Do you have a plan in place if your business were to meet with disaster? Would your business be able to operate or would it be out of operation for the unforeseeable future? These are questions that you need to ask yourself. If you are not prepared for the unknown, you could be leaving yourself open for eventual demise. Luckily today, technology makes it possible to mitigate the damages that a disaster can cause to a business. The key factor is implementing these things before disaster does occur because at that point it would be too late.
1) SIP Trunking
In the face of disaster, you need to be able to rely on your phone system. But if that system is in the same location as your business, where the disaster has occurred, you are going to be out of luck. It is for this reason alone that many people turn to SIP trunking. This allows the calls that come in and out of your business to go through the SIP provider. This provider is not in the same location as your business, which means your phone lines are unaffected. As you pick up the pieces and move to another location, your provider can then send the phone calls to wherever you are at the time.
Just how does this work? SIP is set apart from the rest because it is not one single phone line that is coming into your office. They are multiple lines configured to another location. The main proponent of this technology, however, is the fact that it can be reconfigured at a moment’s notice. This means your phone line is suddenly flexible, which is worlds apart from the traditional landline. Similar to the way that VoIP phone service works – your customers, vendors, or any other person of interest will not know that you have made changes and are not at your physical building where disaster has struck.
2) VoIP Phone Services
One of the most useful technologies at our disposal today is VoIP service that uses the new unification method. When disaster strikes and the building must be evacuated, this means you are leaving behind your phones, computers, documents, invoices, and anything else that you use to run your business. While many things can easily be gathered and used down the road, you cannot take your landline phones with you. How are customers supposed to reach your business? What about vendors, suppliers, business partners and more? Without those business phones, life might seem like it has stopped. In this adverse situation, the services of VoIP phone systems can save the day.
VoIP is a voice-over-internet protocol, which means that the phones use internet bandwidth rather than a copper phone line. While the business of how phone lines work is not what you want or care to know, the fact that internet phones can be configured wherever there is an internet connection is something that could be extremely useful for your business. Imagine if floods take over your building and you have to evacuate. Now you have no way for anyone to contact you because you have traditional landline phones. Now imagine if you have VoIP service. Instead of leaving your phones behind, you can set up shop wherever you are able to pick up and do business. This could even mean at your home or a temporary office. All you need is the internet, the web interface of the company that provides your VoIP, and your ID and password to get into the system. Now you can set up the same phone service at your new location. Now the people on the other side of the telephone will be none the wiser that you have moved locations.
It is very important that you consider disaster recovery and how technology can help it, long before the need arises. Your phone lines are the crux of your business and if they are cut due to disaster, which we have seen such as 9/11, your business could be down for the count as it is very difficult to pick up the pieces after being out of operation or weeks at a time. VoIP and SIP trunking are two of the most important ways that you can make sure that your phone lines are protected in the event that you must evacuate the building. Even though you may think you have your cell phone and you can always conduct business that way, this does not take into consideration the incoming calls that will be missed with a cut or downed phone line. Rather than take a chance, employ the assistance of one of the two different types of disaster recovery technologies available and ensure that your business is covered.
Does your business have a disaster recovery plan in place?
Originally published Nov 10, 2015, updated Apr 18, 2021
