From an electrical energy viewpoint, the softphone is the greatest consumer of energy in VoIP/IP Telephony networks, far greater than the hard phone and especially compared to the legacy phone. This was explained in a previous blog, "That Softphone is an Energy Hog."But what if the softphone is the communications tool that most meets the enterprise's needs? Then reducing the cost of energy is paramount. There are several choices:
1. When new PCs are purchased, select the ones with the lowest energy consumption. You can locate the energy consumption of PCs here. Look for EnergyStar rated products. EnergyStar's new specifications for computers went into effect on July 20, 2007. The new specifications apply to desktop and notebook (or laptop) computers, integrated computer systems, desktop-derived servers, and workstations.
2. Use an LCD monitor instead of a CRT monitor. In ON mode, the maximum allowed power varies based on the computer monitor's resolution. In SLEEP mode, computer monitor models must consume 2 watts or less. In OFF mode, computer monitor models must consume 1 watt or less to satisfy the EnergyStar requirements. Look up your monitor here.
3. Use a laptop instead of a desktop PC. A laptop uses about half the power of a desktop. It also creates less heat. Some laptops can provide up to 19 hours of backup with advanced batteries.
4. Install PC energy management software as described below. This would be the responsibility of your desktop technical staff.
5. Buy an intelligent surge protector strip.
Power Management Software This specialized power management software shuts down PCs and monitors when they are not in use. The software monitors activity and based on a time out, shuts down the operation. These software technologies cost between $10 and $20 per device. The software also allows a central administrator to set shut-down policy and manage exceptions. The administrator receives reports on the energy savings. Advanced software tools can save and properly close documents upon shutdown and allow for scheduled patches or updates to occur seamlessly. There is a ROI calculator for determining your savings based on your operation here. Click on advanced calculator.
Electrical utilities offer rebates to enterprises for purchasing the software and installing the software for energy conservation:
* Pacific Gas & Electric: 100% rebate State: California
* Southern California Edison: 100% rebate State: California
* San Diego Gas and Electric: 100% rebate State: California
* Sacramento Municipal Utility District: $10/license State: California
* Wisconsin Energy Corporation: 50% rebate State: Wisconsin
* BC Hydro: $3/license Province: British Columbia
* Manitoba Hydro: 100% rebate Province: Manitoba
* Bonneville Power Administration (BPA): 100% rebate State: Washington, Montana, Oregon, Idaho
* Oregon Department of Energy: 35% rebate State: Oregon
Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) ACPI is an open industry standard. It provides a standard programming interface that allows an operating system to directly control the hardware's power-saving capabilities. This can automatically turn off components such as monitors and hard drives after set periods of inactivity. It is also possible to set the machine to HIBERNATE, which turns off nearly all components, including the CPU and the system RAM. ACPI is a successor to an earlier Intel-Microsoft standard called Advanced Power Management. You probably have this software, but it is dormant. Consider activating the ACPI software.
Vista/XP Power Conservation It is possible to easily enable SLEEP settings on a Vista PC. The default setting is for a PC to go into SLEEP mode after 60 minutes on non-use. You can modify the time out to suit your users' activities. Vista is much quicker at resuming from SLEEP, now taking two to three seconds as compared to five seconds for Windows XP.
Electronic Product Environmental Assistance Tool (EPEAT) EPEAT was created by the Green Electronics Council. EPEAT's environmental criteria are contained in public standard IEEE 1680. The EPEAT site has information and energy consumption ratings on desktop, laptop, notebook computers and monitors. To purchase a copy of IEEE 1680, visit http://shop.ieee.org/ieeestore/ and search for 1680. Go to http://www.epeat.net/ for the product table and access to product lists. Go to www.softchoice.com and click on EcoTech for many other resources.
The Intelligent Power Strip Vampire power = wasted power. Vampire power is that consumed while the device is in idle mode. American Power Conversion (APC) offers the Power-Saving SurgeArrest surge protector strip. When a desktop goes into SLEEP mode and consumes less than 15 watts, the strip then turns off other devices. The other devices can include printers, speakers, external hard drives, scanners and monitors.
All of these solutions will help reduce the energy bill. Look at them closely and change your policies for PC usage.
