It’s a fact of life in today’s digital age that network outages happen. Whether it’s internet access, cable television or enterprise network access at the office. And it’s also a fact of life that the first thing you do when a connection stops working is turn the device off, then on again. 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 thought to get ahead of the problem with the Hughes Active Power Edge.
An intelligent power distribution unit (PDU), the Hughes Active Power Edge keeps critical devices up and running across an enterprise network.
Named as a 2023 INTERNET TELEPHONY Product of the Year, the Active Power Edge leverages artificial intelligence (AI) 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 business systems on any number of enterprise devices, whether under management by an in-house IT team or outsourced MSP. Plus, Active Power Edge insights are visible across the enterprise through the HughesON™ portal, the single pane of glass dashboard, where Hughes customers can easily monitor device performance.
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 it 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.
- 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 into the health of an enterprise network while mitigating common causes of downtime––enabling businesses to stay connected and keep their operations up and running.