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SiTel Intros Chip for Low VoIP Application Power Consumption

By Michael Dinan, TMCnet Editor

Targeting a market that experts say will gain traction under a new U.S. presidential administration, a Netherlands-based company that designs chips for mobile devices said it’s created a processor that reduces VoIP applications’ power consumption by as much as 50 percent.

 

Officials with SiTel Semiconductor BV say tests on a dual 10/100 Ethernet VoIP desktop phone that’s based on their so-called “SC14450” processor showed that power consumption during a phone call was less than 800 milliwatts.

 

According to Mark De Clercq, product marketing manager at SiTel, the company is committed to reducing the impact our operations have on the environment and delivering best-in-class power consumption.

 

“These power consumption figures are 50 percent lower than anything we have seen on the market to date,” De Clercq said. “With the SC14450 (pictured right), manufacturers can easily develop solutions that are cheaper for their customers to run and help reduce global demand for electricity.”

 

As TMCnet has reported, IT insiders say that President-elect Barack Obama’s focus on sustainability and the environment is expected to have a major impact on IT companies.

 

Jan Dawson, vice president at international consulting firm Ovum, said that Obama’s administration likely will put out more strict emissions standards – a move that could hurt the larger telecom companies, with their large fleets of specialized trucks.

 

“Tax rates on corporations may have to be raised to pay for some of the income tax cuts and increases in spending proposed by the Obama campaign,” Dawson writes.

 

Yet, much of this will be offset by Obama’s push for sustainability – a push that’s expected to invest and support technologies such as telepresence, that reduce carbon footprints.

 

“Larger telcos are likely to feel the impact of the change in administrations more than their smaller brethren, but all telcos are likely to have to make some adjustments and concessions under the new regime,” Dawson writes.

 

According to Andrew D. Lipman of Bingham McCutchen LLP, a Federal Communications Commission led by an Obama appointee kiely would routinely ask how different technologies affect the environment.

 

“This could include not only emission reduction and energy savings in the communications sector, but also benefits from the adoption of communications technologies to influence and transform the way people converse, work and invest,” Lipman told TMCnet during an interview. “The FCC (News - Alert) likely will look for creative and innovative means to use technology to deliver energy efficiency.”

 

VoIP is a market that could use some help in that regard. Though it’s rapidly emerging as a preferred telephony solution among businesses, VoIP’s handsets are powered from electricty or through routers and servers through power-over-Ethernet. That makes VoIP power consumption an issue.

 

SiTel officials say that to help manufacturers address such concerns, it’s released modified versions of its Enterprise VoIP development kits, featuring hardware and software enhancements that optimize the use of power within VoIP applications.

 

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Michael Dinan is a contributing editor for TMCnet, covering news in the IP communications, call center and customer relationship management industries. To read more of Michael’s articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Michael Dinan