In coordination with the client, the ICT consultant
is also responsible for creating and auditing cabling
cut sheets, also referred to as schedules (Figure 6).
Cabling schedules are spreadsheets showing sequential
connectivity between patch panels and/or devices,
including “hops,” for each cable segment. There cannot
be enough emphasis on cabling cut sheets/schedules
needing to be 100 percent accurate. These are the
strategic guideline maps used for identifying pathways,
cable routing and patching fields. Changes can have
16 I ICT TODAY
a major domino effect. Wrong information may require
pulling out and rerouting cables or even replacing them
because of inaccurate lengths.
The spreadsheets are then converted to printing
labeling schemes (Figure 7). They are provided to the
manufacturers for preterminated cable assemblies and
to the cable installers for all cable segments and patch
cords between devices. Before proceeding to the next
phase, the ICT consultant will have all these elements
documented into a procedural operations report.
FIGURE 6: Example spreadsheet of a fiber pull schedule to determine cables routes and lengths.