Mastering Telecommunications Project Management: Understanding Scope Definition, Fiber Technology, and VCSEL vs. LED

What are you drinking ? It's an after-hours show so adult beverages are loud . But I'm drinking water . Yeah , drinking water . Hey , have you tried the new ? I'm not one of them can't use plastic straw kind of people . But my wife bought these metal straws . Man , they are the bomb . Oh my gosh . They make the drink seem colder . Oh , I love them .

If you ever get the opportunity , get some metal straws , just don't trip and fall with them in your hands . Oops , yeah , yeah , yes . So , as you know , I also do the acronym every Thursday night 6 pm . So today's show we have a couple of project management questions . So today's acronym challenge is RTPM , rtpm . What does RTPM stand for ?

Put your answer in the chat box . I'll give you a hint . It has something to do with project management Shots . He's in the house drinking his diet Dr Pepper . Of course I'd be kind of disappointed if he wasn't drinking his diet Dr Pepper . Jason . Welcome , jason , glad you joined us . So what does RTPM stand for ?

Somebody tell me in the chat box or tell me in the TikTok feed . I'll give you a few seconds . Read the product manual . That's hilarious , but , no , not the right answer . It's not the right answer it stands for there it is a LinkedIn user got it . I don't know who it is because they don't didn't have their name there .

Registered telecommunications project manager . Hard cable mountain life is on as well . Tiktok Alan also got it in . I'm sorry , alvin got it on LinkedIn . And who is that ? Chris McRae ? Chris , are we still on for Friday night ? Let me know . Registered telecommunications project manager .

Exactly right , rtpm , that's exactly what that stands for , and the reason I picked that acronym for today's live stream is because I got a couple of project management questions today , so in today's show . So we'll answer those Now . Did you happen to catch ? Last week we talked about NANFiber .

I got in this conversation I just got done doing recording with the Fiber Nerds and for next week's show . So make sure you watch next week because the Fiber Nerds are gonna be on there . But I got to talk and I did an interview last week with NANFiber . Lee Renfrow was on and NANFiber was on . We had a designer on and we talked about NANFiber .

What is it ? Why is it ? Why it might be a better option than your traditional Fiber . Make sure you watch it . And then also make sure that you watch next Monday , because I got the Fiber Nerds going . We're gonna talk about Fiber Training and I'm gonna ask them what is their favorite Fiber Stripper and a bunch of other stuff that you wanna know .

So make sure that you watch next week's show . That's gonna be kind of a cool show as well . So let me do this . Ooh , let me . There is a way . Sorry , I'm still struggling with this old software . There we go , chat , overlay , ding . There we go . So now any new ones will come in . So it says yes , we are still on .

Yes , I will send you the place to meet . It'll be somewhere close to the Bixie headquarters , so that way it makes it on you . I'm not sure if my wife will be able to attend because she's having back issues , so I don't know if she'll . It might be just me , but we'll find out then . Right , we'll find out then . So let's move on to the first question .

The first question and the first question is gonna be pretty simple . Again , it's a project management question and Fred on Instagram asked me this week what is the importance of scope definitions in telecommunications , project management , scope definition . My answer to that is extremely important , extremely important .

The scope is like the rulebook that you and the stakeholders are agreeing to . What's gonna be expected ? I've said this probably over the last couple of shows . I'm hiring an electrician to run Power up to the new podcast studio .

They already gave me the price , but I told them I need a scope of work , I need a bill of materials and I need whatever assumptions that you make in money pricing . So East Coast again says hey , what's up ? We had a meme about you on Id's Live . I forgot . I'm going to have to go back and watch that . I have to go back and watch

that . So , getting back to the scope definition , it's extremely important . It's , you know , the scope is what defines what's going to be done . It's going to set the boundaries . That's going to include . You know , what are the objectives of the project , what are the deliverables ? I'll say deliverables . What is that , chuck ?

That means the things you got to give the customer . It's more than just the cable plant . It might be the test results , cut sheets , rack elements , that scope also going to give you milestones , right ?

Which , again , that's that schedule that I asked for , that electrician I want to know when you're going to start , when you're going to finish , and also what resources . Having a clear scope is going to be your best , your best medicine to get rid of scope creep . Scope creep is known as when a customer adds stuff to the project . It always happens .

