Federal and State Teams Need Automated Tech to Resolve Network Outages

The networks that support mission critical operations for government agencies must function without prolonged outages. These networks deliver countless capabilities that support citizens, including internet access, digital signage, emergency alerts, and help desk access. When they do not function, citizens may experience overwhelming frustration. Hughes understands that network reliability is critical, especially in remote or unmanned locations and offices. Today’s state and federal teams need intelligent network technology that can support their important systems before an outage creates unnecessary chaos. In the case of a network outage, often the tried and true method of rebooting a device is necessary. In fact, in about a third of calls to the Hughes help desk, a device reboot is all it takes to restore a connection. With that surprising stat in mind, Hughes engineers have gotten ahead of the problem with the Hughes Active Power Edge.

Hughes Active Power Edge Provides Intelligent Power Management

An intelligent power distribution unit (PDU), the Hughes Active Power Edge keeps critical devices up and running across a government network. Named as a 2023 INTERNET TELEPHONY Product of the Year, the Active Power Edge leverages artificial intelligence to detect local network failures and power cycle connected devices, such as the modems, routers and switches associated with the network. This reduces downtime and mistakes that happen when staff must identify and resolve issues on their own or rely on a help desk to walk them through a manual device restart procedure. It also means employees can stay focused on serving customers, rather than on checking devices, tracing cables, or worrying about unplugging the wrong cord.

The Active Power Edge offers a fast, efficient way to ensure operational continuity across enterprise systems that run on various government devices, whether they are under management by an in-house IT team or an outsourced managed service provider (MSP). Plus, Active Power Edge insights are visible across the enterprise through the HughesON™ portal, the single pane of glass dashboard where Hughes engineers and customers can easily monitor device performance to make sure everything is working.

How the Hughes Active Power Edge Functions to Support Your Mission

Here are some real-world examples of the types of questions the Active Power Edge can proactively help you answer (or answer for you, without you even having to ask the question!):

• Is the device on? Is it drawing power?

  • Situation: A printer at a remote office is plugged into outlet 3 on the Active Power Edge and has become unplugged.
  • Solution: The Active Power Edge detects the drop in power usage in outlet 3. On the HughesON™ Portal, a red alert message appears on the dashboard, notifying the IT team to check outlet 3.

• Does the device need a reboot?

  • Situation: A router plugged into an Active Power Edge is experiencing problems and needs a simple reboot.
  • Solution: The Active Power Edge identifies the issue and automatically resets the outlet to reboot the device autonomously.

• Can the Hughes Active Power Edge unit be programmed so it will NOT automatically turn off/on equipment?

  • Situation: A government device located at a remote office collects valuable data logs that provide the government operator with important data about the device, including a possible failure.
  • Solution: The Active Power Edge detects the monitored device is not responding but does nothing. The unit sends information that a device needs help and will wait for a human to respond to fix it.

• Is the system vulnerable to misuse?

  • Situation: On-site employees have a bad habit of usurping the business-critical power distribution unit outlets and plugging their personal devices into it. On occasion, they inadvertently unplug critical systems when searching for an open outlet.
  • Solution: With the Active Power Edge, unused and misused outlets can be disabled so employees aren’t tempted to tamper with or use a PDU.

In addition to boosting overall network reliability and operational continuity, the Active Power Edge provides long-term activity and status reporting to help reveal chronic problem areas. It’s a smart way to gain a more complete view of an enterprise network’s health while mitigating common causes of downtime⎯enabling government offices to stay connected and keep their operations up and running.

The Hughes Government Team knows that government offices need to serve citizens as quickly as possible. When outages occur, no one wants to wait for the resolution. Imagine a public safety network goes down leaving responders disconnected while they wait for the the problem to be reviewed and resolved. They do not have extra time for this outage.

We look forward to discussing how to apply the Active Power Edge to resolve these types of problems in your agency and help your team keep functioning with minimal downtime.