MTC - Backup Power Consumer Notification
Battery Backup - Power for Home Phone Services During Power Outages
For many years, your home phone would allow you to stay connected to emergency voice services during a power outage. However, many of today’s advanced home phone services, including those delivered over fiber optic networks, require electric power to operate, or backup battery power in the event of a power outage.
To avoid a disruption of voice service during an outage – and to maintain the ability to connect to 911 emergency services, we at McDonough Telephone Cooperative/MTC Communications Inc (“MTC”) offer you the option of having backup power for your home phone(s).
What Your Battery Can – and Can’t – Do for You
Without a backup battery or alternate backup source such as a generator, customers will not be able to make any calls, including emergency calls to 911. The only way to maintain the ability to use your phone in the event of a power failure is by using some form of backup power.
Our backup battery does not provide power to any services other than voice. Home security systems, medical monitoring devices and other equipment will not run on a home phone backup battery. MTC’s backup batteries for telephone service allow you to continue to use your home voice services during a power outage. Backup batteries are expected to last at least 8 hours on standby power. The backup battery should give you approximately 6 hours of talk time. If you feel that is not enough time, you may extend your standby power by purchasing a 24 hour battery or additional 8 hour batteries.
Purchase and Replacement Options
If you are concerned about being able to contact 911 emergency services during a power outage, a backup battery may be a good option for you.
Please follow the below directions to test your existing battery strength:
Instructions for Checking Battery Strength
To verify your existing battery strength, you can either call our office for us to perform a remote check or you can manually check the battery. To find the existing battery, start where the fiber optic cable comes into the building and look for a unit similar to the illustrations on the enclosed instructions. The unit is usually placed in an inconspicuous location. MTC utilizes two different types of battery backup equipment. Please follow the PDF link instructions for your style of battery backup.
Instructions for Proper Care and Use of Your Battery
Please follow the more detailed instructions included with your battery for proper use, storage, and care of your battery to ensure that it will function as needed during a power outage. They will not last forever and should be replaced when your device starts to show low battery strength. You should also periodically—as described in the instructions included with your battery—test the battery to verify both the operation of the backup battery and its condition.