Patent ID: 7286646

Claim:
A method of validating connection data for a node of telephone network, the method comprising: generating a report file for terminal pairs at a network node, the report comprising, for each terminal pair, a record including data identifying the terminal pair, data identifying an associated circuit ID, if any, data identifying the type of the line, if any, using the terminal pair and data reporting electrical testing of the line, if any, using the terminal pair; allocating each record to one of three categories, the first category comprising terminal pairs for which there is an associated circuit ID, the second category comprising terminal pairs for which there is a line type but no circuit ID and the third category comprising unallocated lines; for each record in the first category, updating a corresponding record in a network status database in dependence on the record; for each record in the second category, updating a corresponding record in a network status database in dependence on the record; and for each record in the third category, updating a corresponding record in a network status database in dependence on the record, wherein circuit IDs in the network status database that are deleted by updating in respect of first and second category records are recorded against a record in the network status database corresponding to a third category record and circuit IDs in the network status database that are deleted by updating in respect of third category records are logged to provide a list of circuit IDs for which further investigation is required.