Your Telecom Room Is Not A Storage Closet

Some of the biggest network problems in a building can start with one room nobody thought much about during design. The telecom room.

It gets pushed into whatever space is left. It is a little too small. Power gets figured out later. Cooling is assumed to be adequate. Then the building opens, the equipment goes in, and someone notices there is just enough extra space to store a few boxes. Before long, a critical part of the building’s technology infrastructure is sharing space with cleaning supplies and holiday decorations. It sounds harmless. It isn’t.

Your telecom room is infrastructure. It should be planned like infrastructure.

Why The Room Matters

Most people in a building will never see the MDF or IDF, but they depend on what happens inside them every day.

The MDF, or Main Distribution Frame, typically serves as a primary distribution point for the building’s telecommunications infrastructure. Depending on the size and layout of the facility, IDFs, or Intermediate Distribution Frames, provide additional distribution points closer to the areas they serve.

These rooms support the infrastructure connecting WiFi access points, computers, cameras, access control, phones, audiovisual systems, and other network connected technology.

You don’t need to know every technical detail about an MDF or IDF. You do need to plan where it goes and what it needs.

Mistake #1: Finding Space Instead Of Planning Space

One of the easiest mistakes to make is looking at a floor plan and asking “where can we put the telecom room?” the better question is “where does the telecom room need to be?” There is a difference.

Location affects cable pathways and distances. Size affects equipment, serviceability, and future expansion. The equipment inside affects electrical and environmental requirements.

The Telecommunications Industry Association’s ANSI/TIA-569standard establishes requirements for telecommunications pathways and spaces. TIA specifically notes that telecommunications space design can influence other building services, including electrical power and HVAC.

That is why these rooms should be part of the design conversation, not something squeezed into the space that remains.

Mistake #2: Designing For Today

An empty telecom room can look surprisingly large. Then the equipment arrives.

Racks, cabinets, patch panels, fiber enclosures, switches, UPS equipment, and cabling all need somewhere to go. Technicians also need enough room to safely access and maintain that equipment.

Now think about what happens after opening day.

The company growths. More cameras are added. Wireless coverage expands. New devices come onto the network. Another switch is needed. Technology rarely stands still.

BICSI’s Telecommunications Distribution Methods Manual (TDMM) dedicates an entire chapter to telecommunications spaces, along with separate guidance for horizontal and backbone distribution, power, bonding and grounding, wireless networks, and intelligent building systems.

The point is simple: Don’t design the room only for what is going into it today. Give the infrastructure somewhere to go next.

Mistake #3: Forgetting What The Equipment Needs

A telecom room needs more than four walls and a door. Active network equipment requires power and produces heat. Cabling needs properly planned pathways. Equipment needs to remain accessible. Bonding and grounding requirements have to be addressed.

These systems are connected, which means the team designing them need to be connected too.

TIA has also published specific temperature and humidity guidance for telecommunications spaces that is harmonized with ASHRAE thermal guidelines. In practical terms, the project team should know what the room will support before deciding what the room requires. A switch doesn’t care that cooling was overlooked during design, it still produces heat.

Mistake #4: Letting The Room Become Storage

This one happens after construction. Someone puts a box in the corner, and another, and then a ladder. Eventually, a technician arrives to work on the network and has to clear a path to the equipment.

Telecommunications spaces need to remain accessible and functional. Equipment needs airflow. Cabling needs protection. Technicians need room to work. There is an easy rule to follow: It if doesn’t support the technology infrastructure, it probably doesn’t belong in the telecom room.

Find somewhere else for the boxes.

The Cheapest Time To Fix It Is On The Drawings

Most telecom room problems are much easier to solve before construction. Moving an IDF on a drawing might take a conversation. Moving one after walls are built, pathways are installed, and thousands of feet of cable have been pulled is another matter.

Before the telecom spaces are finalized, ask:

• Is the room in the right location for the ears it serves?

• Is there enough space for the equipment and reasonable future growth?

• Have cable pathways and distances been considered?

• Is the necessary electrical power available?

• Have cooling and environmental conditions been addressed?

• Can technicians safely access and maintain the equipment?

• Will the room remain dedicated to telecommunications?

If several answers are “we will figure that out later”, you are not finished planning.

Good Infrastructure Doesn’t Call Attention To Itself

Nobody walks into a commercial building and compliments the MDF. They notice something else.

The Wifi works.

The cameras connect.

Employees can get online.

New technology can be added without creating a construction project.

The building simply works the way it is supposed to.

That is the value of planning technology infrastructure early.

Planning a commercial construction project or renovation?

Connect with ONC National early to make sure your technology infrastructure is part of the plan.