Voice and Data Cabling Installation Requirements for Your Business

Various cabling methodologies are available today. Installation criteria are different for each and every cabling. The type of cabling used is based on the purpose and mode of communication required. They include network cabling, voice cabling, data cabling, etc.

Integration of voice and data cabling is attaining considerable relevance today. Hence the installation procedures and strategies for voice and data cabling should be done with proper care. Also the underlying networks for Voice and data should be designed and installed in accordance with the National standards. The installation procedures based on the National Standards such as TIA/EIA and BICSI will help to boost up the quality and standard of communication.

Installation Requirements

Before proceeding to the installation processes, check out the installation requirements. This will help you to avoid problems while carrying out installation to a large extend. The installation requirements of voice and data cabling include the following;

1. Nowadays most of the voice and data cabling systems make use of the CAT 6 components. The terminations will be in the Cat 6 cable outlets and to a 24 or 48 port patch panels.
2. The multi-mode Fibre Optic cables are used in places where distances and bandwidth needs are dictated.
3. During installations about 6 strand multimode fibre optic cables terminated in locked metal distribution boxes are used. Based on the environment on which the panel is installed, the strands can be terminated with ST or LC connectors. The type of tube buffered cable and jackets are selected based on the environment in which the cable is installed.
4. For building codes for Plenum environment, riser or for horizontal use; cables such as UTP or Fibre optic can be used.
5. The cables should be installed, fastened or wrapped with minimum bend radius and minimum jacket removal for Cat 6 cabling. Also it should appear neat and organized. Best installation practices will follow a definite order and this helps in eliminating bad test results and ambient noise. The best installation practices include routing cables through cable trays and raceways, and never putting them on ceiling tiles.
6. Another important thing is labelling cables. All cables should be properly and legibly labelled on the cable end points, on the patch panels, and on the outlets. This is required by the EIA/TIA 568 standard. This will avoid chaos and problems while installing and configuring cables.

The standard configuration of the voice and data cabling recommends that a minimum of 2 data outlets should be provided at each workstation. The modular outlet systems can be used for this.

Testing and Documentation Requirements

The testing and documentation details will be provided on the CD-ROM or diskette. The test results may include the following details;

• Certificate of accuracy or re-calibration report from the devices used to conduct the testing of cables.
• Conducts full electronic testing on all cables using cable scanner. It reports results for the following factors; Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR), ambient noise, cable length, wire map, date of test, etc.
• The category 5E cable installations are tested to meet the 100 Mbps standards and the category 6 installations will be tested to meet the 1 Gbps standards.
• The multimode fibre optic cable installations will test link attenuation and optical loss on each fibre bi-directionally at 850 nm and 1300 nm.
  

Certification and Warranty Requirements

The manufacturer of termination hardware will train the installers for getting a better idea about the hardware used. Support letter and warrantee documentation from the manufacturer on the cable termination hardware will be provided by the contractor.

These are the major installation requirements for voice and data cabling. Considering these requirements will help you to carry out the voice and data cabling installation easily and smoothly.