With fiber optic equipment now widely used in most communications systems, it is crucial that administrators and service personnel have an efficient solution in place for dealing with issues directly related to the physical network.  While there are many Network Management Systems (NMS) being utilized, most will send an alert if a specific piece of equipment fails, but are not a help in locating the problem if it should occur to the line itself.  Therefore, while a failure will often be recognized quickly, much time can be lost in sending a technician out to locate and fix the specific issue.