They always add stuff to the project , but they don't give you more time to do the project today . So there you go . So scope creep . So a clear scope work .

A clear scope definition is help eliminate that scope creep , because that's where confusion comes in play , right , and it's also going to ensure that everybody on the project team knows exactly what's expected form right , from the installation people to the estimating people , to the customer , to the execution .

Everybody's all in the same age , so the scope definition is extremely important . I do have a couple of tips for you when it comes to if you ever get asked to create one of those scope definitions . Number one involve the key stakeholders as soon as you can . Now a stakeholder , somebody who has a vested interest in that project .

There's internal and external project stakeholders . Some examples of some internal stakeholders the project foreman , the project manager , maybe the owner of the company , the warehouse person who's got to make sure you get all the materials .

Distribution , where you're buying that material from External stakeholders would be , for example , maybe like the GC where you're working on their job site . They have a vested interest to make sure that you don't damage their stuff that they got built in . Putting put in the customer is an external stakeholder . Right , those are external , so internal and external .

So you want to involve them as early as possible when you're creating that definition for that scope , to make sure that you capture everybody's expectations and those that are in the scope you can address and say it'll be done X , y and Z , and those are outside that scope . Then you can say okay , well , look , that's going to be considered as a change order .

The second tip I have for you when you talk to scope definition is make sure you create a clear and detailed documentation . I get it . I totally get it . We in the low voltage industry we talk at communicating . We're not good at writing things .

But I'm telling you right now , when you're writing a scope definition , write down everything that you are going to do and if there's something that you're making an assumption on , make sure you clearly articulate that . I get in this conversation .

Oh gosh , week ago I did a TikTok video about estimating and somebody said you know , for as far as the , if it wasn't in the , if it was an add on or whatever , you know that they would that they would just go ahead and do it and knock it out .

Well , when a customer asks you to do extra work , that's extra cost , that's extra resources you need and , again , that's an impact schedule . So you need to make sure that you clearly articulate this .

And if you make your estimate based on certain assumptions for example , like you assume that another contractor is going to be installing all of the fire stop systems put that in your assumptions . That way you don't have to price them . There are some job sites where the G will hire a stop contractor to put that in for them , right ?

So so make sure you , you make sure you write that clear , detailed scope and make sure it'd be precise and be transparent Okay , what's in it , what's not in it ? And that keeps everybody aligned . Everybody's all on the same page , and the best way to do that is written documentation . Ed , the old tech guy is in the house . Written documentation is the best .

It is the reference point . Hola mi amigo . It is the reference point for everything else . And then the third tip I have for you . First , definition , talking about project management , or start project management , implement a change control process . Okay , so if you're a company , hopefully your company has a company wide process .

If you encounter a request for change of work can change a change of order . Here's a process . If you don't have one company wide , get one company wide . That way , all of your project managers handle change orders the exact same way .

So the best plan is to be to have one of those in place already right out of the gate , right , but project specific , right , project specific . We're gonna talk about controlling those changes . Identify who is the person who has the authority to add work to the contract .

Make sure you identify who that person is and put that person's name and role in the stakeholders in the scope definition we were just talking about . Right , how are you going to track that ? We said that just a few minutes ago . Customers always add change orders onto the project , but they never give you more time to do the project .

So how's that going to be handled ? Make sure you implement that as well . And then the third tip , no , sorry . Next question , next project management question is right , am I familiar with eBuilder ? I am not . I don't know what that is , fiberflip , or are you gonna have to let me know ?

So this next question I got again reclining the project management is how do you ensure quality ? How do you ensure quality ? Let me ask you this I want you to end the chat box . Tell me what do you think quality means In the chat box .

Tell me what do you think that quality means , cause I guarantee you I'm gonna get different responses from everybody , different responses from everybody . So for me , what quality means is what is the customer expecting , right ? What is that customer expecting ? The stakeholder ?

And because you gotta make sure that you meet those goals and you gotta make sure that you meet them per codes and per standards Ethan , what's up buddy ? So quality long before the project starts , start off with good training , good training . Me and the Fiber Nerds , we're talking about fiber training .

