IT, Phones & Network Cabling for Manufacturers & Warehouses in Birmingham, AL

Cabling for big buildings

Plants and warehouses are where office cabling rules stop working. Copper network cable is limited to about 100 meters (328 feet) per run, buildings are huge, and the cable has to survive forklifts, heat, dust and machinery. We plan the network the way the building is laid out: fiber backbones between buildings and across long distances, network cabinets placed where the drops are, and Cat6 runs to the offices, production lines and equipment. On one plant job our technician worked 30 feet up to run cabling to the presses on the production line.

Frank Ciavarro of G&B Distribution hired us to cable their new distribution warehouse in Birmingham: “They did a great job installing our racks, fiber and copper cables for the wireless access points. They worked really fast and hard to get the job done on time.”

Wi-Fi for scanners and forklifts

Handheld scanners, forklift terminals and tablets need Wi-Fi in places Wi-Fi hates: between tall metal racking, in freezers and across open floors with high ceilings. Coverage comes from where the access points are mounted and how they are cabled, not from buying a stronger router. We place them for how the floor is actually used and make sure scanners can move from one access point to the next without dropping.

Phones that reach the floor

On a loud production floor or in a warehouse, a desk phone isn't enough. A cloud phone system can page through overhead speakers, park a call so a supervisor can pick it up anywhere, ring a group of phones for shipping or receiving, and reach managers on the mobile app as they walk the plant. Jesse Creek Mining Company switched to a hosted VoIP system from Vulcan, which lowered both their upfront capital cost and their monthly bill.

Keep the office and the machines apart

Production equipment, building controls and security cameras often run older software that can't be updated like a laptop. They belong on their own network segment, separated from office computers and guest Wi-Fi by the firewall, so a phishing email on an office PC can't reach the line. We set up that separation, keep the firewall current and back up the servers and files your ERP or inventory system depends on – see server management and backup & disaster recovery.

Jones Stephens is one of the businesses that trust Vulcan with their technology.