Navigating Low-Voltage Challenges: From Project Management to Career Growth

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I got a bunch of questions in the queue . Had one just come in just a few minutes ago on the tiktok feed over there . But before we get started , let's start off with what are you drinking ? It's after hours , so I am drinking a zevia soda . Zevia . So tell me in the chat box what are you drinking ? It's after hours , so I am drinking a Zevia soda .

Zevia soda . Tell me in the chat box what are you drinking . If you know me , I'm addicted to those Zevia sodas . I love them . Love them . Sean's in his house . Howdy Sean . Acronym challenge .

Random and random as can be . Let's just pick one out of here . Oh , hold on , I got to put on my reading glasses so I can read these stupid things . I always forget that part . Yes , so let's do this one . Oh , I haven't done this one in a while . I-c-t , i-c-t . What does that acronym mean ? You know our industry loves acronyms .

Loves acronyms Strawberry , guava , kabocha , very cool , very cool , I love kabochas . So what does the acronym ICT mean ? Ict ? While you're writing and typing that in , did you see last week's episode ? I did an episode on a PoE extender outdoor rated PoE extender from PoE Texas . It was really really cool . Kalen's in the house . He says what's up ?

Infocomm sent you a link . Yes , I saw that . When is it ? I gotta go , but check that out . Armor cats drinking iced tea . Excellent information communication technologies 10 000 points to sean . Good job , my friend . Good job , good job . So let's go ahead and get started with this show . Let's go . The questions . I want to answer this one first .

When One that came in from the TikTok feed while I was waiting it's from Armour Cat and he says how do you explain to the customer that an electrician is not the best choice

for low voltage ? My answer is probably going to shock you . That's not always the case . There are some good electricians out there doing some good quality low voltage work . I will agree that there are some electricians out there doing some bad low voltage work . So my advice would be to explain to the customer that when you want to have a root canal done .

You don't go to a podiatrist , you go to the specialist . And that done . You don't go to a podiatrist , you go to the specialist , right . And that's how I would explain it to them .

Say , look , electricians are good with high voltage , with stuff like that , but when it comes to the nuances of high-performance data cabling , it's best left to those who have been trained and certified in that . So probably not the answer you were expecting there .

So the next question comes from Twitter and I can't remember the guy's name , but he says Chuck , we were thinking about integrating fiber optics in more of our projects . What are some of the main benefits of fiber over copper , and when should we consider making that

switch ? Okay , so fiber is not always the answer . I've said that more than one occasion . It's not always the answer . Fiber does offer more bandwidth more bandwidth , in fact . The single-mode fiber has unlimited bandwidth . We don't know how much bandwidth that that can handle . I feel like I answered this question last week .

We don't know how much bandwidth that that can handle . I feel like I answered this question last week . I don't know . And fiber is immune to EMI electromagnetic interference . Copper-based cabling is susceptible to EMI and RFI . Fiber can go longer distances , right , and fiber is going to suit them best for future proofing .

The problem you're going to run into with trying to do more fiber is it's going to cost more , and so now you got to talk to the customers and see if they're willing to pay that extra . You didn't mention , you just said , more fiber in some of your projects .

You didn't say if it meant more fiber for , like , the backbone , or fiber to the desktop or a centralized fiber optics system .

You didn't give me that kind of a detail but in most scenarios typically we're going to be running fiber for the backbones , for the data backbones , copper for the voice backbones , sometimes fiber for the voice backbones and usually copper to the horizontal for the dropout on the floor and usually copper to the horizontal for the dropout on the floor .

Very few people are doing fiber to the desktop because you have to buy a transceiver or you have to have a NIC card that's capable for fiber . Next question comes from LinkedIn

. It says managing low-voltage projects can be tough . From my experience , from your experience , how does an effective project management make the difference in the outcome of these installations ? Huge difference , huge , huge , huge difference .

Number one somebody who's well-versed in project management is going to be really good at planning and scheduling , planning and scheduling , scheduling , planning and scheduling .