You'll see that on Monday nights episode on the podcast , we talked about fiber training , but good training all around . Now training comes in a couple of different ways right . So number one , easiest thing weekly tailgate sessions . Just pick a subject and teach your guys , but especially something you're knowledgeable about and a lot of your local distributions .

I was just who , was it ? Cable connections ? Cable connections just did a three hour O2R training class at the facility I wanna say New York , new Jersey , I think and it was free , free , right . Send them to there , right . Weekly tailgate sessions I used to take my younger guys all the time .

I'd pick something like a 66 block and I would teach them how to do it . It took literally a few minutes . Manufacture training is another good one . Manufacture training Now there's some good manufacture training and there's some bad manufacturing training . Right , northvale , new Jersey , is that where they had it at that cable connection thing ?

Did you go fiber flipper ? Let me know . And then also another way to ensure quality . Now this is project specific Do regular inspections on your project . So if you're the project manager , if it's a larger project that's gonna be spanning multiple weeks , go out there every week and do an inspection Every week . Do an inspection .

If you got a smaller project , then maybe you might wanna just go out at the . That literally lasts maybe like two days . Then maybe go out at the end of the project . Now here's the key when you do inspections , when you do inspections , try to use a standardized form .

Try to use a standardized form what that's going to do for you if you have a form that says okay , first we got to check the pathways and supports . Where the J is put incorrectly , was the latter act put incorrectly ? The telecom room , was it built out correctly ? Is there an SBB , a PBB ?

The cable is all of them meeting the bend radius , all the face plates . So it prompts you to go look at everything . So use a standardized form . And one of the benefits of a standardized form in a QA inspection process is it removes bias .

It removes bias and let's be honest , as there's project managers out there that some crews are their favorite and other crews they're not their favorites .

So it removes that bias because everybody's being inspected the exact same way and that's going to give credibility to the inspection , because the person who's being inspected knows that they're going to be using that standardized form , that the inspector's going to be the exact same , no matter if the project manager does it or the owner of the company does it .

They're using the same form After that project's been inspected . The best thing to do is review that inspection , review it Now . The best thing to do is , first off , review it with the project lead . That might be the lead technician , that might be the project foreman , depending on how your company's set up .

Review it with them and always start off with the good stuff first . Hey man , I really love the way you dress that cable . None of your cables exceed the band radius . Everything has labeled . Start off with the good and then talk about the stuff that needs to be improved and instead of saying stuff like well , man , didn't you use a label to put them ?

Faceplates on ? What are you stupid ? No , no , no , no , no . Say something like you know . Maybe , when we put on our faceplates , maybe you want to use the little torpedo level to make sure that I mean , turn it into a training session . Turn it into a training session . Right ?

They're more apt to listen to you if you do it in a training session as opposed to you just beating them up over the head with it and then , after you've gone over all this stuff , trust me , if you're a good QA inspector , you will find something wrong .

You will find something wrong , so come up with a plan on how to fix that and give them a daylight , say , okay , look , I'll be out here next Wednesday to look at this again . So the plan is to get that portion fixed .

That way , when you go back out there , you're setting clear expectations and then the next thing you want to do with that inspection is review it with the customer , good and bad . Now you're probably thinking , well , chuck , why am I reviewing a QA inspection with the customer ? And ? But there's some bad stuff in it . Yes , everybody , the customer .

I've done a thousand QAs in my career . I'm gonna tell you right now the overall response to customers when you say , oh , look , I did the QA inspection . Here's what we found . This is good , this is good , this is good . I did find some stuff that needs to be improved and I've talked over with the foreman or the lead tech .

We're gonna have the fixed by x-dex day . Customers eat that up . They eat that up because they know that you got , and if they eat it up , then they're more likely to use you again . More likely to use you again . Oh , a question came in from TikTok . It says what do you do as a helper if you want to make the work more clean , but the foreman doesn't .

Oh my gosh . Oh , that's a great question , ethan . Oh my gosh . So the key is always do work that you're proud of , and the only time that you should really run into a problem with a project foreman , ethan , is if it's taking extra time . That's not in the bid .

So I would find ways to do the quality work the way that you want to do it in the time allotted that you had to do that task . That's how I would do that right .

