Unraveling ICT Standards: A Guide for Installation Professionals

Chuck Bowser dives into the four families of telecommunication standards and explains how each impacts low-voltage installations across different environments. The conversation clarifies the crucial differences between standards (for performance) and codes (for safety), while offering actionable guidance on testing methodologies and cable management best practices.

• ICT standards fall into four main families: generic standards, premise standards, component standards, and technical service bulletins
• Premise standards vary by building type (commercial, residential, healthcare, data center, industrial, educational) to address specific connectivity requirements
• National Electrical Code (NEC) focuses on safety while standards ensure performance—following standards typically ensures code compliance
• Cable management isn't just about aesthetics but critically impacts performance, bend radius protection, and stress relief on ports
• Three testing methodologies exist: certification (comparing to standards), qualification (data transmission testing), and verification (basic continuity)
• Manufacturers typically require certification testing for warranty purposes, not qualification or verification testing

Remember to catch our next episode where we'll tackle fiber vs. copper benefits, effective project management, and how to create accurate low-voltage project estimates. Every Wednesday at 6pm Eastern.

Chapters

• 0:00 Episode Introduction
• 3:24 Chuck's Vacation Disaster Stories
• 6:58 Understanding ICT Standards Families
• 16:07 National Electrical Codes and Compliance
• 21:42 Cable Management Beyond Aesthetics
• 25:32 Copper Testing and Certification Explained

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to let's Talk Cabling, the award-winning podcast where knowledge is power and the low-voltage industry connects, hosted by Chuck Bowser, rcdd. We're here to empower installers, designers and industry pros with the tips, stories and best practices you need to stay ahead. From copper to fiber, standards to innovation, this is the show that keeps you plugged into success. So grab your tools, turn up the volume and let's talk cabling. Let's Talk Cabling, your source for low-voltage expertise and connection and connection.

Speaker 2: 0:48

Wednesday night, 6 pm, eastern Standard Time. That can only mean one thing Live after hours with sick Chuck Bowser, rcdd. You're our favorite RCDD. You know I'm your favorite. Don't even try to pretend like I'm not. We've been friends way too long. You know I'm your favorite RCDD. So there you go. So let's get started. First thing, what are you drinking? Chuck is drinking Cola Zevia as usual. Cola Zevia as normal. Cola Zevia as normal. Tell us in the chat box what are you drinking? It's after hours, so you can be drinking almost anything you want. But Chuck is oh, my collar's messed up. Gotta fix that. There we go. Kaylin, why didn't you tell me my collar was all messed up? Shotzi's in the house drinking Dr Pepper as usual.

Speaker 2: 1:47

Acronym challenge, acronym challenge. Let's do an acronym. I haven't even thought about one ahead of time. No, let's do this right on the fly. We're going to grab the book, I'm going to flip right to the acronym section and we are going to pick an acronym. Let's pick an acronym Acronym.

Speaker 2: 2:01

Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do. Let's pick an acronym. It would help if I was wearing my glasses. Yeah, yeah, the advantage of being an old man like me. I mean the disadvantage of being an old man like me. So tonight's acronym is coming right straight from the Bixie Pocket Field Guide and let's do EDP, edp. What does that acronym mean? Edp Pirate Captains in the House, acronym challenge EDP. What does it mean? I'll give you a hint it has something to do with electrical. Anybody got any guesses? I could probably turn on my chat box so I can see what people are saying. Okay, live chat there, studio chat there. There we go. So, yes, edp electrical distribution panel. Edp Yep, there you go. That's what that means. So nice, try, shati. Electronic data processing. Yeah, good try. Yeah, good try, good try.

