A structured cabling system refers to a complete system of cables and the associated hardware to provide a telecommunication platform. The telecommunication setup serves a range of purposes such as providing telephone services and transmitting data between different offices in the organisation. For the system to do this efficiently, it needs reliable backbone cabling. Backbone cabling is the foundation of the telecommunications system. It is used to interconnect various equipment rooms, entrance facilities, control rooms and main terminal spaces. The following are some of the important things that you should keep in mind when it comes to backbone cabling:
Organisational Needs and Prospects
You need to consider the current and future needs of your firm to avoid costly and time-consuming overhauls in the future. Ideally, the backbone cabling should be able to support multi-media, video data, voice and data transfers. By anticipating the future needs of the organisation, your service provider will be able to accommodate additional users and functions in the future without compromising quality or using up too many resources.
Compatibility with Multiple Equipment
Good backbone cabling should be compatible with multiple equipment regardless of the brand or the vendor. This will give you the freedom to choose or change your equipment supplier without worrying about a major telecommunication overhaul in the organisation. To add on that, the cabling connectors used to create an interface between the backbone cabling and other components should not limit you to particular brands or vendors either.
Cabling Standards
It is important to comply with international standards and other local regulations when installing the backbone cables of the telecommunication system in your firm. When hiring a service provider, ask about their compliance with internationally recognised standards and local regulations. The benefits of adherence to these standards include consistent design, installation and conformity to transmission and physical line requirements. Moreover, they also give you a basis of examining ways of expanding the system. Ideally, compliance to international and local standards gives makes it easy for you to upgrade your system when need be.
Life Span and Data Carrying Capacity
Being the foundation of the telecommunication system, the backbone cabling should have the highest capacity to carry data in any form. You should also go for a cabling system that has few limitations regarding the distance it can transmit data. This makes it easy to expand in the future. Preferably, you should use fibre optic cables for your data cabling. They have a high data carrying capacity over long distances.
