In a company providing telecom
services, the most frequently asked questions are:
- Where are the subscriber locations from which complaints have been reported
today?
- Where is the nearest pillar/DP from which a new connection can be provided?
- Where are the pillars/DP/Cables with spare capacity?
- Where to locate the next pillar/DP?
GIS Solution from Tata
Infotech Limited for telecom cable management is the product OPTIMUS (Outside
PlanT Information Management and Upkeep System). This product provides an answer
to these questions and much more. OPTIMUS is developed using MapInfo GIS suite
of products.
About OPTIMUS OPTIMUS is a decision support tool
designed specifically for management of telecom networks of any size, based on
the synergy of digital maps, cable diagrams, databases and using GIS technology.
With accurate, instant and transparent vision of ground and underground dynamics
of your problem, OPTIMUS facilitates your swift decisions on key aspects such as
new connections, fault locations, allotment of jobs in complaint areas, etc. and
relieves you from dependence on other sources for critical information.
It maintains information about the following entities:
MDF: information on # of equipped verticals, pillars, DPs,
terminations; working, faulty, spare lines, etc
Pillar: information on
Pillar number, size, type location, terminations; working, spare, faulty,
etc.
DP: information on DP number, size, type location, terminations;
working, spare, faulty, etc.
Cable: primary or secondary, size, type,
length, gauge; working, spare, faulty, etc.
Subscriber: information on
telephone #, name, address; vertical, terminal block, pillar #, DP #, DP tag, CT
box tag; OH line type, length, span, etc.
Optimus Features
The core features of the product are tracing faulty cable pair from exchange
to subscriber, point and click information on spare capacity of an entity,
connectivity details of each cable pair, find and view of an entity, locating a
subscriber, information of stumped cables, transfer of subscriber, exchange and
pillar area demarcation, etc.
Excellent editing tools are provided for
creating and maintaining the cable network using the appropriate symbols to
depict the different entities. All the corresponding information of the entities
is stored in the database efficiently for easy retrieval, update and backup.
OPTIMUS uses the information from the existing Fault Report System and hence the
data is not duplicated.
OPTIMUS generates very good thematics for Cable
Size, Type & Capacity, Pillar Size & Capacity, Subscriber Types &
Nature of connection, etc.
OPTIMUS generates standard reports and some
statistical reports. Some of the reports that it generates are:
- MDF card
- Pillar Card
- DP Card
- CUC statement
- CKM & SKM statement
System Architecture The diagram
below depicts the system architecture for the cable management system for
telecom.

System
Architecture
System Requirements Hardware:
| PC |
Pentium |
| Memory |
16 MB (min), recommended 32 MB |
| Monitor |
14" SVGA (min), recommended 17" SVGA
|
| Display |
SVGA with 2MB RAM |
| Hard Disk |
2 GB (min), recommended 3 GB |
| CD-ROM |
24x |
| Floppy Drive |
31/2 " |
| Keyboard, Mouse |
standard type |
|
Software:
| OS |
Win 95 |
| GIS |
MapInfo Professional ver 5.x or higher
|
| Database |
Native MapInfo |
| Application |
Optimus product |
Data:
| Map |
Town / City maps at 1:10,000 scale or higher in
digital form OR on paper |
| Cable |
Cable diagrams and related attribute data
|
Benefits of GIS in Telecom
- Decision support tool for network management
- Increases organization’s overall efficiency
- Saves time and effort
- Provides competitive edge
- Higher level of customer satisfaction
Customer
Reference Recently, OPTIMUS based cable management system has been
implemented at Department of Telecom, Shimoga, Karnataka in partnership with M/s
Infodesk Technologies Private Ltd., one of our premier partners. The capacity of
the exchange is more than 10,000 lines with about 6,000 subscribers.