Surge Protection for Electronic Equipment

What are electrical/power surges and where do they come from ?
The main task of a surge protector is to protect electronic devices from “power surges.” A power surge, or transient voltage, is an increase in voltage significantly above the designated level in a flow of electricity. In typical office wiring, the standard voltage is 120 volts; if voltage rises above 120, the surge protector helps protect your electronic device. 

The most familiar source is probably lightning, though it’s actually one of the least common causes. When lightning strikes near a power line, whether it’s underground, in a building or running along poles, the electrical energy can boost electrical pressure by millions of volts. This causes an extremely large power surge that will overpower almost any surge protector. In a lightning storm, you should never rely on your surge protector to save your electronic equipment. The best protection is to unplug all electronic devices.

A more common cause of power surges is the operation of high-power electrical devices, such as elevators, air conditioners and refrigerators. These high-powered pieces of equipment require a lot of energy to switch on and turn off components like compressors and motors. This switching creates sudden, brief demands for power, which upset the steady voltage flow in the electrical system. While these surges are nowhere near the intensity of a lightning surge, they can be severe enough to damage components, immediately or gradually, and they occur regularly in most building’s electrical systems.

Other sources of power surges include faulty wiring, problems with the utility company’s equipment, and downed power lines.

Some Electronic Equipment that should be protected from electrical/power surges include:
• Telephone Systems
• Voicemail Systems
• Routers
• Firewalls
• Ethernet Switches
• Workstations/PC’s
• Servers

Phone systems may need dual protection
Even if you protect your business phone system with an electrical power surge protector, it can still be exposed to damaging surges from other sources.  Telephone and internet lines can also conduct high voltage, so for full protection you may want to protect against surges from your phone and cable lines.  Basically, any lines carrying signals into your phone system can carry a power surge and can cause just as much damage as surges over power lines.

Surge protectors for phone lines can be separate devices or can be integrated into an AC power surge protector.

AccessLine offers two fax solutions to ensure ultimate flexibility for businesses large and small.  AccessLine’s Fax adapter allows you to continue to use your existing fax machine in conjunction with the AccessLine Hosted PBX, while our WebFax service provides “fax mailboxes” and the ability to receive and send faxes from a PC without a fax machine.  With AccessLine, you can mix and match our fax solutions.

The Fax Adapter plugs into your existing computer network and your existing fax machine.  You can transfer your existing fax number to the fax adapter and your fax machine will behave as it always has for sending and receiving faxes.  AccessLine uses the G711 codec for transmitting and receiving faxes because of its enhanced ability to handle errors.  It’s highly recommended that for best performance, ECM is disabled on the fax machine and the baud rate is set to 9600.

Fax Adapter is ideal for:
• Companies/employees used to and comfortable with a fax machine
• Companies where employees don’t have access to PCs

WebFax provides a user or group of users with a phone number that receives faxes.  Faxes are automatically stored in an online fax mail box and are easily accessible through a secure portal.  Faxes an also be automatically forwarded as PDF files to one or more email boxes.  To send a fax from a PC, download and install AccessLine’s Fax Upload application.  From the PC, you can send any document as a fax as well as create a cover page, annotate the document and sign it.

WebFax is ideal for:
• Mobile workers who need to receive faxes even when out of the office
• Teams that share a fax number but need to have an inbound fax automatically distributed to a group
• New companies who don’t want to purchase a fax machine

Intermedia Hosted Business Phone Systems, Fax Adapters, & WebFax applications all work with your existing broadband connection and existing data network. 

Intermedia Hosted Business Phone Systems, Fax Adapters, & WebFax applications are MONTH TO MONTH SERVICE!

NO CONTRACT REQUIRED!

About Intermedia:

Intermedia is the premier provider of cloud services to small and mid-sized businesses. Delivered from Intermedia’s secure datacenters, these services include hosted Microsoft Exchange email, VoIP telephony, instant messaging, file management, security, backup, support for the full range of smartphones and tablets, and more. The company’s proprietary cloud infrastructure assures high reliability, and a certified support team is available around the clock. Intermedia also empowers thousands of partners – including managed service providers and select Fortune 500 companies – to sell cloud services. Founded in 1995, Intermedia was the first company to offer business-class cloud email and now has 600,000 premium hosted Exchange mailboxes under management — more than any other provider.

