Document Cabling Certification with LinkWare PC and LinkWareLive

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Document Cabling Certification with LinkWare PC
and LinkWareLive-Mark Mullins
www.flukenetworks.com 2006-2017 Fluke
Corporation
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Document Cabling Certification with LinkWare PC
and LinkWareLive
Certifying a cabling installation doesn't mean
anything without the burden of proof. Documenting
the results is the only real way to ensure
installation accountability and integrity,
resolve disputes and facilitate more efficient
troubleshooting. Even if the customer or a
manufacturer's warranty doesn't require
documented test results, documentation is still a
best practice and your best protection. If you
certify a cabling installation that later fails
and you don't have the documentation to prove it,
how else do you provide evidence that the cable
was functioning properly and that it met the
specification when you were done with the
job? With today's documentation software, there
is no excuse for ever skipping this critical last
step.
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Document Cabling Certification with LinkWare PC
and LinkWareLive
Save it All
Results need to be saved after each measurement.
Thankfully the DSX-5000 CableAnalyzer features
and Auto Save function that automatically saves
results with the next available ID when a test is
completed. If you don't have Auto Save enabled,
the tester will even alert you that a result has
not been saved. Once you're done testing, or at
any desired moment during the process, it's
important to upload the results from your tester
to a computer or via a service like LinkWare Live
that saves and manages test results from multiple
certification jobs.
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Document Cabling Certification with LinkWare PC
and LinkWareLive
Report on It
While just having saved results on your computer
is better than nothing, a key part of the
documentation procedure is the reporting. Cable
test management software like LinkWare PC doesn't
only help you organize and archive your test
results, it also allows you to create
professional, graphical PDF reports depicting all
of the measured test parameters. You choose which
parameters to include in the report, and you can
even add your company logo. When you're done, you
can print or email the report. And it's a good
idea to include plot data in your reports.
Graphical depiction of measured test parameters
is required for true certification testing and
typically mandatory for a manufacturer's
warranty. These graphs show valuable information
about the cabling performance and can be a
valuable tool for troubleshooting.
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Document Cabling Certification with LinkWare PC
and LinkWareLive
Give it a Label
Without labeling, your documentation will be of
little use later on. The ANSI-TIA/EIA 606A
labeling standard exists for a reason, and it
goes hand in hand with documentation. That is why
every work area outlet must be labeled with the
floor, telecommunications room, patch panel and
port from where it originates. If you need to
troubleshoot a specific link at a later date and
check against its original test results, you will
need the link's label at the customer location to
correspond to the documentation. In fact the 606A
standard says that documentation without labeling
and labeling without documentation does not equal
administration.
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Document Cabling Certification with LinkWare PC
and LinkWareLive
Bringing it Together
Labeling makes documentation more than just your
burden of proof. Together they help you earn
extra revenue by giving you the complete picture
you need for later troubleshooting, identifying
areas of the network that may need to be upgraded
to support new applications, or performing moves,
adds and changes. Fluke Networks' LinkWare
PC and LinkWare Live together with the DSX-5000
CableAnalyzer achieve compatibility with labeling
software programs to make it easier to maintain a
comprehensive cable management system and merge
test results to match labeling schemes for fully
compliant 606A documentation. Stay tuned for
even more labeling support in the near future.
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