.