That way you can make sure , because in the long run , in the long run , ethan , you , as a technician who's striving to do the best , that foreman who doesn't care eventually will go to another company , eventually will get fired or laid off , and you will be there still because you will be known as the person who does good quality work .

Never , never , give up your standards for work quality because of somebody else's expectations . Take pride in your work . Okay , take pride in your work . All right , let's go on to the next question

. The next question is Chuck , what is the difference between a VIXL and an LED light source ? Vixl or LED light source ? Vixl is an acronym stands for Vertical Cavity , service Admitting Laser .

Okay , so VIXLs are a type of semiconductor laser diode that emits light vertically from the surface of the chip and they're generally gonna operate at wavelengths 850 and 1300 , right . Commonly used for multi-mode fiber applications , now VIXLs .

They have a greater bandwidth and they can support more types of networks and also , matter of fact , up to 10 gig and sometimes even more , depending on if they've got lanes sharing and stuff .

They are more energy efficient than the LED light source because you gotta convert that electrical energy into optical energy and VIXLs emit a more focused , more coherent circular beam of light and that means that the light is going to travel more efficiently inside that fiber .

Now , generally VIXLs are more expensive than LED light sources but they give you better performance , especially in your high-speed data applications . One of the most common places that you'll see VIXLs used is in data center applications or a customer where they got a lot of high-speed networking . I'll give you an example Hospitals .

When they scan , when they do the MRIs , that's a huge image file . They want a high-performance network to send those huge files so it doesn't bog down . Let's talk about LEDs now . Leds if you know what LEDs stand for , put it in the chat box . What does LEDs stand for ?

So LEDs are also a semiconductor , but the light emits through what's called electro-lessons . There it is . Electro-lessons there's a big word for you . Think Fiber got it . Laser emitting diode yes , think Fiber . If you're on TikTok or Instagram , look up Think Fiber man . He does some great , great videos .

So the LEDs typically operate at 850 and 1300 or two , but they usually do lower data rates when you compare them to the VIXLs . Lower data rates , they're more cost-efficient , which means they're cheaper and they're also .

But the problem is they emit a more broader , more divergent light beam and that can be less efficient , especially when you're going down from Fiber right , because when you gotta cut that light into the Fiber and In Face , they come up there .

Typically it's gonna be less expensive than the VIXLs and they may not be suitable for that network , like in that house I was just talking about right . Generally , your LED light sources are gonna be used for your slower data applications and your shorter distances , like , for example , like a backbone for a local air network within the building .

So what does all that really mean ? What does that mean ? I'm sorry I got sidetracked there . Vixels and LEDs serve needs within the context of the fiber optic communication . Vixels , again , are gonna be favored for the higher data centers , the higher data rates and efficiency performance LEDs we chose , when you got that , cheap customers . So , yeah , there you go .

Light emitting diode yeah , good stuff . That was the only question I had for tonight , so let me go check . Let me see . I answered one from Ethan Did . Mark is in the house . Hello , mark , glad to have you back Right . So Mark has evidently looked watching from two different formats . There we go , here we go . Here's a great one , alvin chips .

In talking about quality on our project , think about hiring a quality control manager . Yes , ding ding , ding , ding , ding ding . 10,000 points to Alvin yes , yes , you know . One of the two of the best companies . I deal with a lot of companies in my day job .

Two of the best companies , two of the best companies , and they're not in any particular order Vision Technologies out of Maryland and IES . They're really good at their quality programs , quality programs , right . So Michael's in the house . Michael got a great conversation today . Quality is fully professionally done . Meeting sets the standards throughout the project .

Absolutely , absolutely Alrighty . So I have five minutes left . I don't see any other questions . So Eddie Oltec says I thought LED light was different from lasers , as multi-mode fiber uses LED and single mode uses laser . There are some multi-mode fibers that do use laser . You have Vixels , laser diodes and LEDs , so some of your multi-mode does use laser .

So , in a general statement , you're kind of halfway there , but not always , not always . Alrighty , any other questions ? Let me check the TikTok feed no questions there . Check the LinkedIn feed no questions there . I guess we're cutting it early tonight . That's good because my wife makes popcorn . So Till next time , everybody , remember , knowledge is power .

I'll see you guys next Thursday night .