Patent ID: 8471682

Claim:
A method of determining a disposition of an item, comprising: transmitting, by an interrogating device, an interrogation; receiving, by the interrogating device, a response from a radio frequency identification device in response to the interrogation, the response comprising disposition information and identification information associated with the item, wherein the item is an electronic device comprising a circuit pack of a node in a telecommunication network, the disposition information being obtained by the radio frequency identification device from a sensor that is operatively monitoring a signal path of the circuit pack for detecting a presence of a magnetic field, wherein the identification information comprises an identification number, the disposition information being associated with an operational state of the electronic device, wherein the operational state indicates whether the electronic device is in an installed state; and wherein, when the operational state indicates that the electronic device is in the installed state, the operational state further indicates whether the electronic device is in one of two possible states comprising: an in-use state or in a need-of-repair state.