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VoIP Power Requirements and Backup Solutions
Power Dependence of VoIP
Unlike traditional analog phones drawing power from central office copper lines, VoIP phones and systems require local power at each location. This fundamental difference means electrical outages immediately disable VoIP equipment without backup power arrangements. Businesses accustomed to POTS phones working during blackouts must proactively address this power dependence when deploying IP telephony.
The entire VoIP chain requires power - IP phones, network switches, routers, firewalls, and on-premise PBX equipment. Power backup needs to cover all these components. Simply plugging phones into uninterruptible power supplies while leaving network gear unprotected leaves systems nonfunctional during outages, since network connectivity fails alongside power.
Uninterruptible Power Supply Selection
UPS systems provide immediate battery power when utility electricity fails. Selecting the right UPS involves calculating total power draw of all protected equipment and determining required runtime. For phone systems, minimum 1-2 hours of runtime handles typical short outages, while organizations requiring extended operation deploy UPS systems with 4+ hours or generator transfer capability.
PoE switches delivering power to IP phones through Ethernet cables need UPS protection at the switch level rather than individual phone outlets. Protecting switches with UPS eliminates the cost and complexity of deploying individual power adapters and backup for each phone. For large deployments, rackmount UPS sized for entire network closets represents the most efficient protection approach.
Extended Outage Solutions: Generators and PoE
For businesses needing phone system operation beyond battery life, automatic transfer switches with generators provide extended power. ATS devices detect utility failure and start backup generators, typically within 10-30 seconds. UPS systems bridge the gap between utility failure and generator startup, ensuring phone systems continue operating without interruption during the transfer.
Power over Ethernet delivers both data connectivity and electrical power through the same Ethernet cable. For VoIP deployments, PoE-capable switches eliminate the need for individual power adapters at each phone while simplifying backup - protecting the switch with UPS automatically powers all connected phones. PoE standards support different power levels, with newer standards sufficient for most IP phones and even video conferencing endpoints.
Redstone Systems, Inc. founded in Delaware, USA in December 2002, has been the ODM vendor for many well-known communications companies, serving the Southeast Asian market. In 2020, Redstone Systems will begin to return to the North America market with its self-developed brand.
Redstone has a complete product line of intelligent voice gateways, providing IP-PBXs, analog VoIP gateways (FXS/FXO), digital VoIP gateways (E1/T1), border appliances, and session boundary controllers (SBCs).
With advanced technology in digital signal processor (DSP), speech coding and speech processing, as well as efficient operational tools such as cloud remote management, auto provisioning, Redstone gateways are widely used in markets of enterprise communications, cloud communications, call centers, operators’ IMS/SIP trunks, bringing users friendly, efficient and reliable communication experience.
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