Speaker 2: 3:09

Before I get started in tonight's program, you guys know that I was on vacation last week. Let me tell you about my vacation. So the day before we leave I mean the Friday before we leave I have a Ford F-350 Super Duty. The FICM goes out on it. The Fuel Injection Control Module Got a tow to the shop. We got there at 4 pm. I'm thinking we're supposed to leave Saturday morning. What the heck, what the heck we're supposed to leave Saturday morning. The truck's breaking down on Friday. They're not going to have this thing fixed by Friday, so we get it down there. Tow truck drops off at 4 pm and by 5.15, they had it running. Yes, yes, oh, cool, cool. Daryl, the RCDD's in the house, said his son got his RCDD. Congratulations, mr Daryl. Nice. So that's the first thing. Then we go to one of the campgrounds, the first campground in Spirulbuff, georgia.

Speaker 2: 4:11

You know, the number one rule when you're, when you're camping, is to never leave your awning out, never leave your awning out, never leave your trailer unattended with the awning out. Don't go to bed with your awning out. We went to bed with the awning out. Yeah, windstorm happened in the middle of the night. 4 am I heard it rattling and my brain clicks Like oh no, the awning's open, so I go out of the trailer. 4 am, it's raining, it's pouring. I was literally in my underwear and the awning's flapping. Whatever, we get it secured. I couldn't get it to go down all the way, but I got it so the wind wasn't affecting it.

Speaker 2: 4:51

Next morning I go out. I can't compress my awning, so I figure okay. Well, I got to disconnect the awning to get this thing so we can travel to the next campsite. Did you know? Did you know, that awnings on trailers are spring loaded? Ask me how I know. I broke my finger. Yeah, so when I undid the last cap, the spring unwound, whacked. My finger, broke my finger. Yep, spent the afternoon in Upton County urgent care. Upton County urgent care. Yeah, that was fun. That was fun.

Speaker 2: 5:27

So we pack up the trailer, drive to the next campsite, plug in. No AC power in the coach. No AC power. Brand new trailer. The trailer wasn't even a year old yet no AC power. Oh, great, wonderful, wonderful. So we basically tent camped in a very expensive trailer for a week. Oh, and then the second to last day that we're camping, harley, my beautiful, wonderful German shepherd, decided that she needed to go out one night. So she goes to the door and she does this whole bouncy, jumpy thing. She was doing that. She jumped on the fire extinguisher and discharged the fire extinguisher inside the trailer. Yeah, yeah, mm-hmm, yeah, it was not a very good vacation, not a very good vacation.

Speaker 2: 6:20

So there you go, let's get on with the questions. Oh, did you catch last week's episode? Did you catch last week's episode? I did it with Game Changer Cable. We talked about extended distances, and did you know that Game Changer Cable has more cable than just the Game Changer Cable? I didn't know that. I did not know that. So great episode. Got some other great episodes in the hopper. I got an episode with Light Brigade in the hopper, an episode with a spec engineer in the hopper, an episode with a PoE device, with PoE of Texas in the hopper. I just got to get them published and pushed out. So lots of great content coming up. Stay tuned, stay tuned.

Speaker 2: 6:59

So here's the first question from tonight. This question came to me via Twitter and says Chuck, I have been in ICT installation for years but I'm trying to wrap my head around all of the standards. Which ones should I focus on and why are they so critical? So which one you should focus on depends on a couple different factors.

Speaker 2: 7:22

Now the standards the ANSI telecommunication standards, are broken into four major families. The first family is the generic standard family. In that grouping you're going to find the 568.0 generic premise cabling standard. That's where you find the T568A, t568b wiring schemes. That standard you will follow pretty much every time you pull gable. Also under that generic cabling standards there's the 569 pathways and spaces standards. In that standard you're going to find all kinds of stuff that you'll use on a daily basis, for example J-hooks. How far apart can they be? Okay, four to five feet apart, no more than five feet apart, random distances, the telecom rooms, the sizing. They can serve up to 10,000 square feet. If it serves up to 10,000 square feet, it's going to be a 10 by 11 room and there's all kinds of stuff you follow every single day.