Here's the thing with projects as soon as you plan it , that plan goes to you know what , in a handbasket from the minute you start doing the work , because site conditions change , there's hiccups in the distribution system , your main tech or project foreman can't get off another job site .

But if you put a plan in place and maybe even alternate a backup plan , that's going to help it . And again , it goes with communicating with the customer . Let them know hey , in fact , a good estimator , you should have that project plan and schedule in the estimate .

And it doesn't take that long to create a simple Gantt chart that says look , on days 1 to 5 , we're pulling cable . On days 8 to 9 , we're putting in the support system . Days 10 through 15 , we're terminating the faceplates and we're terminating the building out of the closet .

If you set that expectation now the customer knows look , if we do something that changes this expectation , there's a potential change order there . Also , make sure that you optimize your resource allocation throughout that project . Think about okay , are you going to need the fiber optic team ?

Because a lot of companies they have people who just do copper and a few fiber specialists . What's their schedule like ? When are they going to be able to come out to do the work ? Will that impact the schedule ? Will you be able to get the specialized tools , the lifts and stuff like that ?

Make sure that you coordinate that and get that stuff all lined up before you do it . And you want to mitigate those risks , because every project you're basically herding a bunch of cats . You're basically hurting a bunch of cats .

You're hurting a bunch of cats because , even though you might have a plan , it's going to go crazy as soon as you start doing the work . And then probably the biggest thing is managing your quality . Managing your quality it is a good project manager .

Depending on the size of the project and if you're dedicated to that project or not , you should be doing QA inspections on your project .

Now , if it's one of those projects where you're doing work , where you're a project manager and you're doing many projects and you only get to a job site once a month or once a week I mean because you're going to other jobs Every time you go there do a QA inspection .

If you're a dedicated project manager , I would do probably two QAs a week , 10% of the work . So if they did 100 jacks , I would look at 10 of them . If they pulled 65 drops , I would look at 7 drops , 8 drops . Make sure they were run right . If I find any deficiencies , then I would look at an additional 10 . Ed the old tech guy's in the house .

Ed , how you doing , my friend , if you're not subscribing to Ed the old tech guy , you need to go check out his channel . He's got a great channel . Jason's in the house . He says good afternoon , I finally made it . Rcdd here . Fellow RCDD . Yes , yes , thank you , fellow RCDD . Glad to have you in the room . Next question came from Facebook , says Chuck .

When I'm putting together estimates for low voltage projects , what are some of the key factors I should always consider to avoid

surprises ? Number one Try to get as much information up front as you can before you start doing the estimate . I always used to tell customers look , the more information you give me now , the cheaper I can make your price in the long run .

You got to make sure that the more information I have , the more accurate my bid is going to be , the less chance you're going to have of change orders Of all the projects I've done in my career , I've only maybe had a half a dozen or so actually go exactly the way planned both scheduling and materials and it just happens that way .

Right , somebody wants to know do you price per drop ? Okay ? So are you talking about giving the customer price per drop or are you doing a price per drop analysis on your estimate to make sure you're within your ? Because if you estimate enough projects , you know how much it costs to install a drop and what your market will bear for your stuff .

There's always a good thing . Now , if you're asking me if a customer wants me to price per drop , I would give them a base price . Here's the price to do the job and here's a price per drop to add or delete . Because here's the thing there's always startup cost and close down cost , and you got to spread that across the drops .

If you only have two drops , that startup cost and the teardown cost is a lot more it's gonna make the price per drop go up . If you have more drops , that price will go down because you're spreading across more drops , right ? So ? So make sure that you understand that .

So I always didn't like the price per drop , but I would put it in there as an add on for the base work and I say , look , the price per drop .

But I would put it in there as an add-on for the base work and I say , look , the price per drop is based on we're doing a minimum of X amount of drops and then from there up it'll be a price per drop change . I never price the entire job as a price per drop .

So , getting back to the estimating question , avoiding surprises , make sure that you have accurate calculation for your material and your labor cost . So there's a couple different ways you can do this . Some people use spreadsheets , some people use estimating software , some people still use pen and paper , believe it or not , and I get it , I get it .