Selecting the right phone system for your business can be a challenge. Not only are there a number of digital phone systems to choose from, there are specific business phone systems designed for small businesses, large corporations, and everything in between.

The Best System for Your Business
The correct phone system for your business is one that offers the features that you need at a cost that’s within your budget. Of course, there are several other factors to consider, such as:
• The number of telephones
• Do you have remote workers/employees
• How many employees do you have now
• Do you plan to add employees
• Compatibility with your current telephone lines or internet connection
• What other new services will you need; telephone lines, internet access, remote worker
• What is your budget (do you want to pay up front or over time)
• What is your call volume (how many simultaneous calls do you need to accommodate)
• When do you want to install the new system
• Do you have any faxes, modems, postage machines, or credit card machines to consider
• Are you interested in a Hosted/Cloud-Based Solution (buying a phone system as a “service”)
• Are you interested in a Premise Based system (you “own” your system & it’s located in your office)

Here’s some information to help get you started:
Hosted/Cloud-Based Solutions (buying a phone system as a “service”) is typically well suited for companies with 1 telephone all the way up to 40 or more telephone extensions and no desire to “own” their system. (FYI – ALL Hosted/Cloud-Based telephone systems are VoIP Telephone Systems)
(so, if you’re not into VoIP, you’re not into Hosted/Cloud-Based)

Premise Based System (you “own” your system & it’s located in your office) These systems are sometimes called Key Systems, PBX Systems, or the newer Voice over IP (VoIP) – VoIP Telephone Systems.

The terms Key Systems & PBX Systems are pretty out-dated terms.  Most new premise based telephone systems are based on Voice over IP (VoIP) technology and capability.  Although there are manufacturers that still offer NON-VoIP systems for those businesses that do not want to jump on the VoIP bandwagon.  Avaya is an example of a company that manufactures a system (IP Office) which can be designed as all “Analog”, all “Digital”, all VoIP, or a combination of any of the three technologies.  It’s what we call a “Hybrid” system and it can be designed to meet your needs & requirements.

“Analog” telephone lines (sometimes called POTS = Plain Old Telephone Service) and analog telephones (mechanical) have been around for more than one-hundred years.  Analog telephones can re-use the existing wiring & jacks that you have in place today for telephones in most cases.

“Digital” telephone lines (T-1’s & PRI’s) have been around since the late 1980’s and early 1990’s.

“Digital” telephones (multi-button, electronic) have been around since the early 1980’s and are still produced and sold by some manufacturers today. (Avaya is one) Digital telephones can re-use the existing wiring & jacks that you have in place today for telephones in most cases.

VoIP telephone lines have been around since about 2004, but have only been widely accepted as having good enough call quality to be ready for commercial use since about 2011.  The most common term you’ll hear when considering VoIP telephone lines is SIP.  SIP = Session Initiated Protocol.  It’s all a fancy way of saying your buying your VoIP telephone lines from a provider that’s located in the “Cloud” (on the internet).  Your VoIP telephone system connects to your VoIP (SIP) telephone lines over the internet. You are no longer restricted to services delivered via decades old copper wire running underground along the roads, or overhead on telephone poles.

VoIP telephones have been around since about 2004, but have only been widely accepted as having good enough call quality to be ready for commercial use since about 2009. VoIP telephones require the same type of wiring as your workstations/PC’s. In most cases you can install an IP Phone wherever there is a workstation/PC. You plug the VoIP telephone into the data jack, and plug the workstation/PC into the back of the VoIP telephone.

More about VoIP
Voice over IP (VoIP) – VoIP phone systems can offer significant cost savings as well as many other benefits. VoIP runs over Internet lines and routes your calls over a data network. internet connections have become much more dependable in recent years and because of this over 80% of new telephone system installations use VoIP (SIP) telephone lines. (today broadband internet access is typically all that is required to be able to buy reliable VoIP/SIP telephone lines)

Hosted/Cloud-Based Solutions are very popular for small businesses today. No system to upgrade or maintain.  You typically have to buy your VoIP telephones, but many Hosted providers provide payment plans.  The main focus should be call quality.  It doesn’t matter how inexpensive the service is if it doesn’t meet your voice quality standards. Stay away from long term contracts and multi-year agreements. If their service is so good, why do they need a multi-year agreement to keep you as a customer ?  If their service is as good and as inexpensive as they claim, why would you leave ?