Speaker 2: 8:26

Then, in the 606 standard again, another one you'll be following almost every day tells us how to label everything. That's where you find class one, class two, class three, class four and, depending on which classification your job falls under, it's going to tell you what has to be labeled. For example, in a class one job, you're going to label the telecom space, the horizontal link, and there's a couple others. My mind's pulling a blank. My mind's pulling a blank, yeah, so then the class two is going to be a single building or tenant with one or more telecom spaces. Class three will be campus environments. Class four will be multiple buildings across multiple sites, and that tells you how to label everything and how to document all that stuff. Then you get the 607 standard. Again, we're still in the generic standards. The 607 standard is the bonding and grounding standard, which tells us how to bond and ground, what components we should use, where we should put them, like, for example, the primary bonding bus bar, the secondary bonding bus bar. It tells us that if you drive a ground rod in the ground it's got to be 10 ohms or less, and a bunch of stuff. And then there's some other things in there too, in the generic standards family, that you probably only do occasionally, like, for example, the outside plan standard, the 758 outside plan standard, then the 962 intelligent building standards. Right, so those are all there.

Speaker 2: 9:49

The next major group is called the premise standards. Now, the premise standards you're only going to follow the standards for the type of building you're in. So there are about I don't know five or six of them. The first one is the 568.1 standard, the commercial cabling standard. That tells you how to do cabling in commercial office buildings, what type of cables you can select, cabling for voice and data. You know all that kind of stuff. Then there's the 570 standard. You're only going to follow that one when you're doing residential cabling standard. You're only going to follow that one when you're doing residential cabling, residential cabling. The 542 standard okay, is for data center cabling. So again, you're only going to follow the data center standard when you're actually doing data cabling. The 1005 for industrial cabling, the 1179 for healthcare and the 4966 for education. So in the premise standards you're only going to follow for the type of building you're in. So if you're doing work in a commercial office building you'll follow the 568.1. If you're doing cabling in a hospital you'll follow the 1179 standards. Now the reason there are different standards for different types of buildings is because connectivity requirements changes between those buildings. For example, for a commercial office building you might get asked to pull voice cabling, data cabling, access control, fire alarm AV. In a hospital you might get asked to pull those same things. But you might also get asked to pull cabling for nurse call cabling, patient monitoring cabling. And hospitals are way more stringent on fire stopping than a commercial office building is because people have limited means of egress. They can't get in and out as easily.

Speaker 2: 11:31

The third family for the ANSI standards is the component standards. Now the component standards pretty much are not written for Joe Installer out in the field or John Project Manager or Donna the Estimator. The component standards are really written for the manufacturers. So there's really not much that applies to you out in the field, except for in the fiber standard, the 560.3 standard. There's where you find the fiber optic color code. And then the last major, the fourth section of the standards is the technical service bulletins. You see, the standards are written and they have to be revised every three to five years. The problem is our industry doesn't wait around three to five years to come up with something new always coming up with something new. So what happens is when the new standard comes out, they'll look at the TSB list, they'll pull the stuff off the TSB list and put it in the new standards.

Speaker 2: 12:29

So I can understand why you get confused with all the standards. So which standard you use kind of depends on what you're doing and where you're doing it. But you're going to spend the most of your time in the first and second families, the premise standards family and the generic standards. Now why should you follow the standards? That's a good question there, right? Number one if you follow the standards, you're going to guarantee performance. That cable is going to be able to transmit that data signal, that voice signal across that category-rated cable or that multimode or single-mode fiber up to the full 295 feet for permanent link length. It's going to guarantee that it's going to work. It's going to guarantee that it's interoperable.

Speaker 2: 13:15

Interoperable, that's a big fancy word right there, but what that means is that cable will work with everything every voice system, every voice system, every computer system. Now it sounds kind of easy, but when you sit down and you think about it, just think about the voice systems by themselves you have analog phone lines which need one pair. You have a lot of your smaller KSUs which generally use one or two pair to operate. Then you got your VoIP systems which need all four pair to work. Okay, same thing with ethernet.

Speaker 2: 13:44

You know there's, there's a type of ethernet that literally uses one pair to work. It's called single pair ethernet. Right, one gigabit, two and a half gigabit ethernet generally uses two pairs to work. Pins one, two, three and six, 40 gig typically, or 10 gig is going to use all four pair to work. So when you put in that cable you got to install it, terminate it and certify it so it works with everything. That's why we have to terminate all four pair on a single jack.