But especially if you're using spreadsheets , which is probably the most common make sure none of the formulas got messed up . Make sure that it's still being used correctly . Make sure you have everybody , the correct labor rate in for that fact right , so that all kind of stuff will come into play .

Also , make sure that you assess the complexity of the project right . And what are the site-specific conditions ? Are you going in to do work in an existing office space ? Well , it's going to take a little bit longer because you've got to work over top of people .

If you're working at a new construction site and they don't have the freight elevators in yet , you might have to add some time to that because you're going to have to haul the material up to the 17th floor or the 7th floor . That all takes time . That all adds to the project floor . That all takes time . That all adds to the project .

Is it just one job with 25 cables or is there 25 cables plus a fiber backbone , plus a trunk and branch cable , tv type system or HDMI over , you know , over twisted pair ? That all adds to the complexity , right , you got to watch out for that . And you also need to make sure a lot of people miss this one . Use your historical data .

You've done projects in the past . Make sure that you know . Okay , on average , if we have a cable that's 150 feet long , we know that it's going to take us x amount of time to pull it , terminate and test it in these conditions and always keep a running log of what that is . So that way you can put in the right labor factors .

Ed , the old tech guy asks how do you compete with underbidders of lost customers ? To some guys that do terrible work ? That is a great question , ed the old tech guy .

So my advice there is maybe not just don't just provide your price , and when they select the wrong person and they want you to come back to fix that other person's work , just let them know your price is going to be X amount more . I've always bid against competitors , but I've always bid against other competitors who are the same size companies .

I never , because we're always doing larger projects . So I never had a mom and pop come out and price against us . And every once in a blue moon you will find somebody misses something in a bid and that should tell the customer that's not going to be a good quality .

In fact , a lot of estimates what they'll do is if they solicit to a bid meeting and they have five contractors that are giving them price , ten contractors that are giving them price , a lot of times they will throw out the highest price , throw out the lowest price , because they figured the highest price , they over-engineered the lowest price , they missed something ,

and you'll find the other prices are usually within a couple percentage points of each other , usually no more than 10% , and that's where the project really lies .

So if the other competitor's pricing is cheaper because they're poor quality , don't fall into the trap of talking bad about that other contractor because that's just going to make it look like sour grapes to the customer . The customer doesn't know that . You've got quality workers and workmanship and a great track history .

They just know that two companies are pricing a bit and one's cheaper than the other . You've got quality workers and workmanship and a great track history . They just know that two companies are pricing a bid and one's cheaper than the other . So always veer away from talking bad about other contractors .

Just let the customer know look , you'll be there if anything goes wrong

. Armourcat wants to know in TikTok do you charge for estimates 99% of the time ? No , I don't . There are some people who do charge for estimates . It kind of depends on the estimate .

We did a design build one time for a very large government entity and we did charge it for that estimate because it literally took a team of estimators when I say team , five estimators a month and a half to do the bid , because it was multiple buildings , multiple different types of lands , copper , fiber , all kinds of stuff and that kind of stuff .

We did charge for it , but most of the time we don't , but there are contractors out there who will charge for the estimates and then what they'll do is they'll deduct that off of the estimate when they do that , when you give them the work . So there you go .

Pre-bid RFIs , sean says , and it's usually linear feet in our bids , and equipment Excel magic with co-pilot AI to review as-built formulas . I'm going to have to talk to you more about that , sean . I'm interested in hearing about that , because when I used to do estimates and spreadsheets , we didn't have AI . We didn't have AI to double-check everything .

So there you go . This question comes from Instagram . It says Chuck , I'm starting out in the ICT field and I'm eager to advance my career . What advice would you give me to someone trying to make it in this industry ? Okay , number one be a continuous learner . Always learn . There's lots of free resources out there .

Cable Installation and Maintenance Magazine is one of them . Subscribe to it , read it , watch their webcasts . Go to the manufacturer's trainings . Foa has free fiber training . There's some good fiber videos on YouTube . Then try to get as much hands-on as possible Because , see , we as technicians , we're great at putting our hands on stuff and learning stuff .

