S 4.115 Safeguarding the power supply of mobile phones

Initiation responsibility: User, Administrator

Implementation responsibility: User, Administrator

In order to be able to safeguard the power supply of mobile phones at any time, rechargeable batteries are normally used. Depending on the capacity of the rechargeable battery and the design of the mobile phone, this covers a limited period of time, usually a few hours. In order to provide for the availability of a mobile phone any time it is required and/or to prevent data in volatile memories from being lost, some general conditions should be met:

• The warning signals of the mobile phone indicating the voltage drop must not be ignored.
• If it is foreseeable that the mobile use will cover an extended period of time, the charger should be taken along.
• For charging, the information in the manual of the mobile phone should be taken into consideration and, in particular, the service life of the rechargeable battery should not be affected adversely.

• When handing over a mobile phone, sufficient state of charge of the rechargeable batteries must be ensured. The state of charge of the rechargeable batteries should be checked regularly, since a rechargeable battery discharges over the course of time if it is not used.

Furthermore, it is recommendable to store data stored on the mobile phone (telephone book, SMS, etc.) to another medium at regular intervals.

If a longer period of use of the mobile phone is foreseeable, e.g. during business trips, a charged spare rechargeable battery should be taken along. The spare rechargeable battery should be stored in a protective cover, since damage may be caused by overheating or fire if the contacts of the rechargeable battery come into contact with conductive materials. This can be caused by many ordinary objects such as keys or chains.

A mobile phone should be switched off before the rechargeable battery is replaced so that the memory is not damaged

A mobile phone should not be exposed to extreme temperatures. Particularly the rechargeable battery, but also the display, may lose their functionality in this case. Therefore, neither mobile phones nor rechargeable batteries should be left in parked vehicles.

Review questions:

• Have sufficient security safeguards been taken in order to safeguard the power supply of mobile phones?