CASE STUDY FIBER MANAGMENT SYSTEM DELIVERS QUICK ROI FOR CENTRAL OFFICE TracerLight Decreases Outages and Speeds Service Turn-Up CHALLENGE • Reduce time for troubleshooting and tracing fiber jumpers. • Improve service turn-up intervals. • Decrease network outages. SOLUTION • Shortened maximum fiber jumper length from 275 to 30 feet by adding an intermediate distribution frame between each aisle of multiplexers and the fiber main distribution frame using ADC LGX fiber frames. • Replace existing jumpers with TracerLight Connector Identification System jumpers that provide visual indicators at each end of jumpers with flashing LEDs. RESULTS • Reduced trouble-tracing time by 72 percent with an estimated savings of $7,100 to $11,600 per month in labor. • Eliminated over 200 abandoned or cut jumpers that cancelled a $59,000 capital project to install new troughs to support OC-192 equipment. • Reduced outages and improved service turn-up intervals CASE STUDY Situation For years at a large central office for an independent local exchange carrier, the number of fiber cables within the facility was limited so that installation and rearrangements neither taxed manpower nor presented serious issues for customers. However, with introduction of new high-speed, high-density fiber platforms, fiber cable congestion was starting to become an operations issue. With an increase in fiber cables in the CO for transport and customer circuits, inability to quickly and safely identify and trace fibers started to appear. As a result, more errors and outages were creeping into the operation. It was clear that if left unchecked, there would be increased outages and delays in service turn-up. Working under a mandate to do more with less, CO personnel decided to proactively attack the issue by designing a standard fiber management system for the CO. The objectives were to reduce trouble-tracing time, improve restoration time, and allow growth with minimal new investment in infrastructure. Of course, the plan required immediate payback. Reduce Jumper Lengths with IDF Architecture The solution consisted of two related parts. The first part was to reduce maximum fiber jumper length from 275 feet to 30 feet by adding an intermediate distribution frame (IDF) for each aisle of multiplexers. By permanently cabling multiplexers to an IDF using ADC LGX frames, which were then cabled to the fiber main fiber distribution frame (MDF), the work of installation, rearrangements and disconnects was limited to a defined work area “island” with short semi- permanent jumpers. Once terminated, active equipment is never handled again during the service life of the equipment. The plan reduced trough congestion by eliminating long fiber runs between aisles. Setting LGX frames between multiplexers and the MDF enabled moves and changes using jumpers on the front of distribution panels instead of using multiplexer equipment cables, resulting in faster changes with less disruption of service. Creating an office with much shorter fiber jumpers was also a best practices initiative for long-term reliability and service availability. Before the project, just having long fiber jumpers around the CO was an invitation for technicians to use them by wrapping extra fiber lengths around cable managers and clogging fiber pathways unnecessarily by laying extra jumper lengths back and forth in troughs. Excessive piling of jumpers would eventually cause attenuation problems and outages. Eliminating long fiber runs immediately reduced the volume of jumpers in troughs and helped avert misery just waiting to happen, according to CO personnel. Improve Fiber Identification and Tracing With IDFs and shorter jumpers in place, there still remained the second issue of tracing fiber cables. Labeling in multiplexers was not to be trusted— labels often fell off, were not legible or provided insufficient information about a circuit. With a growing number of unprotected broadband circuits leaving the office and fiber rings with subtended multiplexers, it was becoming difficult to explain on a small label the identification and destination of individual fibers. Instead of relying on labels, all existing fiber jumpers were replaced with ADC TracerLight Connector Identification System jumpers. The TracerLight jumpers feature a termination point on each end with a flashing LED. By lighting the TracerLight LED, technicians have instant visual recognition of fiber jumper end points without fishing cable, reaching into troughs and potentially disturbing service on adjacent circuits. The flashing LED also minimizes the risk of removing an incorrect fiber from service. CASE STUDY Data Confirms ROI With the new fiber management system deployed in the network, field personnel kept logs detailing their time using TracerLight jumpers. In addition, other measures such as service turn-up and restoration time were watched. With