Speaker 2: 14:12

That's interoperable. That's what that means, and by following the standards you're going to reduce the chance of errors and simplify troubleshooting. And if everybody's doing it the same way, then it's going to make it easy for you, because you know that the jail shouldn't be more than five feet apart. You know there's got to be at least one telecom room per floor. You know that that telecom room can't support more than 10,000 square feet if it's a 10 by 11 room. So if they follow those standards it makes your job as a service tech easier. Your job is if you get the opportunity to work for a new customer. The customer you're working for, new customer. They used to use one of your competitors in the past. Well, if the competitor followed the standards, then you know those are certain things that you can expect to find.

Speaker 2: 14:57

And then again, following the standards is going to future-proof your job. You know one of the biggest things and we just read through this through the TDMM study group, I think it was last week or maybe in the week before we're talking about cabling for VoIP, voip system, voice Over Internet Protocol. Now the standard tells us, or the TDM tells us in our study group, that you have to run two cables to every faceplate. Well, you know, there's some VoIP systems where you can literally plug the computer into the phone and the phone into the telecommunications outlet on the faceplate and everything works fine. But the TDM still says hey look, you really should still put two cables there because they might put another Internet-enabled device there. So two is the number. So it's going to help you future-proof that job site. That's why you should follow those standards. Great question.

Speaker 2: 15:54

Next question came to me from LinkedIn we how do national electrical codes like the NEC influence our ICT installations and what should we be aware of for as far as regarding compliance? So again, I just talked about standards. Standards are for performance Codes. Codes are for safety. Standards will always meet or exceed codes, so you should always follow the standards. If you follow the standards, you will be compliant with the codes. Right, you will be compliant. So codes are just for minimum quality of construction, safety, safety.

Speaker 2: 16:31

If you really want to know what this code is, I highly suggest that you go to the old Google machine type in free NEC access free NEC access. It'll take you to the NFPA webpage. You can actually read the code book for free. Once you get in there and you're reading free, go look up 90.1, 90.1. 90.1 tells you the intent of the code book and it's going to tell you that the code book is intent to keep people and property safe from the hazards arising from the use of electricity. That's what it says. But then it also goes on to tell you that it's not a design specification. So you're not going to go to the code book to determine if you need to use T568A or T568B. That's not what the code book is for. It's not a training manual for untrained people, because the code book is written in lawyerese, which means it's going to be kind of difficult to understand.

Speaker 2: 17:33

Here's the funny thing. It also tells us in paragraph B of 90.1. It tells us that if you follow the code it's not going to be the most efficient way to install the cabling, the most reliable way to install the cable. It doesn't even guarantee that it's going to perform Actually what it says. It's not adequate for service. So there you go.

Speaker 2: 18:01

Which codebook am I referencing? Right now I'm referencing the nfpa 70, the national electrical code book for low voltage, right? So, daryl, the rcd says should, shall, will, may, must are the words for the day. Yeah, very good. Yeah, very good. And you know it's funny. You bring that up, daryl, because the word shouldn, shouldn't shall, are both in the codes and in the standards and you have to follow the code. You don't have a choice in the matter period. You've got to follow the code because the authority having jurisdiction is going to if they don't like the way that you did it, they're not going to sign off on the occupancy permit. Now here's the trick.

Speaker 2: 18:40

Though here's the trick. Not every county, not every city has a system in place where you've got to pull a permit for low voltage cabling and have an inspector come out and check it out. But the electrical inspector is only one AHJ. There's another one, another one that you don't hear about very often and that inspector is called the fire investigator so hear about very often. And that inspector is called the fire investigator. So if a building catches on fire, the fire investigator will go into the building after the engine team and is put out the fire. They're going to determine where the fire started, what caused the fire and if somebody was to blame for that. And if you're to blame for it, that AHJ, the fire investigator, is going to hold you legally responsible. So there's more than one type of AHJ than electrical inspectors.

