Category Archives: Cabling

If your organization is considering a new VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) system, you should think about the structured cabling system needed to support it and maximize its potential. The following summarizes the advantages your digital phone system will have with a well-designed structured cabling system.

Decreased Noise

CAT 6 and CAT 6A cable provides more noise reduction than older cables. Fiber optic cabling is even better. Less noise resistance results in more static and faulty connections during phone conversations. Higher levels of noise also decrease network speed because the system is forced to retransmit data until it is no longer corrupted. Although purchasing lower quality cable saves money in the short run, it may result in long term business losses because of slower response times and annoyed customers.

Lengthened Runs

Higher quality cable will be capable of supporting longer runs that are free of artifacts and errors. Fiber optic cables are not restricted by the length of runs. It is the superior option for a data center or business telephone system because of its excellent noise resistance and high speed. Although second choices, CAT 5e to CAT 6A cabling are capable of supporting runs to 100 meters without noise. Cables that can support long runs provide greater flexibility for layouts, decreasing the need for data hubs or repeaters and increasing reliability.

Maintenance Savings

CAT 5e, CAT 6, and fiber optic cables are highly dependable. However, if they ever become faulty or the network needs to be reconfigured, a structured cabling system that is well organized and diligently marked will save time spent on maintenance. While a company’s network is down, business may be impacted, resulting in lost revenue. Tracing faults is made much easier by a sound structured cabling system.

Transmission Speed

Business is often time-sensitive, and you will want to use the highest quality cable your company can afford. CAT 6A cable is capable of supporting a maximum of 10 Gigabits per second while CAT 5e can only achieve 100 mbps. Older, less capable cables are not recommended because their slow data transmission and high noise levels cannot meet current VOIP demands.

Progressive Office Cabling

Founded in 1986, Progressive Office’s success has been a direct result of years of commitment to seeking solutions on behalf of their clients in the Washington, D.C. and New York City areas. Efficiently working together, their teams get cabling installed and operating as fast as possible while minimizing disruption and downtime. Call their toll free number (800) 614-4560 today.

Your company will need to upgrade because network traffic is rising dramatically due to the rapid increase in the number of devices and videos online. By 2020, the number of devices will approach an estimated 12 billion. The following are reasons why you should contact an expert and experienced structured cabling support team to evaluate and improve your network infrastructure.

High Maintenance

The addition of the latest technology often stresses aged infrastructure, resulting in more downtime and troubleshooting. This increased time and effort devoted to this task prevents your IT support from working on implementing innovative solutions that may increase productivity or decrease costs, slowing your company’s growth. Installing up-to-date infrastructure will decrease maintenance and increase deployments.

Inadequate Security

Cybercrime is growing ever more prevalent and complex. Hackers tend to avoid networks with strong security and target those with weak protection. Older network infrastructure will have more and greater vulnerabilities. Modern network solutions now feature intelligent sensors and enforcers, improving security.

Mobile Employees

Today’s workers want the ability to work anywhere and anytime. Unfortunately, aged infrastructure will not be able to cope with new mobile solutions and enterprise cloud applications. In order to maintain and increase employee productivity, a network upgrade replacing obsolete equipment will probably be necessary.

Slow Network

Networks of the past were not designed to meet the current requirements of companies and their workers. Wireless technology now permits employees to work anywhere with wireless access points nearing 7 Gbps, more than 11X faster than the 802.11n standard.

The Competition

A network infrastructure upgrade will allow your company to remain competitive because it will be able to implement the latest solutions that boost productivity and earnings. Powerful applications that would have crashed your old network can now be handled, allowing your organization to keep up with competitors.

Progressive Office Cabling

Founded in 1986, Progressive Office’s success has been a direct result of years of commitment to seeking solutions on behalf of their clients in the Washington, D.C. and New York City areas. Efficiently working together, their teams get cabling installed and operating as fast as possible while minimizing disruption and downtime. Call their toll free number (800) 614-4560 today.

Whenever there is an IT systems issue, the resolution can often be delayed by poorly structured cabling. Enterprises often turn to their IT staff or an electrical contractor for cabling, but they would be wiser retaining a professional cabling service with years of experience. The following are important cabling tips for data center management.

Highest Quality for Budget

As expected, higher quality cabling materials are more costly, but have superior performance. For example, gold connectors have greater resistance to corrosion, but they will also be more expensive than lower-quality connectors. If your firm’s cabling will be difficult to access or located in a corrosive environment, cables with gold connectors will be the right choice.

Cabling Capable of Company Volume

Category 5, 5E and 6 are cable types and each has its own capabilities in terms of the amount of data carried, speed of transmission, and distance covered. Consult with a professional network cabling service to discuss your present and future requirements in order to select the proper cabling.

Fiber Optic for the Future

Companies expecting large data volumes in the future or requiring longer distances should select fiber optic cables. Retain expert cabling professionals because fiber optic installation will entail particular requirements that can be complex.

Accurate Measuring for Planning

When the recommended span is exceeded, cable becomes more vulnerable to distortion, degrading data quality and speed. IT staff with limited experience may not properly measure the entire distance by not accounting for corners or obstacles.

