The next available index that can be used by the manager when creating protocol specific end point connections. For example, when a new voice subscriber record is being added, the ATM/GR303/etc. protocol specific information is contained in the associated protocol tables (AAL2 mib and GR303 mibs) these indices are used for row creation in these tables. A per protocol type index scheme was not used to allow flexibility in adding additional protocol support. A Get request to this field causes the current number to be returned and the value to be incremented for the next requester.