Speaker 2: 19:29

So if you see the word shall in the code book, you have to do it. Period Right. Here's one thing that confuses a lot of people in the code book. So recommendations in the code book are written as shall be permitted, shall be permitted. Shall be permitted is a recommendation, not a requirement. If it says you shall do blah, blah, blah, then you got to do it. If it says shall be permitted, then it's a recommendation.

Speaker 2: 19:58

Then when you go to the standards because I was just talking about the standards in the previous question shall is a requirement. There here's the trick standards are voluntary. Standards are voluntary technically, you don't have to follow the standards. You should follow the standards because you want to be the best installer out there, the best company out there, right? So you really should follow the best installer out there, the best company out there. So you really should follow the standards, even though technically we're not required to.

Speaker 2: 20:27

Now to get back, there's even situations where you have to follow the standards. If you get entered into a contract with the customer and the work says that your work will meet and or exceed the standards. Now you're contractually obligated to follow the standards. So should, shall, may, must, as Daryl pointed out, those are words. Anytime you see the word shall in the codebook, the standards, a request for proposal, request for quote, scope of work. You need to go back and reread that again, because that's a requirement. That's a requirement. Thank you for pointing that out, daryl. I appreciate that, my friend.

Speaker 2: 21:05

So again going back to the questions, so it sets the minimum safety guidelines. Again, you can exceed the code book. I hate this because we, as low voltage technicians, we love to post pictures of our work on the internet and then what happens is because, just the way that we're wired as installers, somebody's going to pick it apart. Oh, you did this wrong. You did that wrong. And then people get really. When you talk about people's work, it's like talking about their children. They get really mad. No-transcript minimum quality of construction. You should always exceed code, always exceed code. Right. So the codebook provides you requirements for all different kinds of things listed products, cable separation, fire safety and they're standardized across the country.

Speaker 2: 22:02

But the problem is every state, not all the states, operate out of the same codebook. We're currently in the 2023 codebook. The 2026 codebook is coming down the pike. It's coming down the pike and, from what I've heard, there are some major changes coming down the 2026 codebook as far as low voltage is concerned low voltage I don't have my copy of the 2026 codebook. For as far as low voltage is concerned Low voltage. I don't have my copy of the 2026 codebook yet. I'm not on those committees so I can't tell you what's in those yet, but some major changes. I've heard some people who are on the committees. By the way, when it comes down the pike and it gets published again, you can read that for free too. Just go to NFPA access or NEC access on the NFPA website. So, as I was saying, not every state operates out of the most current version of the codebook. There are some operating out of the 2023, some out of the 2020, some out of the 2017. There's even three states, maybe four states that are still operating out ready for this, still operating out of the 2008 codebook 2008 codebook and then there's two states that the state doesn't have a statewide adopted codebook. If you want to find out what version of the codebook your state's operating out of, go to the old Google machine type in NEC adoption map. Nec adoption map. The top one of the top responses there will show you that the map of the United States. It was last revised February 1st of this year and I'll show you which state which code books each state's operating out of. Okay, so that's going to be pretty important. Make sure you understand that.

Speaker 2: 23:44

Next question comes from Instagram. It says Chuck, there's a lot of chatter about cable management but it seems like people focus on just the look. What's the biggest misconception you see about cable management in installation practices? Here's my point. Most people think that cable management is really only about aesthetics. It's not. It's about performance. Using cable management helps protect those cables from issues associated with exceeding bend radiuses. It helps keep the cables out from away from the front ports of hubs, routers and switches, which helps keep a little bit of separation. It's also about performance. Also about performance. Daryl, the RCD, says stress relief on ports is a bug, is a big deal. Absolutely it is. But there is a movement by some companies out there to put in, you know, a switch, a patch panel switch, a patch panel with no wire managers in them, and then it'll take these short patch cords and it'll activate every port Again. There's nothing in the standard that says you can't do that, but they highly recommend that you do use wire managers because, again, it helps the performance, helps keep you from exceeding bend radiuses, keeping stress off those ports. Having wire managers also is going to make it easier for future moves, adds and changes right and upgrades, and if it's done right, cable management looks pretty good. Cable management looks pretty good.

