Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for fibre installation companies.
A checklist built from how fibre installation companies work, to print or save as a PDF and bring to any supplier meeting.
What the software should cover
Tick each one that matters to your business.
- Route survey and segments
- Permits and reinstatement
- Cable drums and closures
- Splice sheets and test traces
- Customer drop installations
- Crew and subcontractor measurement
- Client billing by milestone
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For owners and directors
- For project managers
- For splicers and test technicians
- For drop installers
- For store and accounts staff
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Segments by status, method and crew
- Drum balance by number, with offcuts returned
- Spans without a trace or with a failed reading
- Permits expiring in the next fortnight, by authority
- Drops closed, failed and repeated, by installer
- Subcontractor metres and pay by route
- Milestone invoices raised and received by client
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- WhatsApp or other messaging
- SMS
- Card and payment gateway
- Mapping or CAD file links
- Accounting export
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Does it handle both trunk routes and single home drops?
- Where do OTDR traces go?
- Can a segment stay open until reinstatement is photographed?
- How are cable drums tracked?
- Can subcontractors use it?
- Does it replace our design drawings?
- How do we move running routes across?
- What happens when a permit is about to lapse?
- Is pricing based on crews or jobs, and can we see a demonstration?
- Who owns the records?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- As-built records come after the work
- Drum and closure stock is counted loosely
- Test results sit in the tester
- Permits and reinstatement are tracked apart
- Subcontractor pay does not match measured work
Prefer to talk it through? See the fibre installation companies page.