Data cabling refers to all the cables and wiring that are needed for a business to run and use all their computers, faxes, phones and so on. You may have the latest technology installed in your office, but without the correct cabling it will not work efficiently or properly. Crosstalk, with data bleeding from one cable into another is likely to be a problem, while it is highly likely that you will not have enough bandwidth to handle all your Internet needs.

Whether you are upgrading your present system or starting up for the first time, it is essential to get the cabling right and that means it needs to be able to handle your present needs as well as your future ones. Things change all the time in business. Your business might expand exponentially or you may find that features such as video conferencing are not adequate and you need other ways to keep in touch with your clients and suppliers.

If you have the right cabling installed from the word go, it will be able to accommodate such changes without any problems or any further costs. It is therefore important that you choose the right installer, someone who knows what they are doing and has plenty of experience in the field. Your service provider should talk to you about your present needs and how you use your technology and they should also take into account what your future needs may be.

Before you get any data cable installation done you will need to work out how many workstations there will be, what telephony support will be needed for outbound and inbound calls, how many trunk lines you will need, the features you need and the bandwidth that will be necessary for your Internet applications. You also need the flexibility for expansion for the future with a minimum of downtime.

It is also important to take into consideration the actual physical environment of the data communications cabling. Some types are very sensitive to dust and dirt, while others are not. So if the cabling must be laid in a dusty environment you need to ensure it will be properly protected.

It is also important to decide whether the cabling should be CAT5, CAT5e or CAT6. The first one is the basic and cheapest type of cabling, but it has mostly been replaced with CAT5e now, which gives a higher quality performance with resistance to crosstalk. CAT6 or 6a are the latest and most advanced types of cabling.