BIG QUESTION:
Does the Hosted/Cloud-Based Solution provider or VoIP/SIP telephone line provider offer or require any type of VoIP test on your network & internet access “BEFORE” you switch over your service ? (this one step can make or break an installation)

FYI Intermedia/AccessLine DOES offer REQUIRE a VoIP test.

Talk with other business owners & references
Talk with other small business owners & references. Get feedback, recommendations, and insight from businesses that are similar in size to yours and see if you can get some input from somebody who has already gone through the process you are entering into

Consider extra wiring for future growth
Your business telephone system and wiring infrastructure are a permanent investment. It is highly advisable that you purchase more wiring than you think you’ll need to cut down on future wiring costs. Yes, extra wiring will add to your initial investment, but it is less expensive to install as part of the overall project rather than adding small quantities later.

Hopefully this information has been helpful and will assist you in deciding what you want, what to ask, etc.  Our recommendation is don’t try to become a telephony expert, find a telephony expert you trust and that you are comfortable with.

Key Components
Key components of the Structured Cabling design include the entrance facility, main equipment room, backbone cable, backbone pathway, Intermediate Distribution Frame (IDF), and horizontal distribution system.

New buildings require voice, data, and video wiring and electronics facilities within the building to support the newest forms of telecommunications. A series of standards has been developed to provide guidance in designing new buildings and remodeling older facilities. The list of facilities that need to be taken into consideration are building entrance facilities, entrance wiring closets, floor wiring closets protection and grounding, backbone raceways, horizontal raceways, backbone wiring, and horizontal wiring. At ECS, we assist our customers with the considerations and options for architectural and engineering areas for supporting voice, data, & video communications within a building.

Entrance Facilities
Cabling usually must enter a building underground and usually within 4 inch conduits. Three or more of the conduits will usually be required to connect an entrance wiring closet to the nearest manhole or other location with telecommunications facilities. Consideration is required for the type of conduit, depth of bury, separation from other conduits, bends in the conduit, conduit capping and seals, manhole sizes, and pull lines.

Entrance Wiring Closet
An Entrance Wiring Closet is a room for placement of electronics and terminations of cable of many types, which supply the building with outside communications. Security is usually required and the room should not be shared with other functions in the building. Considerations for the facility are floor weight load factors, water avoidance, lighting, electrical access, room size, electrical grounding, HVAC, and location near the building entrance facility.

Floor Wiring Closet
A Floor Wiring Closet is a location on each floor to facilitate the electronics and cabling distribution for that floor. If the floor is large enough, with long cable runs, more than one room may be required on each floor. Security is usually required so that the room will not be shared with other building functions. Considerations for the facility are floor loading factors, water avoidance, ceilings and walls, fire door, lighting, electrical access, room size, electrical grounding, HVAC, floor location, and cable run maximum lengths.

Backbone Raceways
Backbone raceways are a series of accesses that connect the entrance wiring closet to the various floor wiring closets. These paths permit cable to be placed between the floors. They may be slots, sleeves, conduits or trays and racks in which cables may be routed for support and protection. Considerations are the size, quantity, and seals. If conduits or sleeves are used, the 4 inch size is preferred.

Horizontal Raceways
The horizontal raceway carries the cable from the floor wiring closet to the various rooms or jack locations on the floor. Ceiling trays, wire hangers, all-thread rod, conduit, & etc. are all common methods of horizontal distribution. The nature of the building usage may justify another type of cable path. Considerations for the path include bends or curves, size, conduit run lengths, and outlet boxes.

