The best cable run?

06 Apr The best cable run?

As I was walking a cabling job-nearing completion I realized I was looking at something you could call art. This art brought another kind of satisfaction to me, and I hope to our customer.

The ceiling I was looking at wasn’t the work of a great artist, but a team of our BICSI Certified Registered Communications Distribution Designer (RCDD). I know what you’re thinking; the certification includes an OSHA ceiling beautification course.

Oh no. The BICSI (Building Industry Consulting Services International) is the big name in our industry. I’m here to tell you that fluff training is the last thing you’ll get in a BICSI certification program. I know because I see what my people have to go through, how tough the tests are, and what it costs to get the education that makes a big difference in the quality of jobs we do.

Gaining the certification demands work and commitment to the industry including:

• Five years ICT design experience
• Two years verifiable ICT design experience with three years additional ICT experience.
• Approved education and approved ICT license/certification and site surveys
• Completion of users needs analysis; work print creation, project specifications, RFP creation and pre-project coordination with PEs, Architects, AHJs, etc.
• Experience does not include installation, testing, site supervision, sales, support, or teaching ICT. These area are important, but are not counted as part of design experience.

We probably don’t tout the certifications as much as we should; a BSCSI certification means something in construction. I say that knowing many of our customers have strong certifications in their fields too.

We’ve been associated with BICSI , not to get a seal we can show in our proposals, but to be able to bring our customers the best solutions to power, data, voice electronic safety and security challenges. As customer’s needs increased, so did our expertise based on BICSI training. Our membership has kept us up to the minute with tools to keep jobs efficient and control costs for the information and communications technology systems in your facility.

Now I don’t want to get off track, I want to highlight our certified team members, but knowing more about the organization tells you more about quality of the talent and knowledge they bring to your project. BICSI serves more than 23,000 ICT professionals in nearly 100 countries, including designers, installers and technicians with programs for continual improvement and enhanced professional stature.

Maybe the best way to express their value to us and to your facility is to show you what’s in the test.

The test covers a lot of material if you consider two volumes of 2100 pages a lot of material.

• Principles of Transmission, Electromagnetic Compatibility Telecommunications Spaces, Backbone and Horizontal Distribution Systems, ICT Cables and Connecting Hardware
• Firestop Systems, Bonding and Grounding, Power Distribution, Telecommunications Administration, Field Testing Structured Cabling, Outside Plant, Audiovisual Systems, Building Automation Systems
• Data and Wireless Networks, Electronic Safety and Security, Data Centers
• Health Care, Residential Cabling
• Codes, Standards, Regulations, and Organizations, Network Interfaces and Demarcation Points in the United States
• Regulations and Standards for Emissions and Immunity, Mechanical, Ingress, Climatic/Chemical, and Electromagnetic Considerations and Legal Considerations for the ITS Distribution Designer

Now I know you probably stopped reading when you saw how tough it is. But I wanted to show what it takes to design a job with efficiency, reliability, fast move and change operations, plus reduced cost of maintenance and additions and upgrades.

That’s the test for the Registered Communications Distribution Designer (RCDD), we also have other BSCIS certified positions on staff that had to go through equally tough training.

And if you’re into it, our RCDDs give you a cabling job that delights employees who like to look at the bold colors and sweeping curves of cabling art. But we know you look deeper to see an RCDD cable design that knows just where it’s going. And why.   I’m very proud to have my RCDD designers on my staff. You will be too.

Photo cred: http://www.belden.com/blog/datacenters/Ladder-Racks-The-Cable-Management-Factor.cfm