DNS Transitioning within AT&T

It took several months of emails, phone calls and coordination, but I finally managed to get our office Internet connection switched from the "legacy" (aka "PacBell") frame relay to the newer AT&T fiber optic network.  This also included an upgrade in our connection speed, which is always a win.  Our IP address ranges were ported from the legacy account to the new service, so we had very little downtime during the cut over - it was a fantastic migration experience.

 After letting our new service settle in for a few weeks and since email responses from AT&T reps are often spotty or non-existent, I called up the customer service number to request that the legacy account be cancelled so we are no longer billed.  The representative I spoke to happily emailed me a "Letter of Authorization to Disconnect" that I would need to verify, sign and return.  Seemed pretty easy to me.

 As I reviewed the letter, I noticed a familiar account number referencing the Internet access, different than the billing account number.  It was the same account number that I used to request changes to our external DNS registrations. Bells went off in my head. Certainly those DNS entries would be ported to the new service with the IP address ranges themselves, right?  Right?

 To confirm, I started off with the tech support email for my new service.  They promptly replied, saying I needed to contact the DNS team and provided additional contact information.  I called the DNS team and explained my situation.  The representative confirmed, that no, they don't have any of our DNS records in their systems.  Our DNS records are with the legacy PBI group.  I'd have to submit a request to add the DNS records with the new group so that they had them in their name servers prior to the disconnect of the legacy service.  He was also nice enough to explain their system for requesting changes, which involved knowing a magic "CCI Number" for my account.  This CCI number which was totally new and different than anything else I knew about and which I promptly wrote down as an addition to my runbook.  (I swear, I learn something new about telecommunications every time I get off the phone with AT&T.)

Then I gathered up all the known external DNS records I had documented and sent an email to the legacy DNS group asking for a copy of my zone record so I could be sure I didn't miss anything.  Based on what I have on hand, it'll be a great time to do some housecleaning with our external zone records.   I will also need to update our domain registrars with the new name servers as well.

If all goes well, this will be sorted out in a few days and I'll be free of my old circuits and billing by the end of November.  If not, I'm sure I'll have another story to tell.