Why Document Your Cabling?
Your network is one of your company’s most valuable assets. It’s the communication backbone of your organization and it’s always growing and changing. ECS can assist you to harness the power of exploding technology and make it work for you. Every minute spent tracking data, reconfiguring your cabling or searching for the source of a problem means a loss of time, productivity, and in some cases a loss of profit. Cable documentation can help maintain the integrity of the network by tracking the continuity through equipment, patch cords, cross-connects, connectors, cables, and outlets. It encompasses the design and maintenance of the cable. Cable documentation can be an ally against the ravages of system downtime, giving you the power to configure your cabling so you have fewer network problems.

Cable documentation can:

• Reduce the time it takes to modify the original installation.
• Minimize network downtime.
• Increase the life of a your structured cabling.
• Reduces the number of technicians needed to handle problems.

Let ECS work with you to develop a Network Management system you can use to manage all of your cabling, including all the connectivity, connectors, pathways, and device relationships to truly visualize and understand your network’s infrastructure.

For assistance in planning/designing your Structured Cabling, please contact ECS today.

No matter what kind of facility you are, Structured Cabling is essential. Structured Cabling is designed to carry voice, data and video signals throughout a commercial environment.

Structured Cabling involves hundreds, thousand, and even miles of cabling, which keeps your communications running which all of your business activities rely upon. Any cable issues will impact your voice and data communications which can be costly and impact your business processes and employee productivity. By having a standards compliant structured cabling system, downtime can be effectively eliminated. 

Business
The purpose behind installing standards based structured cabling is to provide businesses the powerful and dependable network they require to meet their communication needs. Some businesses we have helped over the years include:

• Restaurants
• Retail Stores
• Small Businesses
• Law Offices
• Medical Facilities
• Hospitals
• Newspapers
• Manufacturing
• Airlines

Education
Outdated cabling infrastructures can severely limit the ability for educational institutions to function efficiently every day. We have helped many education facilities including:

• School Districts (K12)
• Universities
• Colleges
• Distance Learning Centers

Real World Structured Cabling Applications:
Structured Cabling is an important part of the operation of any facility that requires communications. Your network is the backbone of your operation and it needs to be wired correctly and well organized. It’s one of the most important, often overlooked, and underestimated priorities of organizations.

• We will wire a data center, office or building for data or voice communications
• We can reduces costs through each phase/life cycle, from installation, to moves, adds, changes, maintenance and administration.
• Inferior cabling systems are the cause of up to 70% of network downtime and by installing a standards compliant structured cabling system much of this downtime can be effectively eliminated.
• Documentation of your cabling will reduce the time it takes to modify the original installation, minimize network downtime, increase the life of a cabling and reduces the number of technicians needed to handle problems.
• Our team will help you develop a Network Management system you can use to manage all of your cable to make life easier in the future.
• Our team will help you develop a Network Management system you can use to manage all of your cable to make life easier in the future.

Structured Cabling
Structured Cabling is a set of standards that determine how to wire a data center, office or building for data or voice communications, typically using Category 5e or Category 6 cable and modular sockets. These standards define how to lay the cabling in a star formation, such that all outlets terminate at a central patch panel (which is normally 19 inch rack-mounted), from where it can be determined exactly how these connections will be used. Each outlet can be ‘patched’ into a data network switch (normally also rack mounted alongside), or patched into a ‘Telecom Patch Panel’ which forms a bridge into a private branch exchange (PBX) telephone system, thus making the connection a voice port. Lines are patched with simple straight-through patch cables.

 It is normal to see different color patch cables used in the patch panel to help identify which type of connection is being carried, though the structured cabling standards do not require this, except in the demarcation wall field.

The standards demand that all eight connectors in the Cat5e/Cat6 cable are connected, resisting the temptation to ‘double-up’ or use one cable for both voice and data. This is generally a good thing as it means that they fully support features such as Power over Ethernet.

For assistance in planning/designing your Structured Cabling, please contact us today.

About ECS
ECS, headquartered in Auburn, WA, is a team of experts ready to help businesses with the important and often complicated decision of finding the best communication solutions for their company, from voice to data. Servicing Washington & Oregon, ECS specializes in voice, data, video, & wireless. For more information contact ECS at (253) 886-5400 or visit us on the web at www.GoECS.com

In today’s world, technology is essential to conducting business in a retail, office or commercial environment.

