Optical Connections Magazine Autumn 2023

ÉTIENNE GAGNON TEST & MEASUREMENT

EQUIP TECHNICIANS FOR SUCCESS By equipping technicians with the right tools, the time required for monitoring and testing can be

ADOPT AUTOMATED, CLOUD- BASED PROCESSES Not every form of automation is related to field technicians. There are other ways to make operations seamless to save time and use resources efficiently. Operators often have limited contextual insight on what’s really happening in the field, whether related to their internal workforce or contractors. Supervisors need to increase visibility without increasing overhead. But field teams or contractors are bogged down with the traditional approach of offsite test data post-processing. The solution to this challenge is centralised test data management that gives supervisors real-time visibility into job quality and job progress, using tools that provide managers with cloud-based, instantaneous visibility on progress and issues. Better visibility into the quality of work being done in the field enables project managers to track progress and efficiency of various teams, validate quality and compliance of the work, and respond quickly if there’s an issue that needs to be addressed or a process that should be optimised. An example of this type of solution is a new capability EXFO has recently added to its Exchange portfolio, enabling cloud access to information and real-time

insight to situational field assessments. This type of instantaneous monitoring provides a competitive advantage to network operators. Also, with automated orchestration software, test results can be held and accessed centrally for higher visibility. And with standardised procedures overlaid, it becomes far easier to enable contractors to perform as an extension of the network operator’s own organisation. This same level of standardisation can be adopted in many other areas. From network engineering and design to installation, splicing, link engineering, and final characterisation, different interpretations of processes and methodologies can lead to varying results and quality of build, as opposed to the outcome when processes are implemented consistently. INVEST IN QUALITY OF SERVICE The demand for high-speed, high- volume, and reliable connectivity will no doubt continue to accelerate. Network operators can ensure their infrastructure is capable of meeting today and tomorrow’s requirements by adopting smart processes and even smarter test and measurement solutions to guarantee high quality of service for their customers.

drastically reduced. Examples of this include fibre inspection probes that use automated analysis software to assess many points of connection. This can turn a cumbersome job into a one-step process and can prevent the reporting of false positives. A new category of test unit is the optical fibre multimeter. This device enables frontline installation technicians, who are traditionally equipped with only a simple power meter, to activate service to a customer and troubleshoot all the way to the splitter to ensure sufficient power level. That means any issue on the span a technician has just installed can be detected and fixed instantly, enabling service turnup and avoiding having to escalate problems to a Tier-2 maintenance technician—which would have incurred an extra truck roll and increased costs and delays in service provision. Technicians should also be equipped with the right checklists to ensure that all steps to resolve a problem are completed. Otherwise, it’s easy to miss vital steps or delay problem resolution.

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ISSUE 34 | Q3 2023

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