Electical Contractor

Cannon & Wendt Electric Co., Phoenix, has been in business since 1945. It launched the Cannon & Wendt Technologies division about a decade ago, according to Kerry Engmark, operations manager for the division.

Facility automation systems are becoming more reliant on open protocols, enabling one infrastructure to send and receive information from previously separate and disparate systems, such as security; metering; asset tracking; heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC); and others.

While most of the talk about expanding broadband access for the American public has focused on rural customers, much of the activity is in metropolitan areas. Metro networks are expanding rapidly because they encompass many types of networks, not just broadband Internet.

For contractors who want to get into or expand their presence in low-voltage work, who better to learn from than contractors who have decades of experience in these kinds of projects? Two such contractors are Robert Ford, Ph.D., P.E., president of Robert Ford Electric Co.

The term “integrated systems” has appeared to some of us in the field to represent secret meaning for saving money by combining systems.

The hallmark of the cellular revolution is the ability to do so many things on the go. Smartphones have given an entirely new meaning to being mobile. In this sense, being mobile doesn’t just mean checking bank accounts or sending an email from a phone.

These days, electrical contractors are moving downstream, getting more involved in low-voltage systems work. The trend makes sense, especially as such systems become more integrated with higher voltage systems.

Each year, when pundits publish their national construction outlook forecasts, I wonder how many of us really depend on them. As the late Speaker of the House from Massachusetts, Thomas P.

As an electrical contractor, you understand the need and use of power for all electrical appliances, but do you understand the specific power requirements, both primary and secondary, for all of the fire alarm systems outlined in NFPA 72 2010, the National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code?