Key Steps in Designing and Installing a Structured Cabling System

Component Selection
Component selection is largely the determining factor of ultimate quality and performance. You need to determine if you are going to require a specific manufacturer's products (closed spec), or if you are open to various manufacturers' products (open spec). A closed spec might limit the number of respondents to your requirements, and in effect this could increase the price.

Another consideration is the Category rating of the cabling that you want to use. You will need to determine if you want to use one Category rating for voice applications and a separate Category rating for data applications. A good cabling contractor should be eager to field all the questions that you have in order to assist you in reaching your decisions and to aid you with any design and planning considerations.

Planning for Growth
Currently, two cables are the minimum that most people need to their work area, one for data and one for voice. But with the advent of more and more "smart" appliances, including network printers, network copiers and other Internet devices, no one can say for certain what their future requirements may be.

It's not uncommon, in this high tech world that we live in, for some people to have more than one PC on their desk. Considering that the labor is the most expensive part of any installation, the cost of adding one additional cable to each workspace now can save you as much as 50% over the cost of adding one additional cable to that same workspace at a later date. EIA/TIA 568-A standards recommend a minimum of at least three cables to each workspace. We recommend four. A simple rule of thumb is…"it is better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it." When it comes to cabling, this old adage has never been truer.

Open Offices
Modular workstations are now as ubiquitous in the workplace as computers themselves. One of the main reasons for the advent of modular workstations is that they foster ease of moving, adding or changing workstations and workstation layouts.

Modular workstations create their own special problems with regards to the cabling, however. The cabling industry has finally addressed the unique problems of cabling modular workstations in the latest standards revision. TSB-75 (technical service bulletin) now allows for modular workstation areas to be wired with a solution called "Zone Cabling."

This solution allows for "Consolidation Points" or "MUTO's" (Multi-User Outlets) to beestablished in an area or "zone" somewhere near the modular workstations. All the cables are installed from the Consolidation Points and are homerun to the Telecommunications Closet (TC) and terminated at both ends. Long patch cables are then run from the Consolidation Points to the modular workstations. In the event of a move, add or change, the entire cable does NOT have to be re-installed all the way back to the TC. The actual cables can remain in place, with only the patch cables from the Consolidation Point to the workstation needing to be replaced, or re-routed.

Before the standards were revised, this sort of "interconnect point" was not recognized as meeting industry specifications. Zone cabling is now an acceptable industry solution and can pass certification for any and all Category ratings. Initially, the cost for this type of zone cabling solution is more expensive than traditional "homerun" cabling solutions, but a company that is utilizing modular workstations because of growth or frequent design layout changes will ultimately realize significant cost savings over time. Please call for more information and free design assistance.