Speaker 2: 25:21

Next question, this one came from Facebook and it says Chuck, I hear a lot about copper testing on a job site. Can you explain why it's such a critical step in data cabling installations? This is a oh my gosh. This is a huge deal and so many people argue about it. First we got to tell you there's three types of testing certification testing. First we've got to tell you there's three types of testing Certification testing, qualification testing and verification testing. You should be doing some level of testing period just to make sure that when you put the stuff in, that you don't have any opens or shorts or transposals or reversals, any of that kind of stuff. And here's where the argument comes into play. Some people say well, chuck, I just hit it with a continuity tester. Okay, you can do with a continuity tester, still get a pass.

Speaker 2: 26:14

But if that cable's laying on a fluorescent light ballast, it's being exposed to a lot of EMI and it may not work because of the EMI. And you're not measuring things like near-end crosstalk, far-end crosstalk, power-sum, near-end and far-end crosstalk, the attenuation-cross-talk ratio, far-end, power-sum attenuation-cross-talk ratio, far-end propagation, delay, delay, skew. You're not measuring any of those things, any of those things. Now, if you're just doing an analog phone line, yeah, okay, continuity is fine. But if you're doing data cabling because CAT5E will operate up to 100 megahertz, cat6 to 250, cat6a 500 megahertz, cat8 to 2 gigahertz when you start getting those high frequencies, those things become extremely important, extremely important. So a continuity test is not going to give you all that information.

Speaker 2: 27:08

And if you're putting in cable for a manufacturer, some of them may actually even require that you use cable certification, not qualification. The difference between certification and qualification is a cable certification. You measure the cable's electrical properties and you're comparing them to the standards. And if it meets the standards and you get the big green check sign, winner, winner, chicken dinner, rock on good to go. So that's why the certificators are for it.

Speaker 2: 27:38

Qualifiers they don't measure the cable's electrical. By the way, certifiers run from, I don't know, $9,000 to about $26,000, depending on whose you buy and what options you get with them. Qualifiers don't measure the cable's electrical properties. Qualifiers actually send data across the cable. So you tell the qualifier. You might hear it known as a bit error rate tester, a BERT tester. So what you'll do is. You'll tell that qualifier look, I'm putting in a one gig network, and then it's going to send data back and forth that cable to see if it drops any packets. It's looking for one dropped bit out of a trillion bits for a predetermined period of time. Everyone's a little bit different and if it's able to send that data back and forth without dropping any bits with a qualifier, you're going to get the winner winner chicken dinner. But here's the catch Manufacturers typically will not give you a warranty for a qualification test.

Speaker 2: 28:41

But qualification testers, though, are really good. If you got that one drop, that's 340 feet out there. So you know, if you try it with a certifier, it's going to give you a fail because of length. So you might go to a qualifier and put data across and say, yes, even though I'm failing, just as one parameter on the certification test, the length. I've tested it with a BERT tester and it says it can successfully send one gig network data traffic back and forth across this cable. Most manufacturers will not accept BERT testing or qualification testing for warranty purposes.

Speaker 2: 29:18

Bert testers, qualification testers sorry, I keep calling them the wrong thing, qualification testers. They range from about $4,000 to $5,000. So they're a lot cheaper than certification testers. And then the third testing level is verifiers. They're just simple continuity testers, looking for opens, like, for example, if you don't have a conductor punched down all the way on a jack or a port on a patch panel, or you might even have a broken conductor from it got snagged on the ceiling grid during the pulling process. It's looking for shorts, where you might have two conductors shorting out. Or what's happened to me more than one occasion is the drywaller screwed the drywall to the metal studs and pinched my cable inside of it. It's looking for reversals.

