A method of detecting network information. The method involves generating a polling command and issuing the polling command to a network element. A network element identifier generated by the network element is received in response to the polling command. A database is accessed and it is determined whether the network element identifier is present in the database. A communication protocol is obtained for the network element in response to accessing the database. The communication protocol is used to retrieve network element information from the network element. The network element information is stored in the database.