Accurate fault isolation in fiber networks is key for minimizing downtime and enhancing customer satisfaction. The Emulex Visibility Survey revealed that 79% of organizations experienced delays in resolving network events due to incorrect fault attribution, significantly impacting service delivery times and customer experience. This underscores the importance of precise fault detection.
IQGeo partnered with VIAVI Solutions to share in a webinar how integrating geospatial network management software with remote fiber test systems can streamline fault detection and improve operational workflow. During the webinar, Stefan Schneider, Product Manager at IQGeo and Patrick Faraj, Global Product Line Manager at VIAVI discussed the different strategies for automated and efficient fiber network fault management, as well as how this integration works to detect and manage faults.
Operationalizing fiber network data and overcoming challenges
Operationalizing network data plays a critical role in accurately isolating faults and improving decision-making. By providing real-time insights and analytics, it enables quick identification and precise location of network issues, ensuring more reliable and efficient operations. However, there are significant challenges to operationalizing network data that must be addressed to fully realize its benefits.
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Siloed network data: Data inconsistencies due to multiple sources, different formats and manual processing. Research shows that data professionals spend up to 80% of their time cleaning and organizing data rather than analyzing it. (IQGeo) For network operations, this could mean longer outages, increased costs, and slower fault resolution.
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Office and field separation: Disconnected tools and workflows between headquarters and field operations. McKinsey found that inefficient knowledge sharing, and collaboration tools can result in companies losing up to 20-30% of their overall productivity. (McKinsey)
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Disjointed physical and logical assets: Multiple inventory systems and difficulties mapping assets in the field. For telecommunications companies, mis-mapping and errors in inventory management can cause delays that cost $500,000 to $1 million annually in lost revenue and increased operational costs, as well as extended downtime. (IQGeo)
Essential strategies to operationalize fiber network data
To tackle these challenges the following strategies are helpful:
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Make asset data actionable: Synchronize network data across systems to eliminate discrepancies, reduce downtime, and speed up issue resolution by providing field engineers with accurate, up-to-date information.
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Integrate Operational Support System (OSS)/Business Support System (BSS) stack: Use APIs to query network maps, enabling more effective service performance tracking and automating processes like customer billing based on real-time data.
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Know your asset location: Understanding network topologies enables faster fault isolation and repair, reducing Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) by up to 50%. This allows operators to send technicians to the correct location with the right equipment. (IQGeo)(MDPI)
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Enrich OSS with asset inventory: Enhance alerts and tickets with detailed asset data to improve network monitoring capabilities, enabling automated alerts that are more accurate and actionable.
Steps to operationalize physical network assets
With 58% of listeners reporting challenges in sending crews to incorrect locations, integrated asset management becomes crucial. This is where VIAVI and IQGeo’s software integration comes in, making it possible to:
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Create a single network view: Accessible data for both office and field teams with integration capabilities.
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Make it mobile: Ensure data is accessible on all devices with seamless updates and provide field teams with accurate location and map location to be able to view the faults they are working on.
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Make it actionable: Share data across systems, automate workflows, and generate accurate ticketing information.
Components of a remote fiber test solution
The ONMSi Hardware includes a centralized Optical Time-Domain Reflectometer (ODTR) switches, and lit fiber modules for continuous monitoring of fiber lines from a central location. This setup allows operators to detect problems remotely, reducing costs and speeding up fault detection.
The ONMSi Software Applications consist of three modules: build, monitoring, and fiber analytics. The build module facilitates remote testing during network construction, allowing operators to check the integrity of newly laid fiber without being present. The monitoring module automates fault detection and links to network inventory, enabling quick fault location. The fiber analytics module provides trend analysis and predictive maintenance, allowing operators to forecast potential failures before they occur.
Improvements delivered by remote fiber test systems
Remote fiber test systems improve operational efficiency by reducing truck rolls by 50%, cutting mean time to repair by 39%, and accelerating service rollouts by 25%. Proactive monitoring also reduces outages by 17%, ensuring higher service availability and faster fault detection.
ONMSi integration with IQGeo's fiber network management software
This integration leverages fiber network data and test and measurement technology, allowing operators to run on-demand tests via APIs and obtain accurate GPS coordinates for faults. Real-time updates enable faster and more precise issue resolution, enhancing workflow processes by giving field crews access to maps and equipment lists linked to fault locations.
Integrating test and measurement systems with fiber asset management software like IQGeo's Network Manager Telecom improves fault detection, enhances operational workflows, and boosts overall efficiency in network fault management.
To find out more, watch the on-demand recording of the Strategies for Automated and Efficient Fiber Network Fault Management webinar.
About VIAVI Solutions
With over 500 customers globally, VIAVI Solutions is a leader in test and measurement technologies. It has assured, tested and protected over 8 million kilometres of fiber around the world, and holds great expertise in fiber monitoring, enterprise solutions and critical asset protection, keeping networks healthy and maintained, and reducing the prevalence of faults.
