In inside work, such as for 1A2 systems, we used tags. If you wanted to ensure job security, you wrote the following on the tags:
"This cable goes to the other end."
Generally, for inside work, you number or letter the cables, and make a diagram that is left, with all good intentions, somewhere safe, where subsequently, some jack-hole will lose it or throw it away. If you plan to keep working there, keep a copy for yourself.
In splicing, you wrote the cable number and pair count on the tags, and tied them to the cable choke just inside the splice case. Sometimes in a complex splice, where it wasn't obvious what cable went where, you put a tag that said "IN" or "FROM CO" and tags that said "OUT (to destination)"
I never used colored cable ties for anything other than binder identification, as the other old guys have said. In fact, we seldom used colored ties, using pigtails of wire of the proper colors instead, because plastic ties disintegrate over the years from exposure to the elements.
