Mastering Large-Scale Fiber Jobs: Lessons Learned and Best Practices

Our team at Universal Fiber Optics (ufocable.com) completed a fiber-to-the-desk deployment for our client. We have learned a lot of lessons and want to share those with the Low Voltage Nation community. This project consists of running and terminating fiber cables from 6 IDFs to a cubicle farm resulting in over 1600 fiber splices.

Project Planning and Preparation

This was a brand new client of ours so we wanted to hit it out of the park and deploy one of the best fiber infrastructures they have ever seen. The goal was to make it as seamless and easy as possible for them to the point that our client didn’t question the direction and quality of our work. The first objective was taking the time to gather the job information to help set us up for success and clear expectations.

• Overall Job Scope - Confirm structured cabling needs, get on walk-throughs, confirm IDF locations, and confirm cable run paths.
• Secure Blueprints - This is one of the most important documents, luckily our client was organized and had a blueprint outlining each drop location.
• Type & Amount of Fiber - Each desk needed a 6-pair (12-strand) OM4 fiber and another drop using a 3-pair (6-strand) OM4 fiber.
• Job Schedule - Confirming working dates and times, our client gave us 24/7 access to the facility.
• Time Line - Setting a timeline and goals for each project phase.

Going through the discovery process and project planning helped a lot with the quoting and developing a stronger relationship with the project manager. Once we got the information together we provided a scope of work to the client that we could both agree on. Below is the scope for this project:

• Provide a turnkey solution for installing fiber optic cabling from the IDFs to each desk. 93 total desks to receive two (2) fiber drops each.
  • 1 drop using 2 pair (4 strands) fiber and
  • 1 separate drop using 4 pair (8 strands) fiber.
  • All fiber to be 50 μm OM4 Multimode per specifications.
  • Install ten additional drops for printers throughout the office space
• All fiber is to be fusion spliced with “LC/UPC” connectors both at the desk and at each respective IDF.
• Install one (1) customer-provided two post equipment rack in each of the 6 IDFs.
• Perform a visual continuity test on each strand of fiber for identification, labeling, and proper placement.
• Perform an OTDR/OLTS test on each strand to ensure maximum optical performance.

Once the expectations were set we were ready to move forward with quoting. Always remember to be flexible in the process, there will be other items that will pop up during the installation process. For this project, we were told that we would have a short time to install, so we needed to make sure we didn’t waste any time during the ordering process and ordered materials quickly and accurately. The last thing you’d want is to not have enough fiber cable for the last few runs.

Project Installation and Implementation:

Since the majority of our core team was handling other jobs, we brought in some extra help.This meant putting in extra effort to each one of our team members on how we wanted to handle the job. The first thing was laying out the cable pull to maximize efficiency. We examined the cable run that went from one of the 6 IDFs into a drop ceiling with a ladder rack stretching across the room in one direction. To get to the other side of the room J-hooks were used, and we got to the nearest downspout, and we ran the cables through the walls of the cubicles. We noticed that some sharp corners caused some damage to the cable, causing us to redo a few re-runs because of the level of detail that our installation was being examined after each day. We set up multiple fiber boxes, gave both ends of the cable a temporary label, and pulled the furthest desk first. It took a total of 6 days for pulling and dressing to get the cables to each desk.

Once all of the cables were pulled we had our fiber splicers get to work. Our goal was to have the fiber splicing machine complete as many burns as possible. We had three technicians in the IDF working on stripping, splicing, and dressing. We assigned one of them strictly to stripping the fiber pigtails and the infrastructure cabling, while the other two technicians were sharing a fiber splicer. We mirrored the same operational process on the desk side. While stripping of the fiber cables slowed down, we had the two floating technicians work on dressing the cables and documentation.

We were very impressed with how quickly we were able to get through all of the desks when we had a team of people working towards the same goal, versus when we first started the job we had two fiber technicians in charge of stripping, splicing, and dressing. It caused a strain on our fiber technicians, and once we surrounded the technician with supporting staff, we hit a groove on the job site and were able to install proper infrastructure.

Project Wrap-Up - Post Installation - Handoff to the Client

After the fiber infrastructure was installed, it was time to label. We weren’t satisfied with the default option from the manufacturer for the labels on the fiber distribution panels, so we created custom label panels for each panel. This totaled 9 custom panel labels, and we printed two of each because anyone could view the label when the front door of the fiber panel is closed, and when it flips open it is visible on the inside of the door as well. This was only possible because we made it a priority to take accurate documentation during the installation. Since we had this documentation, we were able to print out the labels for the desk side back at the office. Then when we showed up to the site it was as easy as simply placing the labels in the right spot.

After the labeling was done, we walked the site with the project manager. This was for them to confirm the work we had completed was up to the specifications that we agreed upon. The project manager was extremely happy with the work and highly impressed with our team going the extra mile for the custom labels in the panels. He mentioned that we were able to set a new standard for their IT team. After we finished the walk-through, we sent over a write-up of the entire project and the deliverables.

This resulted in a client trusting our team so much that they invited us back to work with them on another project. We were able to build a long-term relationship with this client based on just going above and beyond in small aspects of the projects.

Author Bio:

As a seasoned professional in the realm of low voltage installation and network engineering, Jay brings a wealth of expertise to every project undertaken with the team at Universal Fiber Optics (ufocable.com). Universal Fiber Optics specializes in low voltage design, consulting, structured cabling, fiber cabling, and cable management for commercial clients.