A well-designed & maintained network infrastructure is vital to deploying technology in any location. ECS installs Low-Voltage Cabling in new locations as well as Moves, Adds and Changes. At ECS our network and cabling solutions provide our customers with consistent performance by following industry standards.

Some of our Low-Voltage Services Include:
• Network Topology Engineering
• Business Telephone Cabling
• Voice Cabling
• Network Data Cabling
• Infrastructure / Network Moves Adds Changes (MAC’s)
• Data / Server Cabinet Overhauls
• Wireless Access Point (WiFi) Cabling
• CCTV Cabling
• Demark Extensions
• T1/Circuit Extensions
• SM/MM Fiber Back-Bones and Extensions
• Cat 5e and Cat 6 cable installations
• Fiber Optic Cable Installation (Multi-Mode and Single-Mode)
• Fiber Optic Termination and Testing Services
• Fiber Optic Splicing
• Coax Cable Installation
• Large Pair Copper Splicing
• MDF and IDF Closet Installations
• Low Voltage De-installation

Remember: a proper low-voltage installation by a trained installer enables your technology investment to work at its full potential!

Some important considerations about Low-Voltage Contractors are:
• Do they have a Valid/Current Business License ?
• Do they have Valid/Current General Liability Insurance ?
• Can/Will they provide a “Certificate of Insurance” (COI) protecting you for their work ?
• Are they able to obtain a Low-Voltage installation permit ?
• Do they use employees or sub-contractors ?

Low-Voltage Cabling is a long‐term investment and regardless of the size of your company, poorly installed low-voltage cabling will over time negatively impact your use of technology. Unfortunately, the problem is often discovered months and sometimes even years after installation.

For assistance in planning, designing, & installing your low-voltage cabling, please contact us today.

About ECS
ECS, headquartered in Auburn, WA, is a team of experts ready to help businesses with the important and often complicated decision of finding the best communication solutions for their company, from voice to data. Servicing Washington & Oregon, ECS specializes in voice, data, video, & wireless. For more information contact ECS at (253) 886-5400 or visit us on the web at www.GoECS.com

Factors to Consider when Designing a Data Rack

Why Care about Data Rack Design ?
A rack that is a mess will definitely cause outages all by itself or cause outages of increased durations. How ?
• By accidentally knocking out power and/or network cables when working on appliances in the data rack or pulling on cables.

• By not being able to locate the desired end of patch cords because they can’t be traced through the tangle of poorly installed cords.

• By physically impeding access to equipment

• Poor rack design can have a huge effect on the build-up of heat in a data rack by not providing adequate ventilation

How to plan
• How many servers do you expect to install ?
(will servers be rack-mount or tower – tower will require a shelf)

• How many patch panels do you expect to install ?

• How many switches do you expect to install ?

• How many shelves do you expect to install ?

• Which devices/appliances are rack-mount and which require a shelf ?

• Do you plan to install a keyboard, monitor, & mouse in your rack ?

• Have you included rack-mount power distribution ?

• Have you included an Un-interruptible Power Supply (UPS) ?
(will UPS be rack-mount or tower – tower will require a shelf or floor space)
(most technology equipment warranties & support plans are void without UPS)

• Have you included “vertical” wire management ?

• Have you included “horizontal” wire management ?
(have you included an adequate quantity based on number of patch panels & switches)

• Have you included a #6 Building Ground for the data rack ?
(most technology equipment warranties & support plans are void without proper grounding)
(must be installed by Electrical Contractor)

• Have you included proper heating, cooling, & ventilation for the room that the data rack will be in ?
(most technology equipment warranties & support plans are void without meeting minimum environmental considerations)

• Have you planned adequate lighting for the workspace in front of the rack ?

• Have you planned adequate lighting for the workspace in back of the rack ?

• Have you included security ?
(will the data room be locked ? – who will have access ?)

• Have you planned adequate workspace in front of the rack ?
(recommended is 36” unobstructed)

• Have you planned adequate workspace in back of the rack ?
(recommended is 36” unobstructed)
(be sure to consider the depth of equipment installed in the rack)

• Are you planning on a 2-post or a 4-post rack ?
(answers to the questions above will help decide this)

• Have you planned for ladder racking & brackets to secure the top of the rack to the plywood backboard ?

