atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums TDM Business Telephone Systems Avaya - Lucent Telephones & Systems terminating cables on IPO

I'm curious how everyone connects their IPO systems to the structured cabling at customer locations. We install all digital phones (no IP phones yet) and simply terminate the phone wiring into a patch panel and then cross connect that to the IPO. Is that how everyone else does it as well, or do you use a 66 block w/ a custom cable or something completely different? Just curious what everyone else does.

Like any other KSU- custom cable to a 66 block which is part of a cross connect. Using a patch panel for voice is just plain wrong. I never want to see CAT5 patch cords from a KSU. That kind of stuff screams geek and amateur.

-Hal

And if the existing station wiring is a structured installation, landed on patch panels? Patch Panels and Wire Management all the way!!

If the existing cabling is on 66 blocks, since the IPO is going to be racked anyway, patch panel with the IPO, 1' factory patch cords from the IPO to the patch panel, and 25-pair from the patch panel to 66 blocks on the wiring field, single pair jumpers from there.

Nowadays, most of the client locations have CAT5 cable terminated to the telephone infrastructure..

It makes it easy to patch the connections using the patch cables from the IPO to the field panel...

That answer seems geek and amateur.

Patch panel to IP Office.

That answer seems geek and amateur.

Not really. I think we hashed it out enough in probably 100 other threads as to why using patch panels and "structured wiring" is a poor idea for voice. If you had been paying attention this wouldn't be coming up every few months. Problem is the IPO caters to the IT crowd from making it look like IT hardware and rack mounting to having individual jacks for the extensions. That's all IT people know so you wouldn't expect from them anything as incomprehensible as a cross connect with 66 blocks. If Avaya had put Amphenols on the thing and made it so that you have to screw it to the wall, those guys wouldn't touch it and we wouldn't be having this conversation.

-Hal

I must state, that I am not found of "modular" connections on a phones system. Makes for a real mess when people go in and start moving extensions around and just doesn't look neat and professional. I'm with Hal, would much prefer an Amphenol and 66 Blocks, like the Norstar ICS units use. But when IP phones start getting installed (not sure why you'd need them anyways....as a digital phone will do everything an IP phone will in the office w/o as much hassle), I am guessing a patch panel is the only way to go for those.

I was just curious as to how others were implementing their connections.

For IP phones you only have one patch cord from the KSU to the network switch no?

Makes for a real mess when people go in and start moving extensions around and just doesn't look neat and professional.

One of my main tenets is that with KSUs like the Partner and IPO that utilize jacks, those plugs should never be touched to do moves. Rather the jumper on the cross connect field should be moved. The reason for this is as you point out but it's mainly to maintain the order at the KSU. If something needs to be changed it is a simple matter to pull the plugs without regard and reconnect because they are in numerical order. We all know what a nightmare it is to replace modules in a system that has all the drops directly connected with plugs pressed onto the ends. You usually have to break out the label maker and label each cable before you touch anything, and that wastes valuable time especially when the system is down. Then come back six months later and many of your labels are useless because the customer moved cables around again.

This is just one aspect of telecom that the IT world has no understanding of because it doesn't work that way with their stuff.

-Hal

Here are some pics of the way we do the IPO.
I agree with using 66 blocks with Partner, but for the IPO I like a patch panel. As you can make changes within the manager program to do moves where you can't on the Partner.

The voice is coming off the top 24 port patch panel and back into the IPO.
And the data network is coming off the bottom 24 port patch panel and down into the switch.

<img src="https://i85.photo...;0" alt="Photobucket">

<img src="https://i85.photo...;0" alt="Photobucket">