We are tactile learners . So always try to balance it and I always just say the perfect mix is 60% hands-on , 40% theory , because if you do anything other than that , you lose the students right , they're all the RCDDs in the house . And then also make sure you network with other industry professionals and just ask them .

If you know somebody who's got an RCDD , ask them what was that experience like , what did they do , how did they qualify for it ? See if it's got an RCDD . Ask them what was that experience like , what did they do , how did it qualify for ?

See if it's something you want to do , even if not the RCDD , it might be the Bixi Tech or it might be the Installer , copper , installer , fiber . If you know somebody who's got that , talk to them . If you don't know somebody who has that , get on LinkedIn . Linkedin , yes , it's a great resource for that kind of stuff . Do a search for someone in your area .

It'll list you . Some people Send them a friend request , say look , hey , I'd like to talk to you about your certification . How did you get it ? What was the process you get ? Was it hard , was it easy At ? What road did you take ? Just don't be afraid to talk to people and stay updated on emerging trends and technological advancements .

I did that show on Monday about the outside plant POE extender . That's a relatively new product that POE Texas just came out with . So I had them on the show .

We talked about it Because , you never know , you may not use that OSP POE extender for a year and a half , but at least you've read it , heard about it , so that way when a customer does ask you now you've got that going around in the back of your head . Kaylin says off the church , talk to you about Infocom later . Okay , kaylin , talk to you then .

Man , this one comes from Twitter . It says I've had some challenges with leadership at my current job . Raise your hand if you're one of those who has had a problem with your leadership . Right , and it's affecting my team . What strategies would you suggest for dealing with poor company

leadership in our field ? Okay , this is a tough one . This is a tough one because I've worked for good leaders , I've worked for average leaders . I've worked for some poor leaders , right . Right , I need to see if that POE extender is TAA compliant . That's a great question , daryl . I'll have to ask him that .

And just look up , it's the outside plant POE extender made by POE of Texas . So here's my thing Start documenting the issues you have . You're not documenting the issues to build a case , you're just documenting the issues . So when you sit down and you communicate through proper channels , the issues that you have , your points , don't get lost .

Okay , document , document , document .

Go to your boss , say , hey , look , there's some reservations , there's some issues I have , and go in there with an open attitude to listen to their input , because you might go in and say , look , hey , we're doing this wrong , we're doing that wrong , but they may be doing it that way because they might have a contract with a customer that says they have to do

it that way , or it might be just one of those scenarios where they didn't think it through and because you're the boots on the ground and you're seeing it firsthand , you might have a clear thing on it . But make sure that you open mind when you sit down and have that conversation and then also try to seek constructive feedback . You should have a mentor .

You should have a mentor . I'm sorry , you should just have one period . Bixie has a mentoring program . Get on LinkedIn . You can find a mentoring program and they can help you with that as well too . Next question comes from LinkedIn . Looking ahead , what emerging trends should the ICT industry and professionals keep an eye on to stay ahead of the curve ?

Well , ai I know a lot of people say , well , chuck , we pull cable . Ai is not going to pull cable . But you know I know a lot of people say , well , chuck , we pull cable . Ai is not going to pull cable . But you know what AI will help project managers , ai will help estimators , so it will do that . So , stay current with that . Know how to use it .

Don't be behind the ball when everybody else is using it to help them with their bids and stuff , and you're just now trying to learn that . System AI big , big , huge thing . Also , smart building technologies that's another big one coming down . Well , it's here . It's been around .

In fact , we started talking about smart building technologies on that last episode with POE Texas . A lot of people think about POE for cameras and Wi-Fi , but he started talking about window tint and shades and stuff like that , and that's another potential avenue that you can go through to make more money as a technician , more money as a company .

Also , make sure you stay current with the current standards . They're always changing them , always changing them , and make sure that you always upskill , always , always upskill .

Until next time , keep those cables clean , your standards high and your future bright . Let's Talk Cabling empowering the industry , one connection at a time .