menting current network configurations. If the mandatory and advisory criteria are included, the ANSI/ TIA/EIA-606 and 607 Administration Standards for the Telecom- munications Infrastructure of Commercial Buildings cover most of the elements included in the definition of configuration man- agement. Since the infrastructure can be thought of as the collection of those components that provide basic support for the distribution of all information within a building or campus, the telecommunications administration standard must now be viewed as the basis upon which all future network configuration man- agement systems will be built. Implementing a telecommunication administration system re- quires a great deal of thought and planning. There are many important reasons why organizations should implement a physi- cal layer configuration, design and telecommunications administration system. Some of the reasons are: To determine what cables, conductors or fibers, and circuits (PBX, Ethernet, Token Ring, etc.) are free, in use, and out of use, and what circuits and users are assigned to them. To maintain a documentation and identification system for the implementation of an equipment and cable disaster re- covery plan in case of fire, explosion, flood, or other natural or man made emergency. To identify what equipment is in use, spare and out of use, and to document and maintain equipment connectivity. To update and manage network faults, adds, moves and changes, and to maintain work order records for all equip- ment, users, circuits and cable paths. To reduce the amount of network or LAN downtime. The Telecom Handbook . 269 CABLE To decrease labor costs by eliminating the need to trace un- documented circuits each time an add, move, change or network fault occurs. To increase confidence in the structured wiring systems that organizations use to downsize applications from main- frame platforms to client/server environments or to change PBX systems. To generate management reports and perform detailed net- work analysis on a