Type of works: supply and installation of Belden^® IBDN^® GigaBIX System to refurbish the IT network.

The Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) is an independent, not for profit organization. As one of the largest providers of continuing medical education in the UK, the RSM offers accredited courses for continuing professional development, which is vital for doctors, dentists, veterinary surgeons and other healthcare professionals.

With 23,000 members, The Royal Society of Medicine has 2 commercial arms: Domus Medica, a 44-room conferencing hotel and facilities available for private hire and Chandos House, a 17th Century hotel, used for weddings and functions. The total building is split across 6 floors, with a new wing and an old one which is well over 100 years old. Within the building is a members’ area, including a bar, restaurant, seating and meeting area. There is a 3-floor library which includes a heritage centre, and 2 large lecture theatres – one seating 300 and another seating 150. Both are fully equipped with the latest networking and AV equipment, so they can provide webcasts of conferences and lectures to members via stream on demand.

The Society has a full program of health-related meetings and conferences each year and the facilities are used for lectures and medical education.

In the year 2000, The Royal Society of Medicine made a strategic decision to implement an IT network refurbishment by installing a structured cabling solution throughout their building. The project started with a refurbishment of the main equipment room and then moved on to the other conferencing and lecture floors flood wiring to allow for data and AV applications.

Subsequently, the 3-floor library and in 2009 the Domus Medica hotel’s 44 rooms were equipped with IPTV, network connectivity and telephony. The contract for the installation was awarded to ITS-integrated of Newbury, who are a Certified System Vendor of Belden. The system they selected was Belden IBDN 4800LX GigaBIX, a Cat 6+ performing ultrahigh density cross connect system that is both flexible and convenient and allows for future proofing.

Tansy Allen, Director of IT at The Royal Society of Medicine says: “We made the strategic decision to use the Belden GigaBIX solution, because of our limitations in space. GigaBIX provides the density, convenience and flexibility we were looking for.”

The Royal Society of Medicine had indicated a major increase in network requirements. However, space remains limited in such an old building. Instead of having to use a number of large rooms, many of the telecoms rooms throughout the building are now literally broom closets. In total, over 1,200 telecoms outlets were installed, using 38,285m of GigaBIX cable. GigaBIX offered an ultra high density solution, enabling the RSM to work around the severe space constraints. The system is easy to install, even in small spaces and it uses the same single connection tool as all other BIX connectivity products, helping to reduce installation time and the likelihood of termination errors.

An equally important consideration was future proofing, ensuring that sufficient bandwidth will be available in years to come. BIX technology – introduced in 1979 – meets or exceeds the Category 6 standard, showing the longest record of proven performance of any connector on the market. The Belden GigaBIX system provides headroom for high-speed and emerging Gigabit applications with a data rate of up to 4.8Gb/s and a bandwidth of up to 300MHz. The system allows configuration with a capacity of up to 14,400 terminated pairs and is scalable to accommodate high-density installations. Ten years after the first installation, The Royal Society of Medicine still have more than sufficient bandwidth capacity to meet their growing needs.

ITS-integrated Sales Director Paul Steward says: “Belden GigaBIX shows impressive cable characteristics for audio and video, as well as data. Our preferred solution was Belden GigaBIX and have used it in many installations as it has so many benefits. In hindsight, nothing else would have worked for the RSM. Using GigaBIX has been a win-win situation for us.”

The Belden GigaBIX solution is ideal for high-density applications requiring above Cat 6 performance in limited or difficult-to-reach spaces. It offers data rates of up to 4.8Gb/s and a bandwidth of up to 300MHz. Users can be assured that Belden solutions really work thanks to many years of experience and manufacturing excellence. This enables Belden to deliver the highest product quality and performance. Applications such as these demonstrate why the Belden brand has become synonymous with high quality, high performance and reliability.

Belden has earned a worldwide reputation as an expert solutions provider, with the widest range of high performance, quality products and innovative solutions, backed by expert support. This ensures that all application requirements are met or exceeded.