Inventorying communication circuits

• US 20080013694A1
• Filed: 02/08/2007
• Published: 01/17/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/12/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Ward, Jonathan
• Granted Patent: US 8,706,573 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/1.01
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/24 Arrangements for testing

Abstract

Inventorying communications circuits may be provided. Consistent with embodiments of the present invention, systems and methods are disclosed for inventorying communication circuits. A calculation may provide a facility requirement value corresponding to a required number of service pair to serve a location with a predetermined service quality. Then, it may be determined that an available plurality of service pairs equal to the facility requirement value is available from a switching center to the location. Next, a circuit tag may be created corresponding to the available plurality of service pair. A plurality of service tags may then be created. Each the plurality of service tags may respectively correspond to each of the available plurality of service pair. The plurality of service tags may be sequentially numbered. Then, the circuit tag and the plurality of the service tags may be stored in an inventory database.

Claims

1. A method for inventorying circuits, the method comprising:

calculating a facility requirement value corresponding to a required number of service pairs required to serve a location with a predetermined service quality;

determining that an available plurality of service pairs equal to the facility requirement value are available to the location;

creating a circuit tag corresponding to the available plurality of service pair;

creating a plurality of service tags, each of the plurality of service tags respectively corresponding to each of the available plurality of service pair, the plurality of service tags being sequential and including the circuit tag; and

storing the circuit tag and the plurality of the service tags in an inventory database.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein calculating the facility requirement comprises:

receiving a service order identifying the location; and

selecting a switching center from a plurality of switching centers, the switching center being configured to provide service to the location, and being geographically closest to the location.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the switching center comprises at least one:

a telephone central office and a field switching center.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein calculating the facility requirement comprises:

receiving a service order identifying the location and the predetermined service quality; and

using a rate and a reach to determine the facility requirement value, the rate being based on the predetermined service quality and the reach being based on a distance between the location and a switching center configured to serve the location.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein calculating the facility requirement value corresponding to the required number of service pairs comprises calculating the facility requirement value corresponding to the required number of service pair comprising at least one of the following:

twisted pairs within a cable and fiber optic strands.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the available plurality of service pairs equal to the facility requirement value are available to the location comprises:

determining that the available plurality of service pair are unused between the location and a switching center configured to serve the location; and

determining the available plurality of service pair are qualified.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein determining that the available plurality of service pairs are qualified comprises:

verifying that each of the available plurality of service pair is unused;

determining that each of the available plurality of service pair have been tested; and

determining that the available plurality of service pairs are bonded.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the available plurality of service pair equal to the facility requirement value are available to the location comprises:

assigning a facility reservation number to the available plurality of service pair; and

storing the facility reservation number associated with a service order in the inventory database.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein creating the circuit tag comprises assigning a unique identifier configured to denote that the plurality of service pair are used for a predetermined purpose.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein creating the plurality of service tags comprises assigning a unique identifier configured to denote that the plurality of service pair are used for a predetermined purpose.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein creating the plurality of the service tags comprises:

assigning respectively sequential numbers to each of the plurality of the service tags;

identifying each of the plurality of the service tags as being used for a predetermined purpose; and

associating each of the plurality of the service tags with the circuit tag.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein storing the circuit tag and the plurality of the service tags in the inventory database further comprises associating the circuit tag and the service tag with each of the plurality of the service pair in the inventory database.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein storing the circuit tag and the plurality of the service tags in the inventory database further comprises associating the circuit tag with the plurality of the service pair in the inventory database.

14. A system for inventorying circuits, the system comprising:

a memory storage; and

a processing unit coupled to the memory storage, wherein the processing unit is operative to;

calculate a facility requirement value corresponding to a required number of service pairs required to serve a location with a predetermined service quality;

determine that an available plurality of service pairs equal to the facility requirement value are available to the location;

create a circuit tag corresponding to the available plurality of service pair;

create a plurality of service tags, each of the plurality of service tags respectively corresponding to each of the available plurality of service pair, the plurality of service tags being sequential; and

store the circuit tag and the plurality of the service tags in an inventory database.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the processing unit is further operative to:

receive a service order identifying the location; and

select a switching center from a plurality of switching centers, the switching center being configured to provide service to the location, and being geographically closest to the location.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the processing unit is further operative to:

receive a service order identifying the location and the predetermined service quality; and

use a rate and reach to determine the facility requirement value, the rate being based on the predetermined service quality and the reach being based on the distance between the location and a switching center configured to serve the location.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein the processing unit is further operative to associate the circuit tag with the plurality of the service pair in the inventory database.

18. A computer-readable medium which stores a set of instructions which when executed performs a method for inventorying circuits, the method executed by the set of instructions comprising:

calculating a facility requirement value corresponding to a required number of service pairs required to serve a location with a predetermined service quality;

determining that an available plurality of service pair equal to the facility requirement value are available to the location;

creating a circuit tag corresponding to the available plurality of service pair;

creating a plurality of service tags, each of the plurality of service tags respectively corresponding to each of the available plurality of service pair, the plurality of service tags being sequential and including the circuit tag; and

storing the circuit tag and the plurality of the service tags in an inventory database.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein calculating the facility requirement value comprises:

receiving a service order identifying the location; and

selecting a switching center from a plurality of switching centers, the switching center being configured to provide service to the location, and being geographically closest to the location.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein storing the circuit tag and the plurality of the service tags in the inventory database further comprises associating the circuit tag with the plurality of the service pair in the inventory database.