• Business telephone installer with Mountain Bell Telephone in  1977.                                                                                                        
  
• Started as Pioneer Telephone Service of Bozeman in the Fall of 1985.
  

• We are a Certified Dealer for Panasonic KXT Digital and Panasonic  TDA Digital Advanced IP communications systems.

• We are Certified installers of Superior Modular Products structured wiring system and high speed network components.

• We have been a member of BICSI (Industry standards group) since 1995.

• D-tel Technologies began installing computer network cabling for IBM and Novell networks in the late 1980's.  As the industry moved into data transmission over twisted pair cable, we included Data into our Telephone business.  TWENTY YEARS  AGO!!                                                                                                                 
  
• We can help your business find solutions, because we will take the time to listen to your needs.
  

 

The term ‘smart’  is used to sell a product. The business of communications wiring is over 100 years old and has always been smart.  It had to be in order to keep up with emerging technology.  The Telephone Industry of America (TIA) has been defining solutions for communications transmission since 1924.  All of the advances that we have today, have come from within this Industry.

1.Who decides how to wire a new home or office? Until the early 1980’s, the Bell companies had Building Industry Consultants (BICS) that worked with architects to design wiring plans to assure quality and expandability.  These designers formed a research and design organization called BICSI.  Along with the TIA/EIA they now develop and publish best practices for voice / data / video cabling and are considered world wide authorities.  D-Tel always follow the most current standards and only use the highest quality products.

2.Where do I find these standards?    The TIA/EIA manuals are available on the internet and most manufacturers’ catalogs have a section of minimum installation requirements.  We maintain a current issue of BICSI design standards (over 1500 pages) and apply these requirements to all of our installations.  These rules address signal processing issues that will affect the performance of any device that operates on these cables.  The National Electric code does not address low voltage performance.  The State of Montana has issued its’ own requirements, based on TIA / EIA standards, for cabling in State leased or owned buildings.  Unfortunately the State and local codes have not adopted the standards.  State  Enterprise  Standards PDF

3.My Electrician does Phone and TV wiring.  Always ask about training and experience whenever you hire any contractor.  Does a 4 hour seminar provide  training that you would rely on?  Ask for a diagram of how they will wire your building.  How far away from high voltage interference sources will they keep your cables and equipment.  Does he/she know  what TIA-568B  involves and will they follow these standards?  We can work with your electrical contractor to assure that the job is done right or you can ask us for a bid that can be compared apples to apples. 

4.Can I wire this myself?  YES.  The guidelines are well described and we can provide directions and materials that will assure that the job is done correctly. We have been in this industry since 1977 and keep up to date on industry standards.  We can connect, trim and certify user installed cables.

5.Where have you been?  Right Here. We have been serving the Gallatin Valley continuously since 1985.  Since the 1890s' the telecom trade was THE SOURCE for voice and data cabling.  Your communications installer is the authority when it comes to voice and data cabling and equipment installation. 

What Else Should I Know?

   The smartest, most reliable cabling system is called conduit.  While electrical wire has not changed much in the past twenty years, communications cable has had six major upgrades. Any building with a crawlspace can be set up to provide future proof pathways for low voltage cables.  Single and double gang, low-voltage boxes’ are coupled to flexible conduit and can be installed for about $10.00 per location.  The HDTV cable,  DSL circuit, security camera, fiber optic network, business telephone system, speaker wire and the wire of tomorrow can all be routed through cable supports and pulled into place at any time.  Cover the unused box with a blank cover until needed.  Commercial buildings with drop in ceilings allow the conduit to be ‘stubbed’ into the drop area of the ceiling.  Proper support and fire ratings need to be addressed to meet local codes and regulations.  The TIA and BICSI requirements will insure that safety and performance are part of every installation.

 Where do all of these cables end up? The equipment end of the cabling is another concern.  Telephone systems, audio/video amplifiers, routers, hubs and modulators will all need mounting space and power.  You must design this space to fit the equipment. The 19” data rack has been the standard for many years and most manufacturers support this design for connectors and equipment. Home offices and the internet have created special cable requirements for residential construction. The Smart box principle is very popular, but does not provide the space or mounting requirements for many common devices that will be connected to this type of cabling.  We also know that this equipment will need to be upgraded or replaced at some point in the near future.  A ¾ inch plywood backboard located in the crawlspace or mechanical room works very well.  In residential locations you can build your own smart box by fastening a ¾ inch board between the stud spaces and placing a hinged cover over the opening.  A 14 ½  or 22 ½  inch opening, up to 4 feet tall can be built at a fraction of the cost of a ‘smart box.  It also allows for the use of lower cost, more versatile IDC punch blocks, network patch panels, standard TV splitters and signal amps.  A 12 voice x 12 data x 12 RG6 configuration will cost about $120.00 complete and you can connect any manufacturer’s equipment to this system.   SMART!

i cannot afford to wait on another sub.

We stock what we use and we pull multiple runs.  By installing up to 20 cables at one time, the job gets done faster and neater.  Most residential installs are prewired in less than one day.  We have installed tens of thousands of voice and data jacks. We are fast and accurate.   If you decide to use conduit and low voltage boxes, you can install crawlspace runs in the time that it takes to drill a hole, measure and nail a box in place.  The wire can be installed when you trim the jacks.  This method also prevents any damage to cables during construction. 

give me the bottom line

We will go over your plans and give you a quote for FREE.  A new construction, residential install, with cable runs under 75 feet long, will average $45 per voice home run and $55 per data home run (cat 5e).   We guarantee parts and labor for five years.  The cables are certified with an Agilent Technologies wire scope and labeled to meet TIA 568B specifications.  Certification assures that your network will operate at the speeds for which you equipment is rated.