In today’s world, we rely heavily on technology to get us through each day. Whether it’s for work or personal use, we’re constantly connected to the internet, using our devices to stay connected with loved ones, complete assignments, run businesses, or even just to enjoy some entertainment. However, the technological world around us has become highly dependent upon the continuous availability of electrical power. A power outage or surge can bring everything to a sudden halt, causing data loss, damage to devices, and a frustrating loss of productivity. This is where an APC UPS comes in handy.
What is a UPS?
An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) offers guaranteed power protection for connected electronics.
When power is interrupted, or fluctuates outside safe levels, a UPS will instantly provide clean battery backup power and surge protection for plugged-in, sensitive equipment.
Downtime is not an option.
Power protection has never been more critical than it is today, homes and businesses rely on their electronics and critical applications to ensure that they are always fully functional.
This includes a growing culture of employees that need “always-on” technology, whether they are in the office or working from home. Reducing equipment downtime, and thus increasing profitability, is now a new priority for any size of business. In today’s ‘always on’ world, downtime is not an option. Uninterruptible power supply (UPS) plays a critical role in ensuring resilient power infrastructure.
The Impact of IT Downtime and Power Outages
Unplanned downtime is defined as an unexpected period when IT systems and solutions are unavailable to a business and its operations.
What power conditions will a UPS battery backup protect against?
Maybe power problems originate in the commercial power grid, which, with its thousands of miles of transmission lines, is subject to damage from weather variations such a hurricanes, lightning, storms, snow, ice, flooding, equipment failure, and traffic accidents.
Why do you need a UPS in your home?
At home, the electronic devices you rely on every day are usually for communication, security, entertainment, work, or education. With remote working and learning becoming increasingly more popular, the stakes for at-home protection are steadily growing. An APC UPS can protect the following devices, allowing you to stay safe, connected, and productive:
- Wireless networking equipment
- Computers
- Televisions
- Security systems
- Gaming consoles
- Mobile devices
Why do you need a UPS for your business?
Whilst power outages are frustrating for those at home, they can be financially crippling for a business. Power outages can cost a company thousands of pounds and can damage their reputation. Here are some scenarios where power problems can negatively impact any business:
- Internal business processes – power outages can cause all internal processes to come to an abrupt halt. This can cause inventory tracking, quoting, invoicing, etc, to all become very delayed, costing your business time and manpower.
- Reduced employee productivity – the moment your systems go down, so does your workforce. Without access to the systems they need, or to the internet, any work being produced will quickly stop. This can cause important work to be pushed back, deadlines missed, and opportunities lost.
- Communication issues – When email servers go offline and VoIP phones shut down, your connection to the outside world is gone. Customers trying to contact you for services or goods are lost, and customers requiring support or who are upset will go ignored. This can quickly lead to loss of leads, bad relationships with clients, and a bad reputation as a company that doesn’t care.
- Manufacturing line shutdown – The time lost during this process may result in missed deadlines that affect your relationships and reputation as a reliable company. Not only that but you will also need to factor in the cost of machine resetting and disposal of waste material.
- Contractual supply penalties – Not only will loss of work and missed deadlines put your reputation on the line, but you may also face penalties for this. This can be particularly common for those in industrial or component suppliers.
- Professional IT recovery costs – When sudden power problems occur, there is no time to prepare. This lack of preparation can cause huge losses of data that will need to be recovered. This causes additional costs to go back to get core IT systems backed up.
- Lost sales revenue – All the time you have spent building up your reputation can very quickly be lost if you are unreachable when needed. If customers are unable to reach you regarding inquiries or problems, they will soon give up on working with you in the future.
- Corporate reputation – For every unresolved negative experience, you will need to ensure 12 positive experiences to make up for this. Whilst this may seem like overkill, this is your best-case scenario. If you are unable to deliver that positive experience to begin with, 51% of customers will already be switching to a competitor.
Types of Application
- Computers and Peripherals
- Networks and Servers
- Data centres and Facilities
- Special Applications
- UPS Management
- UPS Replacement Batteries
What UPS is right for you?
Here’s a peek into some of the most popular UPS ranges available at Comms Express. For additional information, check out our APC UPS range!
Perfect for home users:
APC Back-UPS
Battery Backup & Surge Protector for Electronics and Computers
Protect your wireless networks, computers, gaming consoles, and other electronics with guaranteed power and surge protection using an APC Back-UPS. This range of UPS supplies backup during outages and unsafe fluctuations, as well as protects your equipment against damaging surges and spikes. Available in both tower or floor styles, these flexible UPS systems are ideal for both home and workplace, being adaptable to different situations.
Benefits:
- Intelligent battery management
- Battery failure notification
- Automatic self-test
- Audible alarms
- Battery and surge protected outlets
APC Back-UPS Pro
High-Performance Computer and Electronics UPS for Premium Power Protection
An upgrade to the Back-UPS model, the Back-UPS Pro provides you with guaranteed power protection for high-performance computer systems, routers/modems, external storage devices, game consoles, and other electronic devices. They will keep your equipment running during power problems by providing an abundance of battery backup, stabilizing unsafe equipment, and providing protection against surges and spikes.
Benefits:
- Customizable voltage-transfer points
- Boost and Trim Automatic Voltage Regulation (AVR)
- Battery failure or disconnected notifications
- Cold-start capable
- Intelligent battery management
- Automatic self-test
APC Easy UPS
Power protection for unstable power conditions
Perfect for homes or small offices, the Easy UP is a versatile UPS that will provide you with the essential power protection you need, no matter how unstable the power conditions.
Benefits:
- Advanced Safety Features
- Intelligent battery management
- Battery failure notification
- Cold-start capable
- Boost Automatic Voltage Regulation (AVR)
Perfect for businesses:
APC Smart UPS
Intelligent and efficient network power protection from entry level to scaleable runtime
Unlike traditional UPS systems, the Smart UPS will seamlessly integrate with your network. Enjoy better visibility into the health and performance of your UPS and real time battery status updates with a UPS that includes higher accessibility, enhanced performance and increased reliability.
Benefits:
- Adjustable voltage sensitivity & transfer points
- Power conditioning
- Intelligent battery management
- Boost and Trim Automatic Voltage Regulation (AVR)
- Predictive failure and disconnected battery notifications
- Temperature-compensated battery charging
APC Smart-UPS On-Line
High density, double-conversion on-line power protection with scalable runtime
Protect your servers, voice / data networks, medical labs, and light industrial applications with the high density, true double-conversion on-line power protection that comes with a Smart-UPS On-Line system! When your business requires a runtime of hours and not minutes, a Smart-UPS On-line is your best solution. All models 5kVa and above include a Network Management Card to allow you to manage your system from anywhere.
Benefits:
- Temperature-compensated battery charging
- Automatic restart of loads after UPS shutdown
- Hot-swappable batteries
- Intelligent battery management
- Frequency and voltage regulation
- Disconnected battery & predictive failure notifications
Buy APC Smart UPS Online SRT Marine
Buy APC Smart UPS Online SRT Lithium-Ion
This is just a brief look at APC, if you require APC equipment for your business, you can check our Schneider Electric microsite for a wide range of APC products to suit your needs.
Other Schneider Electric products Available from Comms Express:
Server Racks & Accessories | NetBotz Security and Environmental Monitoring | Extended Warranty | Accessory Extended Warranty | Power Distribution Units | Uniterruptible Power Supply
If you require any further information on these or any other products that we stock here at Comms Express, please do not hesitate to contact our team who will be only too happy to help.
Until next time…
