Fiber Backup Power Information
Backup Power Information
This is a notice to all Wes-Tex Telephone Cooperative, Inc. and Westex Telecom (“Wes-Tex”) customers that are served on Fiber to the home plant that does not directly power your voice service. This Fiber Technology has power limitations. This notice describes the limitations of your service.
What are the power limitations?
If your home phone service is provided with our state-of-the-art fiber optic network, it requires electric power to operate. When your commercial power is interrupted, your voice service will switch to a battery backup. We at Wes-Tex provide battery backup as part of your service but the power does not last indefinitely and must be maintained.
What Your Backup Battery Can and Can’t Do for You
The battery backup provided by Wes-Tex must be kept connected to a power source so that it maintains a charge. This will allow you to continue to use your home voice services during a power outage.
The battery provided by Wes-Tex is expected to last at least 8 hours on standby power. That means the backup battery should give you approximately 6 hours of talk time. Cordless phones, home security systems, the internet, medical monitoring devices, routers and other equipment are not powered by the Wes-Tex battery backup during a power outage. If you want these devices to operate during an outage, you should purchase a separate battery backup designed to support that equipment.
Instructions for Proper Care and Use of Your Battery
Our service technician will provide you with verbal on-site instructions that will include proper operation of the battery backup to ensure that it will function as needed during a power outage. Because environmental factors, such as temperature, can also shorten the battery’s life, Wes-Tex technicians will make every effort to install the battery backup in a location at your premise that stays above 41°F and below 104°F. The battery backup provided to you by Wes-Tex will last approximately 5 years. Wes-Tex will maintain and replace it should it stop working. If your services stop working, or if your battery backup starts to make a beeping sound or the green light is out, please verify that it is plugged in to an electrical outlet. If your services are not restored, or if the beeping continues, please call our business office at (432) 756-3393.
