Backup Battery Disclosure

Backup Power for Residential Fiber Optic Voice Telephone Services During Power Outages:

For many years, your landline telephone would allow you to stay connected to emergency voice services during a power outage. However, if your residential voice telephone service is provided using fiber optics, rather than the traditional twisted pair copper-based line, the residential voice telephone service requires backup battery power to continue functioning during a power outage. To avoid a disruption of home voice service during a power outage — and to maintain the ability to connect to 911 emergency services — 3E8 Broadband Solutions, LLC d/b/a empower Delivered by Craighead Electric (“empower”) offers customers the option of purchasing a battery for backup power for your residential fiber optic voice telephone service at the time of the initial installation: $__________ for a battery that provides a minimum of 8 hours of standby power and $_________ for a battery that provides a minimum of 24 hours of standby power.

Service Outages: 

You acknowledge and understand that the Service and all 911 service does not function in the event of power failure.  Should there be an interruption in the power supply, the Service and all 911 service will not function until power is restored.  A power failure or disruption may require the Customer to reset or reconfigure the landline phone and other CPE equipment prior to using the Service and 911 or E911 service.  You also acknowledge and understand that the Service, 911 and E911 service requires a fully functional broadband connection to the Internet and that, accordingly, in the event of an outage of, or termination of broadband service for any reason, the Service and all 911 Service will not function.  If there is an interruption in the power supply and/or an ISP/broadband outage, the Service and all 911 service will not function until the power supply is restored and/or the ISP/broadband outage fixed.

            You acknowledge that empower is not responsible for any service outage related to the loss of electrical power, connectivity, suspension, cancellation or termination by your broadband or Internet service provider as well as the blocking of ports by your broadband or Internet service provider, suspension or termination of your empower Services/Account or any failures resulting from local or national disasters.

What Your Backup Battery Can and Cannot Do for You:

The backup battery for fiber optic voice service allows you to continue to use your voice services during a power outage. Without a backup battery or alternate backup power source such as a generator, customers with fiber-delivered services will not be able to make calls, including emergency calls to 911. The only way to maintain the ability to use your voice service is by using some form of backup power. The backup battery is designed to only keep the voice service up for the duration described above; it will not power other ports or your Wi-Fi router.  NOTE:  The battery backup will provide fewer hours based upon the amount of talk time it is used, if any. 

Inability to Use Cordless Phones and Other Devices During A Power Outage:

If you have a cordless phone, it will not work during a power outage as your cordless phone requires power from an external power source like an electric outlet in your home. To use your cordless phone, you would need to power the cordless phone with a backup generator or Uninterruptible Power Supply (“UPS”). To use your empower’s voice service during power outages, we suggest that you keep a corded phone on hand. Corded phones, unlike cordless phones, do not need a separate power source to operate.

empower’s backup battery only provides backup power to empower’s fiber optic voice services. Devices that rely on voice service, such as home security systems, medical monitoring devices, TTY devices, and other equipment may be disrupted if there is an electrical power outage unless those devices are powered by an alternate power source such as a generator or UPS. These types of alternate power sources are available from third party retail vendors, but are not available from empower.

Expected Backup Battery Power Duration:

The backup battery that you may purchase when you initiate empower’s fiber optic voice service is expected to last up to 8 or 24 hours on standby power, depending on the option selected. The  24 hour backup battery should give you approximately 8 to 10 hours of talk time and the 8 hour battery backup should give you approximately 2.5 to 3 hours of talk time.

Instructions for Proper Care and Use of Your Backup Battery:

Your backup battery is installed at or near the empower Fiber Optic Network Terminal (“ONT”) inside your home. The battery for your empower fiber optic voice services is designed to be operated in temperatures above 14°F and below 120°F and, therefore, should be kept between these temperatures. empower’s backup batteries are rechargeable and have an estimated useful life span of 6-10 years. empower’s advanced electronics monitor the battery voltage and will alert us when it is low. You will not need to access the battery; however, if you experience any problems with your empower fiber optic voice service during a power outage of less than 24 hours when you have a 24 hours battery backup, please promptly notify us. empower will provide and install at no cost to you, a replacement backup battery if the battery is defective. Please remember that the talk time is less than the standby power duration provided by either battery.