By: Kenny Miller

The walls and whiteboards in every ABS office are covered with Visio and network designs. Wireless surveys depict optimal placement for access points and the coverage they’ll collectively deliver. Digital Media Displays hang off of switches instead of VCR’s and scrolling messages alert personnel of vital information on TV’s, monitors and even IP phones (or all at the same time). And what is the one thing they all have in common?

A wire.

Yet the fundamental and, yes, vital component of every, every network is often the last thing thought of and the first to be dismissed. At best, we may think to ask, “is there a cable in that wall or will we need to schedule a drop?” It is hard to imagine why something so critical is so easily overlooked. Often it is because it already exists and simply gets reused. It is like putting in a new bathroom fixture; you wouldn’t re-plumb the house just to pretty-up the faucet. But when there’s a leak? That’s a different kind of trouble.

Experts at structured cabling are all about preventing leaks. That means a company must hire and retain people with the skills and experience needed to ensure that the networks and solutions deployed have reliable plumbing connecting all the important parts. A cabling team must work according to best practice standards and test every drop to ensure that the last thing customers will be troubleshooting is the one thing they prefer to take for granted.