Speaker 2: 30:08

Reversals is where you flip the tip and the ring, flip the tip and the ring. You know tip and ring is. You know, when you look at a four-pair cable, there's four pairs, eight conductors. Each pair has a tip and a ring right, and tip and ring doesn't stand for transmit and receive. It doesn't stand for transmit and receive, it doesn't. It stands for tip and ring. Comes back to the old telephony days when they used to have. When you pick up the phone you say, hey, I want to talk to andy dunn at the sheriff's station. Well, that operates okay, hold on, she, they would take that cable which had two conductors inside of it. That went to a connector that looked like a lot like our headphone jacks, just a lot bigger. One was attached to the tip, the other was attached to the ring a little bit further down and they would put that in and then the phone ring and you pick it up, you have your conversation. That's where tip and ring comes from. It's not transmissible.

Speaker 2: 30:54

I've I'm in a lot of different Facebook groups and I'm watching uh. There's one for the uh where people collect telecom equipment and I just keep waiting for a phone switchboard, an old phone switchboard, to show up on there. That's within 50 miles of my house that I can buy so I can put it in the new podcast to you. I'm so looking, so looking for that hard. I collect, I collect phone stuff up here. I got, I got an old candlestick phone, old candlestick phone. I got one here and one out by the wife's desk. It must be 630. My watch is a beeping Watch is a beeping, so yeah, so it's testing certification. Then you got the verification.

Speaker 2: 31:35

Those can be simple continuity tests. There's anything from just testing for continuity. They range anywhere from about $25 to about $600, right, the Fluke one costs about 600 bucks. Now, of course Fluke costs 600 bucks, but it also does more things than just testing for opens and shorts and stuff like that. The $600 Fluke tester will even give you. It's got some basic TDR functionality to it time domain reflectometer, so it can actually tell you the length of the cable, right. So you don't need a full certification test to do that. There's even. There's even. I've had conversations with um softing, with Tom Jallo and uh, him and I had an interesting conversation on an episode about six months ago and he had mentioned oh Tom, by the way, I'll be sending your shirt to you here shortly that they actually recommend that you test the cable with a verifier first and then fix any issues you might have a problem with and then hit it with the certifier afterwards. So we are at 630.

Speaker 2: 32:41

I still have five more questions to go. I'm just going to save these five questions for next week because I've got a study group tonight. Mama's out there cooking dinner I don't know what it is, but boy does it smell good. Oh man, does it smell good. So I will answer those next five questions next week, just to kind of give you an idea what those are. So one is we're thinking about fiber optics on some projects. What are some of the main benefits of fiber over copper? That's one question.

Speaker 2: 33:11

Managing low-voltage projects can be tough. From your experience, how does effective project management make a difference in the outcome? We're going to answer that question and then another one. When I'm putting together estimates for low-voltage projects, what are some key factors I should always consider to avoid surprises. So those four questions are going to be the questions for next week's show, so make sure that you join us next Wednesday night, 6 pm Eastern Standard Time. So you catch that right. Somebody says could you possibly make your own thing? Were they anything special? Some switches have TDF built into it, which is cool.

Speaker 1: 33:48

Yes.

Speaker 2: 33:49

Yeah, I understand that, but I just love the. There's something about the craftsmanship of stuff that used to be made back in the 20s and the 30s and the 40s, when things were made to last they were made out of wood, not plastic. But yeah, I would love to get a hold of an were made to last. They were made out of wood, not plastic. So, but yeah, I would love to get a hold of an old switchboard from an old town or something to put in a pocket. Hey, if you happen to know somebody has one and they're willing to donate it to the podcast studio, give me a holler. Let me know, man, let me know. So until next time, everybody remember, knowledge is power. Take care now.

Speaker 1: 34:31

Thanks for listening to let's Talk Cabling, the award-winning podcast where knowledge is power and the low-voltage industry connects. If you enjoyed today's episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review and share it with your crew. Got questions or ideas for the show? Chuck wants to hear from you. Stay connected, stay informed and always aim for excellence. Until next time, keep those cables clean, your standards high and your future bright. Let's talk cabling empowering the industry, one connection at a time.