Power over Ethernet is an advantage for several reasons. Firstly, it means you don't need to plug the phone into once of those scarce wall outlets under the desk. Secondly, as the phones are all powered from a central location (the switch) it makes it easy to power your entire phone system through an uninterruptible power supply (UPS). Using a UPS means your phones keep going in the event of a power cut, and it can also protect from power surges, thus increasing the reliability of your phone system.

Questions such as "Can I use a normal switch with PoE phones?" or "Can I use non-PoE devices with a PoE switch?" are common. Part of the 802.3af PoE standard is negotiation, a PoE switch will only send power to devices which expect it, this means that you can safely use non-PoE devices with a PoE switch, and PoE devices will work fine on a non-PoE switch.

Though PoE is immensely useful for VoIP it is also useful in other areas. Common applications include security/surveillance cameras, WiFi access points and other networking equipment. There's even products to break out PoE for powering devices which don't support PoE natively, we've sucessfully used these to power Arduino projects around our office.

Quick Facts

• 802.3af PoE is a standard, products from all manufacturers work together.
• PoE is low voltage (48 volts DC)
• PoE devices work fine with normal Ethernet switches
• Non-PoE devices work fine with PoE switches

Here's a list of PoE powered devices that we sell. If you've got any questions feel free to post a comment or contact us directly.