Everyone understands that climate change is a problem, this was just reinforced in this week’s State of The Union speech, so how are you going to reduce your Carbon Footprint? Well USA Voice & Data have a unique take on this, we say “Stop Recycling Equipment”.
Yep that’s right, you read that right, “Stop Recycling Equipment” or perhaps more accurately we should say “Recycle Equipment for the Last Time”. So why would we say that? Well bottom line we believe it’s time to stop buying equipment in the first place and move to Cloud-based Solutions. Sure, some end user equipment is always going to be necessary, but equally so much other shared equipment totally unnecessary these days.
Why is equipment becoming increasingly less necessary?
Equipment is becoming increasingly less necessary because:
- The functionality provided by most equipment is now available as a Cloud Service and from numerous proven Cloud Services providers.
- Improved connectivity makes these Cloud Services as available as any piece of equipment you used to purchase and plug into your LAN.
- Increased use of wireless networks has reduced the need for so many network switches.
- Inherent reliability of a well-engineered Cloud Solution is greater than a single local device.
Why does this make sense financially as well?
Financial benefits of leveraging more Cloud Services and less equipment include:
- Reduced capital costs of replacing old physical infrastructure.
- The functionality provided by most equipment is now available as a Cloud Service and from numerous proven providers.
If I do have some old equipment that I need to get rid of what do I do with it?
Lots of our clients ask us this question and we have found the best things to do with old phone and IT equipment include the following:
- Sell it back to the phone or IT vendor that sold it to you. Perhaps they have a client who needs some replacement parts or some extra handsets for a similar system?
- Sell it on Ebay or Craigslist. There is often a start-up looking for something old, cheap and functional, who might take it off your hands.
- Find a local firm running a charity supporting equipment recycling program. Here in Chicago for example, Garvey’s Office Products raised $175,000 for local charities in 2014 through their “Recycle for a reason” program, and they will pick up your unwanted equipment when they stop by to deliver your office supplies (which they also do a great job at). Read more about this incredible program at http://getgarveys.com/recyclingprogram.htm .
- Donate it directly to a local charity and write it off as a charitable donation on your tax return.
- Work directly with a R2 and ISO 14001 certified Recycling company such as USA Voice & Data’s recycling partner ARCOA USA. ARCOA works with large and small companies to efficiently and cost-effectively process and manage their obsolete assets, performing environmentally friendly recycling, dismantling every product by hand to maximize the amount of materials that are recovered. Components of value are sold for reuse and other parts are sent to certified facilities for metals and plastics recovery.
- Drop it off at your local Best Buy but old Reduced capital costs of replacing old physical infrastructure
So if your 2015 plans included some budget for a telecom or IT infrastructure upgrade, let us know if we can help you find an upgrade solution which reduces your equipment purchases, capital outlay and carbon footprint all at the same time. We can also help you find some potential buyers of your old equipment. Just give us a call at 312-604-3070 or email us at info@usavoicedata.com. USA Voice & Data would be happy to help.
