Environmental Impact Assessment of IP Telephony Pack

IP Telephony Pack is a package product that combines the minimum required equipment (10 IP phones, 1 SIP telephony server, and 1 public line connection gateway) to configure a medium-scale IP telephony system of 10 to 500 units. Additional IP phones, softphones, switching hubs with power supply capability, etc., are available as options and thus can be added as the need arises. Introducing the IP Telephony Pack can help businesses reduce their communication and network management costs by integrating their phone network and data communication network, and a new phone usage style can be achieved through the introduction of softphones. In order to clarify the environmental effect of introducing the IP Telephony Pack, an environmental impact assessment based on a comparison with the conventional private branch exchange (PBX) was performed. There were 10 phone terminals before and after system's introduction, and an operation time span of one year was assumed. In the case of the conventional PBX, periodic wire maintenance was necessary due to personnel transfers, etc., but in the case of IP telephony, such maintenance is not needed. Thus, CO2 emissions were calculated considering the total lifecycle, factoring in the use of the equipment making up the in-house phone network, the use of air conditioning equipment in the machine room, and the use of wire materials during periodic wire maintenance. As a result, compared to the former PBX, CO2 emissions are reduced by approximately 58% thanks to UNIVERGE product power saving and the attendant reduction in air conditioning in the power room. * IP telephony is a telephony system that uses a LAN, unlike a traditional extension phone network (voice network).

IP Telephony Pack assessment model diagram

IP Telephony Pack assessment result

IP Telephony Pack assessment scope

Regarding the equipment making up the in-house phone network, the basic configuration equipment of the IP Telephony Pack and an equivalent PBX were assumed. The in-house LAN component equipment was not included in the Pack equipment components so existing equipment was used, and since the change in impact of the in-house LAN before and after the system's introduction was considered to be minimal, it was not included in the assessment.

IP Telephony Pack calculation method

For the use of in-house phone network component equipment, the CO2 emissions resulting from the production of power used by the PBX, SIP (*) telephony servers, phone terminals, etc., was assessed. For the use of air conditioning equipment in the machine room, the CO2 emissions resulting from the production of power required by the air conditioning equipment to be added in case equipment to be assessed is installed in the existing machine room, were assessed. For the use of wire materials, the CO2 emissions resulting from the production and discarding of wire materials required for wire maintenance of the conventional PBX, were assessed. (*) SIP: The acronym of Session Initiation Protocol, a communication control protocol that is an international standard, which is applied to Internet phones, etc. using VoIP.

Assessment of Software Options

Assessment of the environmental impact of introducing softphones as an option to replace IP phone terminals was performed. Softphones are implemented by installing software on PCs and are used by connecting a handset to the PC. Softphones are provided with application sharing and simple messaging functions, and allow paperless viewing of documents and transmission of messages that are printed on paper in the case of a conventional PBX. Therefore, CO2 emissions were calculated taking into account the entire lifecycle for document and memo paper, in addition to the use of the component equipment of the in-house phone network, use of air conditioning equipment in the machine room, and use of wire materials for periodic wire maintenance. As a result, replacing phone terminals with softphones resulted in reduced paper consumption thanks to softphone application sharing, etc., and a 71% drop in CO2 emissions through changes in phone usage style.

Software option assessment model diagram

Software option assessment result

Softphone option assessment scope

The component equipment of the in-house phone network was assumed to consist of the basic configuration equipment of the IP Telephony Pack and an equivalent PBX. The in-house LAN component equipment was not included in the Pack equipment components so existing equipment was used, and since the change in impact of the in-house LAN before and after the system's introduction was considered to be minimal, it was not included in the assessment. Moreover, since PCs are not included among the Pack components, use of the existing PCs was assumed, and thus only the increase in power consumption due to handset use was considered as the assessment scope.

Softphone options calculation method

For the use of in-house phone network component equipment, CO2 emissions resulting from the production of power for the PBX, SIP telephony server, phone terminals, etc., were assessed. For the use of air conditioning equipment in the machine room, the CO2 emissions resulting from the production of power required by the air conditioning equipment to be added in case equipment to be assessed is installed in the existing machine room, were assessed. For the use of wire materials, the CO2 emissions resulting from the production and discarding of wire materials required for wire maintenance on the conventional PBX, were assessed. CO2 emissions resulting from the production and discarding of paper used for printing documents and taking memos during use of the conventional PBX, were assessed.