The BlueFire® 200/24 presents a simple and efficient means of supporting Layer 2 LAN switching for up to 24 devices while providing Power over Ethernet (PoE) for NEC IP telephony terminals utilizing either the transmit and receive pairs or the "spare pairs" from standard Ethernet cabling. This power distribution system simplifies centralized UPS backup without requiring local AC adapter UPS support. This assures business communications continuity during a commercial power outage.

All 24 ports can auto-negotiate between 10/100 Mbps, half duplex or full duplex with flow control provided for half duplex operation. An optional front panel slide-in module provides two ports for high speed up-links supporting 1000BASE-SX, 1000BASE-LX, 1000BASE-T or GBIC Gigabit Ethernet.

The BlueFire 200/24 actually "discovers" LAN devices requiring power from the LAN before the -48 VDC is applied to the circuit. This provides the flexibility to connect non-telephony (non-LAN-powered) devices (such as PCs) to the switch as well as IP telephones.