13. LIABILITY FOR WARRANTY RETURNS

Our products generally include warranties of 90 days to five years for product defects. We accrue for warranty returns at the time revenue is recognized based on our estimate of the cost to repair or replace the defective products. We engage in extensive product quality programs and processes, including actively monitoring and evaluating the quality of our component suppliers. Our products continue to become more complex in both size and functionality as many of our product offerings migrate from line card applications to total systems. The increasing complexity of our products will cause warranty incidences, when they arise, to be more costly. Our estimates regarding future warranty obligations may change due to product failure rates, material usage, and other rework costs incurred in correcting a product failure. In addition, from time to time, specific warranty accruals may be recorded if unforeseen problems arise. Should our actual experience relative to these factors be worse than our estimates, we will be required to record additional warranty expense. Alternatively, if we provide for more reserves than we require, we will reverse a portion of such provisions in future periods. The liability for warranty obligations totaled $9.0 million and $8.5 million at March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively. During the three months ended March 31, 2017, we recorded a receivable and a reduction in warranty expense related to a settlement with a third party supplier for a defective component. These liabilities are included in accrued expenses in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets.

A summary of warranty expense and write-off activity for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016 is as follows:

	Three Months Ended
	March 31,
(In thousands)	2017			2016
Balance at beginning of period	$	8,548		$	8,739
Plus: Amounts charged to cost and expenses		(741	)		898
Less: Deductions		1,181			(595	)
Balance at end of period	$	8,988		$	9,042