Well, here is what they would have to have done, I would be surprised if someone went to all that trouble, I would suspect something just went to sleep:
Configuring Inline Power on the Catalyst 3550-24PWR Ports
The Catalyst 3550-24PWR switch automatically supplies inline power to connected Cisco IP Phones, Cisco Aironet Access Points, and IEEE Power Devices if it senses no power on the circuit. If there is power on the circuit, the switch does not supply it. You can also configure the Catalyst 3550-24PWR switch to never supply power to these devices and to disable the inline-power detection.
For certain IEEE Power Devices that require multiple reloads during initialization, you can set a delay shutdown time to configure the switch to continue providing power during initialization. For more information about configuring a delay shutdown time, refer to the command reference for this release.
Note This feature is only supported on the Catalyst 3550-24PWR switch.
Cisco IP Phones and access points can also be connected to an AC power source and supply their own power.
For information about configuring a switch port to forward IP voice traffic to and from connected Cisco IP Phones, see the "Configuring a Port to Connect to a Cisco 7960 IP Phone" section on page 14-3.
Beginning in privileged EXEC mode, follow these steps to enable the inline-power on an inline-power capable port:
Command
Purpose
Step 1
configure terminal
Enter global configuration mode.
Step 2
interface interface
Enter interface configuration mode, and enter the port to be configured.
Step 3
power inline auto
Automatically detect and enable inline power on the port. This is the default.
Step 4
end
Return to privileged EXEC mode.
Step 5
show power inline interface
Verify the change.
Step 6
copy running-config startup-config
(Optional) Save your entries in the configuration file.
****To permanently disable inline-power on a port, use the power inline never interface configuration command.
This is from this doc:
http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/lan/c3550/12120ea2/3550scg/swint.htm#wp1123058
Mary Beth
