In decades past, cabling and cabling equipment for voice and data communication systems was much less complex than it is today. Most systems used two-pair or four-pair copper wire wrapped in a binder to protect the cable. Splicing often involves stripping the ends of the wire to expose the copper conductor. It is then connected to a set of connectors, usually called a connection block, that connects the physical devices to a switching device such as a PBX system. In fact, the cabling equipment was not particularly complicated and it was much easier to work with them. With the growth of digital transmission in almost all types of voice and data communication equipment in the late 1970s and early 1980s, new types of wiring, cabling equipment, and connectors emerged. The idea was to simplify the process of connecting devices to their host system and hopefully speed up the process of building a wired infrastructure for voice and data devices.