A method and system for using a database that associates a specific set of line interface specifications to a specific design requirement. The design requirement may correspond to a particular country's telephony operating requirements, or one of multiple sets of operating requirements within a country. This allows loading of generic line interface data at manufacturing. Specific criteria can be provided to the line interface at installation and/or startup. The database contains the specifications for all potential operating requirements, and a template code, sent to a line interface device from a central controller, is used to determine the corresponding set of line interface specifications from the database, which is indexed on template code.