atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Wiring - Telecom Carriers - Trunks & Services Cabling Telephones Systems Wiring Cat6 cabling in new non-profit facility

It would be best to install two cables. The twin Cat 5 would handle any combination of data, TDM or VoIP. If they have any extra money instead of VoIP I would suggest changing one of the two cables to Cat 6.

Matter of fact I'm going to move this to the Cabling forum because that's what the question is about.

-Hal

Ask the customer if they think there will ever come a time when their computer system will go down for a few minutes. (most computers I've ever met do this occasionally)

Then ask them if they think they'd like to be able to call out on their telephones when the computers aren't working.

Then ask them if they think they'll ever want to add a printer or fax machine at any work station.

The industry standard is a minimum of two Cat5e wires to every work station. Some of our friends here will say that the minimum is one cat3 and one cat5. In either event, the operative amount is TWO wires.

Your job is to prevent a customer from having a bad day. I define a bad day as a time when my phones don't work for one minute.

Post removed due to being off topic.

I have YET to see this realization in a small system...anywhere, anytime. I know it's the mantra but every single customer that I have AS a customer and have visited that isn't mine say this is bogus.

These responses are amazing. Thank you so much for your helpful replies! At this point I think I might recommend they drop a second Cat5e line.

In everyone's experience, how much extra does it normally cost to install Cat6 vs. Cat5e? Does Cat6 take literally twice as long to install as Cat5e? And does Cat6a take a lot longer than Cat6?

I think the phones are Mitel, but I'm not sure. I'd be interested in reading people's thoughts on which manufacturers are generally considered to be the most seasoned in the technology.

My co-worker and I weren't in the loop on the decision to go with a VoIP system and were caught off-guard by the announcement. I'm not even sure the brand has even been decided yet--just the vendor. When I researched Mitel for a customer several years ago, they were already seasoned in the VoIP market and looked like they were in good shape. My wife works the phones in customer service for a small company with an Asterisk-based VoIP system. Because it's VoIP, she can work from home over a VPN using a headset attached to our computer to take calls (as a matter of fact, she has yet to work a day physically located at the call center). It has been a robust system, for all that I can see.

Like Hal said, if there are remote workers VOIP may make sense. If not ????

We have a bank as a client and while they use VoIP they always run 2 cables to each location. I think off the top of my head they have a dozen or so branches and one call center for them all. They have their own IT dept to take care of the VoIP but they have always asked for any additional locations be run with two cables.

In my experience, it's highly dependent on the materials used (Cat6 vs 5e). There is a fair amount of physical difference between manufacturers of cat6 cable. Terminations can take 2x as long, yes. Cat6 materials are obviously more expensive than cat5e. There is no universal answer to "how much extra will it cost?". If you wanted the "best of" cat6 everything, it could easily cost 2x as much as just having everything with a cat6 stamp on it, get my drift?

6a, 7, and all that are, in my opinion, blank check projects.

Jack

BICSI, and other standards organizations, specify a minimum of two Cat 5e (or above) cables at each work area outlet.

I two would recommend using 5e if you're looking to save money.