Has anyone thought of hooking up with an IT company or with a telco company?
I can see a couple of benefits.

1. Customers can get everything at one place.
2. Share customers, more revenue.

It should be beneficial for both parties. A friend of mine worked as a cable puller for a Telco company, they expanded with an IT company and they can't hardly keep up with the extra work each one provided to the other.
It the saying..If you can't beat em join em.

Any thoughts?

Or an Electrical Contractor.

The electrical sales team win the bids and "Yeah, we can also completely build your data center, phone system, security, fire alarm and audio/video."

Been doing that for the past 15 year!

Back several years ago I worked at a cabling company that got tons of work from IT companies. Other IT company didn't really want to pull cables, and we didn't touch the network or phone systems (except an occasional PBX relocation).

My brother is on the lookout for anyone that needs new phones. He gets them connected to new VoIP service and gets a referral + monthly the residuals.

Looks like a few of you have figured it out and and electrical contractor is another good mix. For all the old telecom guys/gals who just complain about the IT people should really think about this, that goes for IT companies as well as Electrical companies.
Don't fight the future but embrace it, figure out how it can better your bottom line. Not only do you get to share customers but one will be able to close more bids when you can offer it all in house.

Nahh. I looked for that kind of relationship for years and years. Electrical contractors won't give up any kind of work whether they know how to do it or not. The IT wienies want it all for themselves too. The only times we got cabling jobs is when we won the job directly from the owner and if there was an EC or IT wienie on the job too they were mad as hell. I have known ECs to run the low voltage for nothing just to get the electrical work.

Maybe the climate of greed hasn't reached Arizona and the West coast yet, but here what you propose is like pissing up a rope. Always has been.

-Hal

And maybe your vetting the wrong people Hal. It will take some due dillanace to get 18th the right company.

Perhaps it's different with Union over non-Union work. Currently Local 48 has open calls for 24 Sound and Communications* going unfilled, and 76 Electricians.

If you know how to pull cable, hang systems and program phones there is plenty of work available...you just can't be afraid to learn something new.

*in Oregon 'Sound and Communications' licences allow you to legally install/maintain: Voice, Data, Intercom, Nurse Call, Fire Alarm, Security, Paging, Audio/Visual, Controls.

Exactly. So why would an EC or IT company give away work and profits?


Nothing to do with unions here but since you brought it up, that situation has everything to do with the current generation not wanting to do manual labor and nothing to do with learning something new. The fact that your local has openings just illustrates that ECs want to do that work, not give it away.

-Hal

I am not understanding your reply, why would a company want to give work away? The Union EC's hire both Electricians and Low Voltage workers...too much work to be had. If there are not enough workers available then the existing folk get the O.T as needed to get the job done.

Regular wages at $35.00+ an hour is great...especially when anything over 8 in a day is O.T., any work on Saturdays is O.T. and any work on Sundays or holidays are D.T..
add an fringe benefits package that equals out to $62.48 an hour.

I agree with the younger generation not wanting to work manual labor. My ex-son-in-law stated the reason that he didn't have a job was because "I wanted a career, not a job." Apparently starting wages of $17.42 were not enough incentive to get off his A$$ and support his wife and two children.

Exactly! Maybe I'm not understanding this whole topic. Isn't it about an EC or IT company giving you work???

-Hal

Question:
Original Post:Reply:

Having an Electrical Contractor as your employer is great because they, generally, have the bucks and backup to bid on jobs like Amazon, Google, Facebook, Inter...there's a LOT of work to be had going that route. Another benefit is the NEC Code Change class costs me $10.00 every three years. It's better than anything you can find online.

What planet are you guys on?? I've been in this business for over 30 years and I'm 72 years old. Like most of us here It would be a cold day in hell if I went to work for somebody else and that's if they would even hire me. If you are in your 20's or 30's and have your own business chances are that you are not going to want to quit and work for somebody else as long as you are doing half way decent. That's because you probably got there by working for some ass hat and decided enough is enough.

Come on guys, think of something else to drum up traffic for this site not this nonsense.

-Hal

So selling your interconnect to an EC is a bad idea?

All these companies' low voltage divisions, of which I have worked for, were started out as local interconnects trying to find a way to find more work:

Dynaletric
EC Electrical Contractors
OEG
Cache Valley Electric
Cochran

Through these EC's I have had more work. Places like:

Kaiser
OHSU
Go Beavers!
Intel
TriMet
Portland Public Schools
Amazon Data Centers
Google Data Centers
Safeway
Fred Meyers...and countless others.

I have hung systems, build everything from Data Closets to Data Centers. I have installed everything from 3-pr to 900-pr copper. Fiber optic. I have built three local hospitals from first week to final cover which included voice, data, intercom, paging, nurse call, security, audio-video and controls.

There is money to be made.

I am only a few years behind you Hal, but my body feels older.

That's a huge difference from approaching ECs and IT companies to see if there is any work you can do for them- which is what this thread implied until I started asking questions.

So is packing it in and going to work for somebody a bad idea? Not if that's what you want to do and you think you will make more money. I really don't think we need to tell anybody that, it's kind of a no brainer.

-Hal

Better than losing your company and everything you worked hard for.

The thread isn't about looking for a job at another company, it's about partnering up so the interconnect can service more customers as well as the IT company.
It's also not about drumming up traffic, it's called move with the future or get left behind.
Sounds like this isn't for you Hal, I can see why too, not sure of your predicament but if it's just you and maybe another person and you being 72 it's going to be hard to accomplish. I know this company my buddy works for merged with an IT group and they are getting twice the amount of work.
It won't be for everyone but for a substantial company it can be a good expansion.

An IT company that I work for is looking to hook up with a cable puller/phone type installer.
The company is EyesEverywhere Have a look around his site and see if you might be a good fit.
There is contact information on the site if you have any questions.