What OptiTuff Mini Fiber Cables Can Do for Hospitality Tech

But deploying new technology is only half the battle. Layer 0—the facility’s network infrastructure—will determine whether the venue can truly support pioneering devices and apps. In other words: Cabling and connectivity will make or break the guest experience.

A hotel, casino or resort that provides enough bandwidth to support IoT, BYOD and unlimited wireless connections has a definite competitive advantage. It can provide faster, better service and coordinate more efficient operations. To stay ahead of the game, many hospitality facilities are now investing in fiber to support high numbers of users and devices. Fiber carries data reliably over long distances and provides more bandwidth than copper cables, often with smaller diameter.

Historically, however, many hospitality applications have been constrained by existing fiber cable configurations and pathways. In some cases, performance had to be sacrificed in order to get fiber cables into place—including FTTx and POL/PON applications.

To take advantage of what fiber offers in these environments—and without giving up bandwidth performance—integrators and installers needed a fiber cable that was:

• Lighter in weight and smaller in diameter
• Cost effective
• Fast and easy to install
• In the same performance category as metal armored products

That’s not too much to ask, right?! We didn’t think so. That’s why Belden’s engineers created OptiTuff™ Mini Fiber Cable. It addresses the frustrations associated with traditional metal armored and non-armored fiber products:

• It’s 90% lighter than metal armored cable, has a 70% smaller diameter compared to metal armored cable and is 50% smaller than non-armored cable, giving integrators and installers a lighter-weight, smaller-diameter cable.
  
  
• No grounding kit is necessary, resulting in material and labor cost savings. Its advanced, ruggedized thermoplastic material is also a cost-effective alternative to traditional metal armored fiber, giving integrators and installers a more affordable cable.
  
  
• It features anti-kink properties and is more flexible than metal armored cable, making it easier to handle—even in small spaces, raceways and environments with lots of tight and challenging turns—giving integrators and installers a fast-to-install, easy-to-install cable.
  
  
• It maintains excellent mechanical properties while being flexible and simpler to deploy than traditional metal armored options, giving integrators and installers a cable with superior mechanical properties.

Its all-dielectric armor also provides superior durability and crush resistance as compared to non-armored fiber cables, making OptiTuff Mini Fiber Cable one of the most versatile fiber cables on the market. It can tolerate lots of abuse—something traditional metallic armored cables can’t do. In fact, it doesn’t even need conduit for protection. This cable doesn't just stand above other cables in its category—it stands alone.

For these reasons, we entered the OptiTuff Mini Fiber Cable in HTNG’s TechOvation Awards. This program recognizes and rewards emerging products and innovations that disrupt the way hospitality environments operate.

The first step to be considered is to create a video about what makes the technology or product different. From there, a judging panel chooses seven videos to be shared online for a two-week voting period. Through a combination of judge and public crowdsourced voting, the top 10 entries are deemed semi-finalists and advance to the next round. At HT-NEXT, a hospitality tech event, the 10 semi-finalists present their technologies during a TechOvation Live Competition. From there, a live audience vote determines the winner!

This past December, we were thrilled that OptiTuff Mini Fiber Cable was chosen as a TechOvation Award semi-finalist, giving us the opportunity to show nearly 500 attendees what it can do. This honor put our all-dielectric armored cable in the same category as game-changing technology like computer vision and AI guest-services platforms, smart disinfection robots and apps that support real-time conversations across languages. Although we didn’t win (the honor went to ShiftGenius, a next-level worker scheduling platform from UniFocus), we’re proud to be a semi-finalist alongside other industry-changing technologies and products.

Even more exciting was the recognition we received after the TechOvation Live Competition. Belden received many high-fives, kudos and questions from people who—after being introduced to OptiTuff for the first time—appreciated what it could do.

We want to show you what OptiTuff Mini Fiber Cables can do, too. Below is the 60-second video we submitted for the TechOvation Awards. Take a look!

Right now, Belden is offering free samples of OptiTuff Mini Fiber Cable. Get yours here! If you have any questions, this is a good place to start.