Green IT Begins with a 
Sustainable Telephone System

CRSD & Energy Efficiency: 
Strategic Advantages for Your Business

Laura Toffali | Update: January 23, 2026

On a global level, we are increasingly becoming aware of our environment, the climate crisis and the sharp rise in energy costs, which remain a critical factor in determining competitiveness. The last doubts have been erased:

Environmental sustainability is at the top of the agenda of politics, science and administration. The future belongs to companies that invest in sustainability - also in response to new European reporting standards such as the CSRD Directive.¹
     

Companies need to take a holistic approach in order to be sustainable, and to protect the environment at the same time. This approach encompasses three dimensions: ecological responsibility, social equity and economic performance. These three dimensions are intertwined and must be considered in context so that products have as little environmental impact as possible while providing economic benefits and high performance.

The telecommunications industry and especially IP telephony and VoIP can set the grounds for creating environmentally friendly “green” information technology (Green Computing / Green IT), representing a pillar of the so-called digital and ecological “twin transition.” Let us take a look at some green aspects.

Eco Rating: Established Evaluation System for Sustainable Mobile Phones

The five leading European mobile network operators - Telekom, Orange, Telefónica, Telia and Vodafone – launched the very first eco rating initiative in June 2021.² This green evaluation system helps consumers to identify the most sustainable mobile phones while it motivates the mobile industry to reduce the environmental impact of mobile phones. Since its debut in 2021, the system has become a global standard.

These key aspects of the Eco Rating methodology are also applicable to the world of corporate communications, where professional users are becoming increasingly aware that sustainability goals are just as important to a company’s success as financial factors.

Why have innovaphone Solutions been Green Right from the Start?

Based on these five criteria listed above, we can say that the VoIP solutions by innovaphone have been green ever since the first gateways were developed. At the time, it was even suggested to us to use a larger box because the price for such a small unit would be quite difficult to justify. As you can see: The minimal use of resources has only recently been perceived as an ecological and strategic advantage.

One of the main sustainability factors is the circular economy (CE) where materials are ecologically recovered to reduce waste and landfill. Although Europe is making great progress with its new action plan for the circular economy and the definition of the future Circular Economy Act aiming to create a genuine internal market for secondary raw materials, there is still no widespread system at the industrial level for the electronics industry. This is quite a pity because on the one hand, the continent only provides limited raw materials such as gold, on the other hand, we have so many valuable resources locked up in form of unused waste.

The alternative is to minimize waste by stretching the life cycles of products. innovaphone gateways - manufactured in Germany - are built and dimensioned to run for decades without additional computers or servers. They further guarantee:

Businesses can rest assured that they have a communications solution that is always in tune with latest technologies while meeting current business needs.

What if the system breaks down during the course of its long service life? As one of only few manufacturers, innovaphone offers a repair service for the own products. This is a service that is in line with the company’s sustainability philosophy and one that opposes the trend for disposable products.

Higher Energy Efficiency of Products for Greener VoIP

Energy consumption of the innovaphone PBX including the collaboration and conferencing platform is the lowest available on the market today: With all features for 150 extensions, it has an average consumption of approximately 5 watts / per hour. With an estimated operation of 8600 hours per annum and - for calculation purposes - a runtime of 5 years, the energy consumption is a mere 215 kWh. Based on average European industrial energy costs of 19 cents / kWh, the total energy costs over 5 years amount to just 40.85 EUR.⁴

The same calculation based on an equivalent platform with an average consumption of 500 watts would lead to an energy consumption of 21.500 kWh= 4,085.00 EUR. This leads up to a lower environmental impact and substantial savings of over 8 tons of carbon dioxide.

Nowadays, this value is much more than just a footnote at the end of a project: with the entry into force of the ESRS standards provided for in the CSRD Directive, the energy efficiency of IT infrastructure is becoming a decisive rating factor. While large companies are already legally required to report their energy consumption, providing valid consumption data is becoming a basic requirement for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to remain competitive within the supply chain and strengthen their own bank and ESG ratings. Opting for low-consumption solutions allows companies of all sizes to enter the market with certifiable data. This simplifies audit processes and guarantees the transparency that partners and investors are increasingly demanding today.

In large enterprise communications scenarios with thousands of users registered at the PBX, the required energy of the innovaphone platform is between 20 and 50 watts. Other manufacturers require many thousands of watts for an equivalent solution.  The larger the number of the company’s office sites, the more pronounced the difference between innovaphone technology and other VoIP systems or traditional telephone systems.

Outlook

There are already many technological solutions available that could help could help us become more sustainable in the way we treat our planet. What really is needed now is a stronger sense of responsibility and a profound rethinking of our individual and corporate choices.

In a market that increasingly rewards ESG (environmental, social, and governance) responsibility, there is hardly a better resolution than to introduce a sustainable telephone system for the future of your company.

Sources:

¹ CSRD Directive (EU) 2022/2464

² Eco Rating

³ Directive (EU) 2024/1799

⁴ Eurostat | Electricity Prices 

Please note: The energy costs averaged 19.02 ct/kWh for a non-private household in Europe in the first half of 2025 — this figure has been rounded down to 19 ct/kWh for easier calculation.