ClearMax technicians handle the complete dental office buildout in Seattle: structured cabling, access points and WiFi, displays, access control and cameras, with the server and computers set up as part of the same project. It is a one-off project with no monthly plan required, for practices on Open Dental, Dentrix or other office software.
Last updated: November 2026
What does a complete buildout include?
- Structured cabling: drops for each operatory's chair, sensor, monitor and chairside devices, each with a labeled termination, planned against the equipment list before walls close.
- Imaging rooms: pan/ceph and CBCT placement, power adjacency and cable length.
- IT closet: rack, practice-management server, switch, UPS and patch panel, terminated and labeled.
- Front desk and phones: check-in stations, handsets and their wiring.
- Access points and WiFi: placement from the plan, with patient WiFi kept off the clinical network.
- Access control and cameras: card or fob entry, plus entry, corridor and sterilization coverage. Egress doors have life-safety rules, and the plan follows them.
- Displays: planned with the rest of the buildout.
The sequence is plan review and drop schedule, quote, build against the general contractor's rough-in and inspection dates, then test, label and hand off.
What does a server install cover?
The server is the one computer that runs the database program and stores the shared files. Open Dental recommends it be dedicated to that job, to protect data, and its steps are the ones shown here; other software follows its own vendor's. A ClearMax technician does the work at the practice, in this order:
- Check the details first. Compare the computers, the image folder and the database with what the quote was built on. If more work is needed, it is brought to the practice's attention and the bid is updated.
- Build the machine. Windows, the database engine, and a server name shorter than 15 characters, which the vendor suggests because of a Windows limit.
- Put the data in place. A brand-new practice starts from the vendor's blank database; an existing one comes across by the vendor's server migration steps.
- Share the image folder so every computer can read and write it.
- Open the one port the program needs, on the server only.
- Install the background services the vendor says its online services need.
- Back up, restore and hand over. A backup only counts once it has been restored somewhere else, and the practice gets the record of what was built.
When do new computers come into it?
Often at the same time, because the desks are what staff notice. The less obvious part is that each computer has a job. The one in the operatory holds the sensor driver. The prescriber's needs Microsoft Edge for electronic prescriptions. The one at the front desk has its own printers for claims and statements.
The written scope records each of those roles, and each machine gets the vendor's own workstation install. Because a workstation does not hold the database or the images, computers can be swapped a few at a time, with the rest of the practice still working.
Which decision comes before buying anything?
Where the database should live. If the software vendor runs a hosted version, check which features work differently there and whether the internet line is fit for it. A practice that passes may never need to buy a server. One that fails, or that depends on a feature the hosted version lacks, should buy the right machine and stop wondering. The written scope records that decision. If the answer is a server, the vendor's published requirements set its size.
How does Seattle change the plan?
Two local hazards change the design of the project, more than any rule of thumb from a generic checklist. Both are in the city's own emergency planning, and both are worth a line in the written scope.
Seattle's Office of Emergency Management calls earthquakes the most serious hazard facing the city, and says the Seattle Fault Zone extends east-west through the middle of it. So a second copy of the data at another office across town protects against a fire, not against the event the city worries about most. The copy that counts sits outside the region, and restoring from it is tested before anyone needs it.
The other is wind. In the 2006 storm, 49% of Seattle City Light's customers lost power; 95% were back within two days, and full restoration took a week. No battery rides that out. A battery exists to shut the server down cleanly, so the database is not damaged when the power goes. That changes what gets bought: a modest battery with automatic shutdown set up and tested, instead of a large one that only postpones the same problem.
IT setup for a new dental office
A practice opening or moving has a date it cannot miss, and the IT work runs on that date. ClearMax technicians set up the server, computers, accounts and software so that the office is ready on opening day. The same project covers the cabling, access points, displays, door access and cameras, so one plan runs from the drop schedule to the first patient.
The order that keeps the date safe: agree where the server sits, get the software ordered and licensed in the practice's name, build and test the server before the move, then bring the computers in once the cabling is tested. Nothing goes live until a chart and an image open on every desk, and a backup has been restored.
Why a project and not a monthly plan?
Most dental IT companies in this market sell ongoing support. That suits some practices. It does not fit one that already has someone for daily questions, or that simply needs a five-year-old server replaced and would like the work finished and documented. A project here has a written scope, a quote built from the details the practice provides, and an end. No monthly plan is required to book one.
Offices that do want ongoing support afterward can add an optional managed IT plan; the buildout is quoted on its own either way.
It is not an emergency line. If the program is down today and the practice is not a ClearMax client, the vendor's support desk is the right first call.
Who does what on a project?
- ClearMax technicians: the cabling, access points, displays, access control, cameras, server, computers, accounts, backups and the move of the data, on site.
- The vendor, Open Dental Software: the program itself, and its support desk. Its requirements are on its computer requirements page. The vendor says Windows updates are outside the scope of its support.
- The practice: decisions, sign-off, and its own licences and accounts, which stay in its own name.
Why does the data need special handling here?
Because in this state a chart counts as personal information. Under RCW 19.255.005, a name combined with information about a person's medical history or condition, or a professional's diagnosis or treatment, is personal information. That reaches well past card numbers, and it means any old drive that held charts deserves the same care as the live server. Drives leaving service are wiped or destroyed, with the date written down, and the new server's drives are encrypted from the start.
What Seattle offices ask before booking
What should we send to get a buildout quote?
Send the floor plan, the equipment list, the operatory count and the general contractor's dates. Part of that is enough to start, and the reply asks for the rest.
When should IT join the project?
Before the walls close. Cable goes in during rough-in, and the inspection has to fit before the drywall does, so those dates belong on the general contractor's calendar early.
Does the software we use change the buildout?
Not much. Cabling, WiFi, doors and cameras are planned the same way for any program. The server and the desks follow what that program's vendor publishes.
Do technicians come to the office?
Yes. ClearMax technicians do the buildout work on site in Seattle, from cabling and access points to the server and computers.
How is a project priced?
The quote is built from the details the practice provides. If more work is needed, it is brought to the practice's attention and the bid is updated.