Margin for Future Modifications

The office may be reconfigured or cable connections may be moved in the future. Thus, it would be wise to allow some margin for future modifications by providing plentiful slack for each cable installed.

Labeling for Organization

An IT team should know precisely where a cable starts and terminates. Clear labeling enables faster tracing of faults, minimizing downtime and resulting losses in revenue. Cabling service professionals carry out proper labeling as a matter of routine.

Progressive Office Cabling

Founded in 1986, Progressive Office’s success has been a direct result of years of commitment to seeking solutions on behalf of their clients in the Washington, D.C. and New York City areas. Efficiently working together, their teams get cabling installed and operating as fast as possible while minimizing disruption and downtime. Call their toll free number (800) 614-4560 today.

As mentioned in Part 1, a structured cabling system is a type of open network structure that can be used by data, telephony, access control, building automation, and other systems. Its advantages are operational flexibility and economy. Part 2 will describe each of structured cabling's six subsystems below.

The Six Subsystems

1. Entrance Facilities

Entrance facilities house the protection devices, network demarcation points, cables,  connecting hardware, and other equipment that connect to private network cabling or the access provider. Connections between the inside building and outside plant cabling are included.

2. Equipment Room

Featuring environment control, the centralized area for telecommunications equipment is typically more complex than a telecommunications room. Usually containing the main cross-connect, it may also house the horizontal and intermediate cross-connects.

3. Backbone Cabling

Backbone cabling provides the interconnections between entrance facilities, telecommunications rooms, equipment rooms, etc. Typically, backbone cabling is comprised of fiber optic cables, intermediate and main cross-connects, mechanical terminations, and patch cables utilized for backbone-to-backbone cross-connections.

4. Telecommunications Room

Housing the terminations of backbone and horizontal cables to connecting hardware with patch cords or jumpers, a telecommunications room may also house the intermediate cross connects or main cross connect for different portions of the backbone cabling system. This space is a controlled environment containing telecommunications equipment, connecting hardware, and splice closures.

5. Horizontal Cabling

Extending from the work area’s telecommunications information outlet to the telecommunications room, the horizontal Network Cabling consists of horizontal cables and mechanical terminations, along with the jumpers and patch cords located in the telecommunications room. The system may also incorporate consolidation points and multi-user telecommunications outlet assemblies.

6. Work Area

The work area’s components typically extend from the telecommunications outlet/connector end of the horizontal cabling system to the work area equipment. At least two telecommunications outlets should be installed in every work area. If utilized, multi-user telecommunications outlet assemblies (MUTOAs) are a component of the work area.

Progressive Office Cabling

Founded in 1986, Progressive Office’s success has been a direct result of years of commitment to seeking solutions on behalf of their clients in the Washington, D.C. and New York City areas. Working together, their cabling teams get cabling installed and operating as fast as possible while minimizing disruption and downtime. Call their toll free number (800) 614-4560 today.

As discussed in Part 1, the transition to IP-based security products along with the rapid increase in business applications has resulted in end-users expecting greater video, audio, and data integration. These items require delivery over a standardized structured cable system. The following are the benefits offered by structured cabling for security systems.

Standardization

The infrastructure of a structured cabling system utilizes the same cabling for conveying all forms of data. This enables the standardization of Ethernet, VoIP, CCTV, access control, along with all other data and communications systems. Standardization allows a structured cabling system to function with numerous systems and protocols in the present and during the service life of the permanent links installed.

Reliable

A structured cabling system will be able to support equipment from multiple vendors, allowing the support of hardware and applications during expansion and switching to other vendors. This capability makes a cable system more reliable because it helps avoid having to reconfigure or replace cabling during technological upgrades or the addition of new devices.

Flexible

Re-configurations involving transferring equipment such as a computer, CCTV camera, or a VoIP phone to another area are made easier by a structured cabling system, which provides the spine for plug and play applications. The shift to TCP/IP, IEE802 packet data transmission enables agile networks that are capable of communication, opening the gateway to numerous purposed integrated systems.

Simpler Fault Diagnosis

Troubleshooting is made quicker and easier by structured cabling because of its segmented design, preventing a single point of failure that could crash an entire network. For the most part, fault diagnosis can be easily accomplished by a certified structured cabling tester, a device which can rapidly identify problems inside a cabling system.

Reusable Cabling

The instances of having to buy and pull new cable are significantly decreased, allowing a company to maximize its existing cabling infrastructure and save money. Structured cable also minimizes disruptions and downtime events because less cabling leaves more building area functional.

Future Proofing

Future installations of applications like CCTV, access control, multimedia, video conferencing, etc. will probably not experience upgrade issues, making structured cabling a worthwhile investment for the foundation and future of a company.

Part 3 will cover the Challenges and Planning of a Structured Cable System.

Network Cabling

When  work requires a unionized cabling group, call on  Progressive Office Inc. for your commercial Cat5e/6/6a and fiber cabling projects. Specializing in cabling for data, voice, security and the latest WiFi and LiFi solutions. Phone: (202) 462-4290