BICSI recently released its latest ANSI-approved standard, ANSI/BICSI-005-2013 Electronic Safety and Security (ESS) System Design and Implementation Best Practices. When announcing the standard’s availability, BICSI commented, “As the systems used within security have become more complex, so too has the cabling infrastructure to address both communication and security requirements. Little has been written to support this convergence of security and cabling infrastructure, until now.”
The association added that the BICSI-005 standard “bridges the two worlds of security and communications by providing the security professional with the requirements and recommendations of a structured cabling infrastructure needed to support today’s security systems while providing the cabling design professional information on different elements within safety and security systems that affect the design.”
The standard also includes information on the concept of the direct-attach connection method, formally known as the single connector modified permanent link connection method. Under this method, horizontal cable is terminated to a modular plug rather than to a jack. This attachment method is particularly relevant in security installations, meriting its being addressed in BICSI-005, because the method frequently is used to connect Internet Protocol cameras to a network. The standard provides information on how direct-attach can be used within many forms of ESS systems.
Jerry Bowman, BICSI’s president, noted of the standard, “The protection against risks and threats to life-safety, business and personal assets is and always will be a matter of great importance. BICSI-005 is a tremendous resource for those working on the design and implementation of electronic safety and security and related infrastructure for a variety of security functions and systems. We truly appreciate the efforts of all the volunteer subject matter experts who contributed to this publication.”
BICSI also pointed out its Standards Program is an ANSI-accredited, consensus-based standards development organization. The program “creates standards and guidelines for use in the design, installation and integration of information technology systems (ITS) and related telecommunications fields,” BICSI said. “BICSI standards are written to define current practices and drive improvement in quality and performance over the spectrum of voice, data, electronic safety and security, project management and audio and video technologies, and encompass optical fiber, copper and wireless-based distribution systems.”
Detailed information on BICSI-005 can be found here.
