While it might be an overstatement to say we “shocked” people at BICSI with our power-over-Ethernet (PoE) products, it would be accurate to say there was definitely a lot of interest.
The BICSI Winter Conference and Exhibition ran January 31 – February 4, 2016, at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort & Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, marking Transition Networks’ 15th time at the conference. The event brought together thousands of attendees, exhibit hall visitors and guests, as well as more than 175 exhibitors, from around the world.
We showcased our advanced fiber integration products throughout the show, including our new family of hardened 10/100/1000 Ethernet mini media converters and our full-line of fiber network interface cards (NICs), but PoE was by far the hottest topic in our booth as most current and prospective customers are using copper to fiber conversion, making PoE a necessity in all vertical markets.
Booth visitors were specifically interested in our PoE media converters, which combine power and data in one cable – eliminating the need for additional, unnecessary power cable runs to security cameras, wireless access points, or IP phones.
Because we have a strong customer base in Florida, most of the attendees were familiar with Transition Networks and knew us for our media converters. So, our advances in hardened PoE switches were “new” and garnered a lot of interest from many who were in attendance.
While most customers want PoE to simplify the installation of remote Wi-Fi access points and other devices, there are some unique use cases. For example, one prospective customer informed us how hard it really is to function without the auto power reset (APR) feature on the PoE media converter he uses to reset a surveillance camera when it freezes. That’s because to physically reach and reset the camera, he must engage with Occupational Safety and Health Administration rules that mandate a lengthy safety process that involves the IT and safety teams who then seek authorization for the workforce to remedy the issue. Fortunately, our PoE switch replaces this process with a simple button push that resets the camera with no safety issues.
As always, the BICSI Winter Conference was a successful event for us. We were pleased to meet with prospective customers while also hearing from so many of our current customers that they’re happy with their Transition Networks solutions. We look forward to seeing you at next year’s conference!
