Make sure every piece of sensitive electronic
equipment in your office has some form of surge suppression. Although
most people intuitively think of their PCs and monitors first, it's
just as important to factor in external modems, hubs, routers,
switches, workgroup laser printers, telephones, cell phone chargers
and fax machines.
Data Line Protection for Modems and Phones
Also, don't overlook data line power protection.
Besides surges and spikes coming in from electric utility receptacles,
surges and spikes also can originate from telecommunication lines.
Power surges and spikes can go right from telephone and cable-TV
circuits to your modem or network card, and literally fry the innards
of your PC. Unfortunately, data line-induced power fluctuations can
cause some very expensive damage.
So be sure your surge protector has data line
protection, or simply purchase a stand-alone data line surge
protector separately to sit between your telecommunication circuits
and equipment. Also, make sure you read the included instructions
and actually use the data line protection device properly. For
stand-alone data line surge protectors, the product generally needs
to be grounded to be effective.
Protecting High-Speed Data Circuits
Also don't overlook the many data circuits you may
have coming into your office, beyond basic analog telephone lines.
To be well-protected, consider installing data line protection for
any advanced telecommunication circuits in your office such as ISDN,
xDSL, Frame Relay, Fractional T1/T3 and cable modem.
Protecting Modems in Notebook PCs
And a few crucial words about notebook power
protection for the road warriors among us: Most top power protection
vendors make inexpensive, portable surge protectors, with data line
protection, especially for notebooks.
Get
the Sample Action Items for Tip #89
