This article is intended to be a quick guide to helping you choose the best PoE switch for your deployment. We’ve taken 5 of our most common environments and added a few descriptors. This list of places you can use a PoE switch is by no means exhaustive, but it will help you get into the “ballpark” when identifying some of the most common places and the best PoE switch for that deployment to benefit your client most.
If you have further question, by all means, reach out. In most cases, we can get back to you within a day or two, at most [unless it is the weekend].
The beauty of PoE technology is that it scales so easily as you add new devices. One twisted-pair Cat5e or Cat6 cable delivers all the power and data a PoE device needs and power levels are now reaching 90W as Type 4 technology comes online.
Smart Home Automation
In 2013, an informal survey revealed that 2-parent homes with 3 children, end users had as many as 40 devices online between wireless access points, televisions, computers, and gaming stations.
Fast forward to 2018, and add smart heating/cooling systems, solar panel networks, LED lighting, appliances, voice assistants, security cameras, motion activated security lights, and even charging stations for hybrid cars.
It isn’t even 2020 and we’re beginning to see the IoT mushroom.
A small, centralized switch at home can make managing all of this technology simpler.
- Monitor security remotely
- Check and limit power usage
- Access controls to manage different devices
- Identify problems at a glance
Smart Offices
LED lighting systems produce healthier light to support workers. PoE technology allows these installations to be straightforward and cost-effective.
- LED Systems are getting better
- Devices have unique IP addresses
- Attached sensors allow targeted monitoring and easy control through mobile devices
- Sensors alert facilities as to what areas get used and require the most maintenance
Commercial PoE Applications
PoE technology allows highly responsive scale when expanding networks.
- Controlling access to rooms and facilities with retinal scanning devices
- Thin clients to access SaaS platforms like SalesForce
- Surveillance door cameras with speakers beef up security in sensitive areas
- Expanding Wi-Fi networks in lounges and cafes allows people to meet informally in different spaces on campus
- Monitoring room occupancy and usage helps facilities teams keep data secure
- VoIP & SIP trunk phone systems save money
Because 1 cable is all that is required to bring up a PoE device, installations have never been easier.
See PoE Switches
Healthcare Environment Applications
Healthcare professionals rely on a highly complex system of connected devices. PoE technologies allow lower impact on hospital rooms and doctors offices by reducing the need for added outlets.
- Energy efficiency keeps costs down
- Ultra-high device density from which data is pulled to diagnose from millions of data points.
- To diagnose illnesses and find alternative, better ways to get and keep people healthy. Thin clients attached to platforms link Watson will become standard.
Network controls keep centers for healing safer.
Industrial PoE Applications
- Robotics on manufacturing floors
- Lean manufacturing tracking networks with cameras and sensors
- Near and remote placement of sensors
PoE is a key ingredient in the Internet of Things and Versa technology offers high-quality, efficient solutions for your clients or business. Feel free to contact us today.