Belkin International is raising market awareness around the energy that’s being wasted and the money being lost by businesses as a result of PCs and peripherals being left on standby, or vampire power.
The consumer electronics and commercial solutions vendor recently announced its new Conserve Surge product, which is now available through its distributor and direct market reseller partners. Cliff Unger, senior product manager for commercial products in the Americas region for Belkin, said Conserve Surge is an eight-outlet surge protector with timer device that’s designed to help bridge the green IT gap from the data centre to the office environment.
The product is meant to help businesses reduce their overall costs and impact on the bottom line by powering off devices when they’re not in use.
“Standby power is also known as vampire power,” Unger said. “It’s a term used to describe power that’s being consumed by office electronics even when they’re in a standby state.”
This is a great opportunity for channel partners to go to their customers with a green IT solution strategy, Unger suggests. The value proposition is that this product spans across all verticals and organizations because it results in energy savings.
“While this is a universal product, some key market areas include higher education, government and corporate environments,” Unger said. “Partners can engage with their existing customers or they can generate net new opportunities by going in with a green IT solution.”
Devices that still consume energy while in standby mode include desktop computers, monitors, printers, fax machines, scanners and more. Furthermore, this “wasted” energy translates to higher energy bills and a negative impact on the environment, Unger added.
Enter the Belkin Conserve Surge with Timer solution. This is an eight-outlet surge protector that features two “always-on” outlets for devices that require constant power, and six “switched” outlets, for devices such as printers and desk lights.
“Reducing costs is one of the key factors driving the adoption of green IT solutions,” Unger said. “This is a significant way to help businesses have an impact on their bottom line by powering off the equipment that’s not being used.”
Based on some of Belkin’s return on investment (ROI) calculations, Unger says at an MSRP of US$34.99, customers should expect to see a payback on the product in about nine months. That’s assuming they use the Belkin Conserve Surge product with devices such as an LCD monitor, printer, desktop computer, etc. As an example, a customer with a 2,000-seat environment may see annual savings of $20,000 a year while using this product, he added.
The way the product works is with the press of a button, so there’s no need for training, Unger explained. At the beginning of the work day, a user simply comes in and presses a button on the surge protector, which starts the timer for 11 hours. Once the time’s up, all of the switchable appliances that are plugged into the surge protector are turned off and remain off until the user comes into work the next morning.
The surge protector also features a light indicator to warn users of an impending shutdown closer to the 11-hour mark. At this point, the user can press the button again, which will reset the timer, or they can use the button as a traditional on/off button, he said.
“Now’s the time partners can educate and raise awareness with their customers by asking them if they know how much power they’re using while devices are in standby power,” Unger said. “They can then help customers save on energy costs and also improve their bottom line.”