• Have you planned adequate A/C power for the rack ?
(recommended is 20-AMP Dedicated Circuit – preferably 2)
(behind rack – positioned to not be covered by appliances in rack)

• Have you planned adequate plywood for the room ?

• Where will patch panels, servers, & switches be located in the rack ?
(proper design/placement can make moves, adds, changes, & servicing efficient)
(improper design/placement can create excessive heat, hard to reach appliances, etc.)

• Are you planning to require labeling for all equipment in your rack ?
 (this will save you hours of frustration later)

• Are you planning to color code patch cables in your rack ?
 (this can save you hours of frustration later on)

• Will there be a sprinkler head (fire suppression) in the data room ?
(please make sure it is not directly above the data rack)

A well designed data rack/room will enable you to obtain optimal performance from your voice, data, video, & security appliances, as well as make them easier to service and maintain.

A properly planned data rack/room will improve overall network reliability and save you money by ensuring that  your power, cooling and IT infrastructure are all optimally suited to your requirements.

For assistance in planning/designing your data rack/room, please contact us today.

About ECS
ECS, headquartered in Auburn, WA, is a team of experts ready to help businesses with the important and often complicated decision of finding the best communication solutions for their company, from voice to data. Servicing Washington & Oregon, ECS specializes in voice, data, video, & wireless. For more information contact ECS at (253) 886-5400 or visit us on the web at www.GoECS.com

Network Infrastructure
The demands on bandwidth are more prevalent in networks today as different technologies compete for bandwidth and priority. We primarily see this between voice, data, video, & wireless, as they converge on IP networks everywhere. Convergence brings both opportunities and challenges. While convergence eases the strain of managing multiple independent systems, it must remain reliable, manageable and scalable for future growth while meeting the demand for bandwidth and security today. ECS works closely with cutting edge vendors to provide the products, support and analysis to meet both the needs of today and the future. Whether analog, hybrid, IP, video surveillance, or low voltage cabling, ECS has a solution that meets or exceeds the industry standards!

Structured Cabling & Connectivity
Thinking about the future? It’s all about how we communicate as a community and to the rest of the world. Our Structured Cabling & Connectivity staff is on the cutting edge of wire technology to help companies transmit data, voice, video, and images (even MRI or CAT scans for the healthcare environment). What matters most when it comes to data communication is to use the correct cables to make a significant difference. Supported by the latest technology of copper, fiber optic, storage, wire management, testing equipment tools, and accessories, our Structured Cabling & Connectivity team has the knowledge and experience to give you the best results. When you think future, think ECS.

Markets Served:
● Contractor
● Enterprise
● Government
● Education
● Healthcare
● Industrial/Commercial

Products:
● Copper Cable
● Cat5E
● Cat6
● Connectivity
● Patch Panels
● Modular Jacks
● Inserts
● Wall Plates
● Fiber Optic Cable
● Fiber Devices & Enclosures
● Cable Management
● Racks & Cabinets
● Shelves
● Organizers
● Ladder Rack & Cable Tray
● Installation Supplies
● UPS – surge protection
● Structured Media Centers
● Voice/Data Distribution
● Video Distribution
● Intercom Systems
● Internet Gateways

Areas of Support:
● Enterprise Networks
● Data Center Networks
● Office & Service Providers
● Networking including Media, Voice & Data

Services Provided:
● Designer on Staff
● Turn-Key Project Management
● Network Design
● Inventory Management
● Web Ordering

Network Products:
● Power over Ethernet (PoE)
● Media Convertors
● KVM Switches
● Intelligent Patch Panels
● Ethernet Switches

About ECS
ECS, headquartered in Auburn, WA, is a team of experts ready to help businesses with the important and often complicated decision of finding the best communication solutions for their company, from voice to data. Servicing Washington & Oregon, ECS specializes in voice, data, video, & wireless. For more information contact ECS at (253) 886-5400 or visit us on the web at www.GoECS.com