Data and voice cabling are the "backbone" of your network where the rest of the technology relies on. Having a clear understanding of what's involved in a cabling job can set a more realistic view for the office manager and make the more efficient the work of the cable professional. This presentations is based for LAN environments using Ethernet technology.

1. THINGS TO CONSIDER
BEFORE A CABLING JOB.
FOR THE OFFICE MANAGER AND CABLING PROFESSIONAL.
PREPARED BY JDTECH. AN IT SERVICES PROVIDER IN NORTH BERGEN,
NJ.

2. This post is intended to help the office managers have a better
understanding of what to expect and ask when looking to hire a
cabling company as well as helping the cabling professional to
set clear expectations when doing the job.
I based the post on my experience doing numerous cabling jobs
for different businesses in New York and New Jersey, though i
may not touch on every single aspect that needs to be addressed
I definitely touch what can be considered as the baseline for a
successful cabling job implementation.
I'm focusing here on Ethernet twisted pair cabling as it is what I
deal with for LANs in office environments.

3. FOR THE BUSINESS OWNER:
1. Sketch out the plan: A simple office plan layout would be of great
help before contracting the cabling company. This is especially true
when moving into a new office environment where managers may
overlook important things such as placing desks close to power
sources.
2. Get all decision makers and department managers involved ( if
applicable): Getting everyone in agreement of their desks positions
avoids delaying the project and incurring in new charges.
•

4. FOR THE BUSINESS OWNER:
3. Know what you need: Many times the business owner request to have cable
runs without really considering what they need. When counting the cable runs
you need just don't focus on the computer but think about the other devices
that require network connections that are part of the users' environment.
4. Plan for expansion: Chances are you already know if you'll be adding new
employees in the near future, if you'll be adding a new network device, etc.
This is the time to do it, cable runs can become intrusive jobs in an office
environment disrupting business operations, have you cabling professional
take care of it while they are doing the other runs.
•

5. FOR THE BUSINESS OWNER:
5. Know what you are paying for: Having a clear understanding of what
you are paying will avoid unpleasant situation at the end of the project.
Depending on the contract, the cabling professional might be
responsible for the runs, including the jacks, wall plates, actual cables
and the termination at the patch panel. Once everything is ran and
tested the job can be considered done. Well for network operations
they still need a switch, patch cables, and many other network
configurations that may not be part of the cabling job contract.

6. FOR THE BUSINESS OWNER:
6. You get what you pay for: Ethernet cables are like the arteries in
your body, they carry the essence of what makes your network alive.
Every company have their own pricing model, some charge by drop,
others by the hour, etc. Talk to cable professional if you want to find a
way to bring the cost but it without compromising on quality. They
might be able to help you based on the amount of work or future work.
In my case I give my customers a special rate when running cable
drops because i already have other business relationships with them,
be it managed IT support, security solutions, consulting services, etc.

7. FOR THE CABLING PROFESSIONAL:
1. Do a walk through (if applicable): Have customer show you where
they want the cable drops. Make recommendations as needed.
2. Create diagram: Outline location and amount of each network
connection. After document is reviewed have the project owner sign it
off.

8. FOR THE CABLING PROFESSIONAL:
3. Specify the technology use: will you use Cat 5e, Cat 6, shielded or
unshielded twisted pair, EIA 568A or EIA 568B, etc.
4. Ensure the customer understands what they are paying and any fee
associated for extra parts and work: Do you provide the patch panel as
part of the job or charge extra for it? How do you address the changes
in locations or adding new cable runs. Have those clearly stated in the
contract.
5. Use cable management: use ladder rack, rack base cable
management or the like will make maintenance much easier for the
administrator.

9. FOR THE CABLING PROFESSIONAL:
6. Stay off the grid: don't run cables on top of the drop ceiling. Not
only makes it a cleaner job but it also may avoid issues as running
cables by power lines and other electromagnetic fields that might
cause issues.
7. Don't cut corner: Let's show the highest level of professionalism at
every job, even when the customer doesn't see what's
happening behind the scene. If you need to run a new cable do it, don't
splice it if it got damaged during the run.

10. FOR THE CABLING PROFESSIONAL:
8. Use different jack colors for Voice and Data: Though not
necessary it’ll make administration much easier when all the yellow
jack are for voice and the blue for data.
9. Use different color patch cord for different devices: This is more of a
network administrator task but should also be implemented by the
installer if required to patch in devices. It's a network administrator
best practice to use certain patch cord color for printers, computers,
access points, medical devices, etc.

11. FOR THE CABLING PROFESSIONAL:
10. Always carry a vacuum cleaner or sweeper with you: Cabling jobs
tend to be messy so it doesn't hurt to have a vacuum cleaner available
in case you need it.
11. Test and Label every connection: I can't stress this more.
Identifying each connection at the patch panel and wall jacks is
imperative for network administration and management. This will save
the network administrator tons of headaches and perhaps the cable
installer from coming back just to trace a cable.

12. THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE A CABLING
JOB.
I hoped the article have been helpful to you, the last advice i can give that
applies to the installer and business owner is to keep the communication
channel open, always bring up concerns or doubts as soon as they come up.
Feel free to contact us if you are in need of Cabling jobs in NYC or New Jersey.
JDTech is an IT service Provider Company located in North Bergen, NJ offering
fortune 500 technical solutions and implementations to small and mid-sized
businesses. We achieve our goals by aligning technical solutions with
businesses' needs, goals, and implementing scalable solutions. Contact us
with any technical needs at 888-580-4450 | info@jdtechsolutions.net |
www.jdtechsolutions.net for more information.