Planning for business continuity does not excite people, and it can be tempting to ignore the need to work through all disaster recovery scenarios. But knowing what to do in the event of a disaster is the value of planning.
Natural disasters like floods and fires could damage IT, telephony, and other equipment, making it impossible to get into the office. What about a terrorist attack? A global pandemic can also cause major disruptions.
By having system redundancies in place during and after an emergency, you won’t waste valuable time if your phone systems are down and you cannot communicate.
Here we will explain how VoIP can help you in disaster recovery.Â
Benefits Of VoIP In Disaster Recovery Plan
In other words, VoIP means Voice over Internet Protocol. In a VoIP telephone system, the speaker’s voice is converted into a digital signal and transmitted over the internet to the receiver. A VoIP call does not require a wired connection through a telephone exchange to reach the other person, unlike a landline call. The signal is then converted back to voice at the other end.
It is imperative to keep your phone lines operational as part of your disaster recovery plan. In addition, even a few minutes of downtime on your phone system can result in significant reputational or revenue losses to customer service-oriented businesses like call centers and consultancies.
VoIP allows you to make calls from anywhere you have an internet connection, so in a disaster situation, it solves a big problem – how are people going to access their phones, and what happens with calls coming into your office? You can use your smartphone, tablet, or laptop as a replacement, letting callers reach your people on their office numbers wherever they are.
Tips To Make VoIP A Part Of Continuity Planning
Have you updated your recovery plan if you’ve moved to VoIP for business telephony? If you’re considering switching to VoIP, what should you consider for contingency planning?
Our thoughts on what you need to plan for are as follows:
- If your phone system goes down, how will you be notified?
- Do staff mobile devices have a VoIP system?
- In some VoIP systems, the main control box is located at your premises, so what if it’s damaged by fire or flood?
- In the same vein, what happens if the office loses power?
- VoIP relies on an internet connection, so what happens if the office broadband goes down?
- What is their contingency plan if a problem affects your VoIP provider’s data center or servers?
Is VoIP Control Box Located On Your Premises? What Happens If It Is Damaged?Â
In on-premises VoIP systems, calls are routed to the right extension within the company using a PBX (Personal Branch Exchange).
It’s ideal to have a backup PBX system mirroring the original. Even better, the backup can be hosted in the cloud, so it won’t be vulnerable.
It will be up to your VoIP provider to manage any problems if your VoIP system is already completely hosted in the cloud.
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Conclusion
Much like many other aspects of business, many people find planning for business continuity difficult to appreciate. However, ignoring this need could lead to disastrous consequences in the event of a disaster. By ensuring that your organization has in place redundancies and systems to support communication during and after an emergency, you will minimize the potential for disruptions and ensure that your business continues as usual.
Business continuity planning is essential for any business, as disasters can occur at any time. By having redundancies in place, you can minimize the impact of a disaster on your business.