two years of data showing operations performance prior to, during and after conversion, the ROI on the project was compelling. There was a 72% reduction in trouble tracing time using TracerLight as compared to regular jumpers. As a result, the time required for turning-up an optical circuit was reduced 30 minutes per circuit. Data collected in the CO also showed a 50% reduction in the time required to install a jumper. In addition, outages due to jumpers dropped dramatically. Improved bend radius protection, simplified cable routing paths, expanded cable access and ample fiber storage provided more protection for fiber jumpers. Human errors such as incorrect fiber disconnects were reduced by not having to rely on labels in multiplexers that were falling off, unreadable or incorrect. Instead, technicians accurately trace jumpers in seconds using TracerLight. With the fiber management system in place that reduced outages due to jumpers and required less time for jumper tracing, service restoration and installation of new jumpers required fewer labor hours. Using straight work time, the new fiber management system equates to labor savings of approximately $7,100 to $11,600 per month. There were other defined savings on the project. Over 500 fiber jumpers valued at $10,000 were removed and scheduled for use at other CO locations. Removal of over 200 abandoned and cut fibers also cleared fiber troughs. By removing the unused cables, a $59,000 capital project for new troughs to support new OC-192 equipment was effectively eliminated. Averting a Service Disaster Of course, it is hard to measure the impact of outages that never occur, even though service level guarantees present steep revenue penalties. By preventing an incorrect fiber disconnect or disruption of service while fishing through a cable manager to trace a circuit, the impact of not causing an outage may be subjective, but still speaks to the value of the project. However, there were many examples of how TracerLight helped the CO extend mean time to failure (MTTF) and meet its obligations to customers. In one instance, technicians had turned-up a new gigabit Ethernet switch and sales secured a new business customer with a performance guarantee contract. Forty-eight jumpers were pre- wired from the switch back to the multiplexer. On a Friday at four p.m., a technician went to turn-up service and found that all jumpers were labeled incorrectly. There was a sure risk of missing scheduled turn-up and starting off on the wrong foot with the customer—not to mention financial penalties of missing the scheduled service turn-up. Instead of two people taking at least two hours of overtime to do the rework of identifying circuits, a single technician was able to turn service up on time by simply lighting-up TracerLight on each jumper. Avoiding this one problem paid for all of the TracerLight jumpers deployed in the CO. Web Site: www.adc.com From North America, Call Toll Free: 1-800-366-3891 • Outside of North America: +1-952-938-8080 Fax: +1-952-917-3237 • For a listing of ADC’s global sales office locations, please refer to our Web site. ADC Telecommunications, Inc., P.O. Box 1101, Minneapolis, Minnesota USA 55440-1101 Specifications published here are current as of the date of publication of this document. Because we are continuously improving our products, ADC reserves the right to change specifications without prior notice. At any time, you may verify product specifications by contacting our headquarters office in Minneapolis. ADC Telecommunications, Inc. views its patent portfolio as an important corporate asset and vigorously enforces its patents. Products or features contained herein may be covered by one or more U.S. or foreign patents. An Equal Opportunity Employer 104027AE 1/07 Original © 2006 ADC Telecommunications, Inc. All Rights Reserved CASE STUDY Conclusion As is often the case, it is the little things that distinguish great service from superb service. The fiber management system that defines each row of multiplexers as an island, adding IDFs to shorten jumper runs, and using TracerLight fiber jumpers was a small investment with significant returns. In the end, the CO personnel found that to deliver superb service, it was not wise to entrust a valuable customer circuit to someone’s abbreviated pencil writing on the side of a multiplexer. The team was able to create consistency in termination, routing and storage of jumpers within each aisle and created a fiber management system that helps technicians work quicker with far fewer errors. . STUDY FIBER MANAGMENT SYSTEM DELIVERS QUICK ROI FOR CENTRAL OFFICE TracerLight Decreases Outages and Speeds Service Turn-Up CHALLENGE • Reduce time for troubleshooting. intervals CASE STUDY Situation For years at a large central office for an independent local exchange carrier, the number of fiber cables within the facility