One of the challenges IP Telephony has faced is that traditional PBX-based digital phones derive power from the PBX through the phone cable. This allows the phones to operate during times of power outages, provided that the PBX has a battery, a generator backup or both. First generation IP phones required a separate power supply for each phone. In order to maintain phone system availability during a power outage the external power supplies must be connected to an uninterruptible power source. Cisco has introduced a solution to this problem by supplying power to the phone via the same Ethernet cable that carries the data to the phone. This power can be supplied by 10/100 Ethernet blades or modules such as the WS-X6348 that are installed in a chassis or by a separate device such as the WS-PWR-PANEL.
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