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Reserve Your Seat TodayHow DANC monitors 750 miles of fiber with a 4-person team
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Industry | Wholesale Telecom / Public Authority |
| Company Type | Regional open-access fiber provider |
| Geography/Coverage | Jefferson, Lewis & St. Lawrence Counties, NY |
| Primary Challenge | Monitoring 750 miles of fiber with 4 technicians |
| Solution Deployed | NetGuardian 832A RTUs + T/Mon Alarm Manager |
| Key Result | Remote visibility reduced unnecessary truck rolls |
| Products Used | NetGuardian 832A, T/Mon Network Alarm Manager |
The Development Authority of the North Country (DANC) operates the Open Access Telecom Network (OATN) in upstate New York. The OATN spans roughly 750 miles of fiber optic cable across 14 central offices in Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence Counties, providing circuits to service providers, school districts, and private carriers.
With just four technicians responsible for hundreds of miles of territory, DANC couldn't afford to dispatch a truck every time an alarm fired. Windshield time adds up fast across three counties. Without remote visibility into their 14 central offices, the team had no reliable way to distinguish a minor issue from something requiring an immediate site visit.
DANC deployed DPS Telecom's NetGuardian 832A RTUs at remote sites across their network, with all monitoring centralized through T/Mon. Every piece of equipment in their central offices was connected to the system. The NetGuardians collect discrete alarms from SONET muxes as well as environmental data like temperature and door contacts, giving the team full visibility from a central location.
All third-party monitoring equipment within DANC's network was tied back to the NetGuardians and T/Mon, creating a unified view of the entire infrastructure. This single-vendor approach simplified both daily operations and troubleshooting.
| Phase | Description |
|---|---|
| Initial Deployment | NetGuardian 832As installed at all 14 central offices, monitoring every piece of equipment from day one. |
| Third-Party Integration | Existing third-party gear was tied back to the NetGuardians, consolidating all alarms into T/Mon. |
| Factory Training | After attending DPS training in Fresno, the team discovered capabilities they hadn't yet used, including tying in analog alarms for additional monitoring depth. |
DANC can now monitor its entire fiber network remotely, with the four-person team staying informed on every alarm across 14 central offices without leaving headquarters. When issues arise, technicians can assess the situation before dispatching anyone, eliminating unnecessary drives across three counties.
| Result | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Truck Roll Reduction | Issues frequently resolved remotely, without dispatching a truck |
| Network Visibility | Full alarm coverage across all 14 central offices |
| System Reliability | NetGuardian 832As running continuously without interruption |
"With four people and a network of that size, there's no way we could accomplish this without the network monitoring we use - and it's all DPS equipment."
Tim Field, Network Engineer, DANC
| Takeaway | Details |
|---|---|
| Remote Troubleshooting | Teams can diagnose issues remotely without dispatching a truck. |
| Small Team, Big Network | 4 technicians manage 750 miles of fiber through centralized alarm monitoring. |
| All-DPS Infrastructure | Single-vendor monitoring ties all equipment back to one central system. |
| Training Unlocks More Value | Factory Training revealed untapped capabilities, including analog alarm integration. |
NetGuardian 832A G5 Remote telemetry unit for discrete and environmental alarm monitoring at remote sites.
T/Mon Master Stations Central alarm management platform for multi-site network visibility and alarm escalation.
Remote telemetry units like the NetGuardian 832A collect alarms from equipment at each site and report back to a central platform. This lets a small team see the status of an entire network without physically visiting each location. DANC manages 14 central offices across 750 miles of fiber with just four technicians using this approach.
DPS NetGuardian RTUs collect discrete alarms from equipment like SONET muxes, as well as environmental data such as temperature readings and door contacts. Alarm severity levels (Critical, Major, Minor) help technicians prioritize their response. Analog inputs can also be connected for additional monitoring depth.
Yes. DPS NetGuardians are designed to integrate with third-party equipment. At DANC, all non-DPS monitoring gear within the network was tied back to the NetGuardians and reported into T/Mon, creating a unified alarm view regardless of equipment manufacturer.
Factory Training is a multi-day program held at DPS Telecom's headquarters in Fresno, CA. Attendees get hands-on instruction covering all aspects of their monitoring system. For DANC, training revealed untapped functionality in their NetGuardian 832As, including the ability to tie in analog alarms they weren't previously collecting.
If your team is managing a large territory with limited staff, we'd be glad to walk through how our monitoring solutions have helped similar organizations.
