Fluke Networks unveils OptiFiber Pro OTDR for enterprise fiber test

Fluke Networks has announced the OptiFiber Pro OTDR, a handheld optical time-domain reflectometer (OTDR) designed specifically for enterprise fiber network testing. The OptiFiber Pro OTDR enables users to reduce costs, enhance productivity, and improve network reliability, according to Fluke.

The OptiFiber Pro OTDR offers a smartphone interface that supports gesture-based commands, and technology enhancements that simplify testing in data center environments. They include:

• A simplified “Datacenter” Mode that automates the setting oftest parameters, like wavelength or end-detection algorithms.
• What Fluke asserts are the industry’s shortest event and attenuation dead zones, including test connectors and patch cords as short as 0.5 m.
• Visual presentation of faults.
  Built-in project management tools.
• Upgraded LinkWare management software that eases workflow management, integrates test results, and keeps the OTDR up-to-date with the latest software.

“Enterprise fiber use is growing at 57 percent a year [according to the Dell-Oro Group], which increases the frequency and importance of fiber testing necessary to minimize issues that can be devastating to network operations,” said Jason Wilbur, vice president of datacom cabling and installation tools at Fluke Networks. “Our new OptiFiber PRO is aimed squarely at the challenges our enterprise customers are facing today. The tester’s new smartphone interface dramatically reduces the learning curve associated with using an OTDR, and the simplified Datacenter Mode will help industry technicians immediately solve problems in mission critical datacenter environments.”