Is It Time to Future-Proof Your Office with Structured Cabling Services?

Many companies are reviewing their network infrastructures to keep up with emerging technologies, expansion, and remote and in-the-field work demands. With business now being done nontraditionally, it may be time to revisit your network’s traditional cabling to be sure it’s still meeting your current demands efficiently and will serve your needs well into the future.

Structured vs. Unstructured Cabling

Traditional, or unstructured, cabling means that every device in your network is connected directly to another networked device via cable, with each network infrastructure being unique to each business.

Structured cabling follows a design based on industry standards and is broken down into components, areas, or rooms, making each system organized, simplified, and expandable.

Up-Front vs. Long-Term Cost

Traditional cabling is typically less expensive to install upfront. However, the expense to maintain and expand this type of system over time could cause the overall costs to be higher than structured cabling.

Structured cabling services are usually a bit more expensive due to the design and planning involved to meet industry standards, but this method generally experiences less downtime and is less expensive to expand and maintain overall.

There Are Benefits to Both, Depending on Your Situation:

Benefits of Traditional Cabling

• Lower up-front investment

• Quicker installation

• Suitable for small businesses and simple networks where performance and speed are not critical

Benefits of Structured Cabling

• Lower operational costs

• Longer lifespan

• Modular design

• Facilitates expansion

• Easier to troubleshoot, find, and fix problems

• Cables are neat, organized, and grouped into categories

• Less risk from outages

• Higher video and sound quality

• Bandwidth control and optimization

• Efficient system updates with minimal risk to the network

• Less risk of human error

• Ideal for IoT technologies

As you can see, if your business relies on speed, trouble-free connectivity, and technological prowess now and into the future, structured cabling is the only way to secure and optimize your network and ensure that you are ready to scale as needed. Here is how the modular design of structured cabling is broken out:

Structured Cabling Systems are Comprised of Six Components:

1. Entrance Facility – This is where your service provider’s wiring ends and yours begins.

   
   

2. Equipment Room – The climate-controlled room that houses all the switches, servers, PBXs, etc.

3. Backbone Cabling – Also called riser cabling, this cabling runs between the entrance facility and equipment room, the telecommunications room, and between various areas and floors. Fiber-optic cable is typically used and it is generally installed on risers.

4. Telecommunications Room/Enclosure – The climate-controlled room or enclosure that houses additional telecom equipment and is the termination point for the backbone cabling and horizontal cabling.

5. Horizontal Cabling – This cabling connects workspaces and devices to the Telecommunications Room.

6. Work Area – The final destination in the structured cabling system, accessed via outlet or jack, that houses employee workstations and devices.

Standardizing network cabling into components saves time and money and ensures compliance and high standards, making your network more secure and efficient, all while being flexible, expandable, and easy to maintain. With structured cabling being a small percentage of your network investment but responsible for nearly 80 percent of your network’s efficiency, it is crucial that you find the right partner with the expertise and solutions to optimize your network’s capabilities and lay the foundation for your future success.

ElectroMedia is that partner. No matter how small or large your needs are, we provide on-site training and service everything we sell, so you are never on your own.

ElectroMedia’s RCDD© (Registered Communications Distribution Designer) certified system engineers specialize in designing systems for Cat6 and Cat6a, Coax for Gigabit Ethernet, Audio/Video systems, Data Centers, CATV, CCTV, Security, and Signage. All our installers are BICSI certified and adhere to all BICSI best practices and standards.

Talk to an RCDD* (aka Really Cool Data Dude) certified system designer today to learn how ElectroMedia can help untangle the network issues that have the IT guys tied up in knots.

So, if you are ready to future-proof your office with structured cabling services, reach out to ElectroMedia today. We’re here and waiting to help!