The Handshake
When deploying a network cabling system for your new environment, whether it be a small office or a large hotel, choosing the right data cabling manufacturer is an important part of delivering proper connectivity for your team or customers for seamless internet connectivity.That’s what it’s all about these days, standing connected. What does that mean behind the scenes/walls to make that happen?Well, the first thing would be to hire a consultant to provide a cabling infrastructure design that fits your environment. Then hire a reputable educated data cabling company that works alongside the consultant and understands the objectives and the needs for this design.The next step is choosing the right cabling manufacturer that can support the data transmission from end devices, through the data cabling system, back to the network switch gear. Easily said than done, right? Depending on the environment, many factors come into play but a well executed project plan needs to be set and KPIs need to be met along the way for a successful deployment. Choosing a cabling manufacturer that has a selection of category components for an end-to-end cabling system is something to highly consider. There are only a few cabling manufacturers out there that provide industry standard and industry compliant components. So, do your due diligence and look for a manufacturer that will first, support you; second, has the latest and up to date selection; and lastly, offers a healthy warranty. The cabling system that gets installed must service the devices that are connected now and well into the future.The big question is, how do we know and how do we track this data transmission for ultimate performance along this physical cabling system? This question took some time to get answered, but back in the day a standard code was developed by creating a data cabling device that can provide test reports on the physical data cabling infrastructure. Like all systems, they need to be tested to prove that it works and that its working to provide maximum performance.Fast forward to today, Fluke Corporation, a company that was founded by John Fluke in 1948 produced electrical metering equipment then eventually over the years has produced one of the most sophisticated data cabling testers in the market today.And there it is, The HandShake between a data cabling system and a data cabling tester. This, for a lack of better terms, eliminates finger pointing. Once the cabling system is fully tested and a test report is produced, it gets handed to the end user as a Close-Out Document, which usually is an IT person or company, showing them that the installed cabling system can transmit data from end to end without any interruption. Between the Consultant, the Cable Installation Team and the Cabling Manufacturer, they now have delivered what the client needed to stay connected.Steve DuguayThinker & Managing PartnerThink Modular
