Charting Your Course to a Profitable Fiber Deployment
Here we are – the end of the line. Your fiber network is up and running, your customers are connected and satisfied, and your local footprint is growing. Now, all that’s left to do is kick back, relax, and let your network do its thing.
Well…kind of.
While designing, building, and selling your fiber service are all major points in your journey, the work doesn’t stop there. You need to be able to keep your customers connected, no matter what circumstances may arise. In our fourth and final installment, we’ll take a quick look at maintaining the smooth operation of your network.
When Problems Arise
Fiber is far and away the most reliable technology out there for building broadband networks. You chose it for a reason: lightning-fast, affordable, and dependable. Although your network will be brand new when you’ve got it deployed, that doesn’t mean it will be without its share of issues. Maybe one of the splitters in your network is defective, or a traffic accident caused a downed pole. Maybe a cable will be damaged by fire, flooding, or even an animal.
Whatever the case, when problems arise, dispatching the right labor and materials to the site requires pinpoint precision. You’ll need to be able to quickly and reliably identify the problem on your network map. Once located, you’ll need instant access to accompanying information, like the size of the impacted cable, what slack fiber may be available nearby, and the nearest splice points. This can help you understand which customers have been affected by the incident, so you can respond appropriately to inbound support calls, or get in touch with those affected before they call in.
Good, clean records will help you find the answer to these questions quickly and reliably in a moment of crisis. In some cases, a simple swapping of OLT ports or other network assignments may be all that’s needed. In more dire cases, asset replacements may be necessary to get things up and running again. In any case, a good fiber management system of record is key to knowing which network elements are in use, and which are available to resolve the potential trouble.
A Final Note
At the end of the day, an easy to use, well-designed fiber management system of record will be at the core of your efforts as a network operator. From the early days of initial design and site selection, all the way to securing and nurturing your customer base, a reliable, intuitive platform simply makes your life easier. Cohesive, consistent data is the cornerstone of any successful network operator, and a secure repository for that data is paramount. With this in mind, it feels fair to say that the choice of a fiber management system is among the most important you’ll make – be sure that it will support you at every step of the process.
Ready to explore? Request a VETRO FiberMap platform demo, and our team will get you rolling in the right direction.
