Disaster Recovery Plan - Voice And Data Infrastructure Protection

How many customers can you afford to losethey weigh cost against the possibility of business
before it affects your bottom line?interruption and decide to take a chance that this
Losing voice communication and access to datawill not occur in their business.
caused by human error, intentional acts, or natureImagine this dilemma: A medium size company
can severely handicap or paralyze a company'sthat sells widgets experiences a power outage
ability to do business. Whether or not yourlasting two full days, completely disabling your
business has experienced any of these yet, somephone communication capabilities. What would
form of communication and data loss arehappen to your customers trying to call in and to
common problems that most businessesyour ability to call out from your call center?
experience at some time in their existence.Having no way for your customers to contact
In all probability your business has a state of theyou or vice versa starts costing you money from
art phone system and computer hardware, videothe moment that the outage occurs.
conferencing, superior staff, great health benefits,Is your company ready to handle this type of
vacation and retirements plans but do you have aemergency?
Disaster Recovery Plan in position to protect yourWhat is disaster recovery?
business? Whether you have one or multipleFor voice, it means having a system in place that
locations is irrelevant. In the current economy, it isallows you to continue to have voice
a hard truth that even the smallest servicecommunication without interruption.
interruption can produce devastatingFor data, it means having an off site backup to
consequences. Is your business protected? If not,recapture data to full function after power is
why not?restored.
Due to incidents that can negatively impact yourHow does a disaster recovery system work?
bottom line, emergency planning preparedness isAfter an emergency situation occurs, the first
becoming increasingly ingrained in the corporatestep allows you to quickly regain the ability to
culture. Disaster recovery is a critical concern forconnect with your customers. With a disaster
today's organizations, challenging businesses to findrecovery plan at the ready, you notify your
a solution that provides continuous service thatsolution provider and the phone company to begin
fits within budget constraints. The realization thatrouting your calls to an off-site facility where your
making a profit is directly linked to providingcalls are answered as if you are still doing
uninterrupted service, even in the most extremebusiness.
situations, has hit home.In the second step, your employees would go to
For those who use computers on a dailythe nearby backup facility to resume phone
basis-home or office-to access files and businessoperations, limiting down time and regaining control
programs, VPN into company networks andover phone communications as well as the ability
communicate via the Internet, connectionto access vital information and company files.
interruptions can be alarming. Just the thought asThe reasons for data recovery
to what would happen if all or part of theirA company has obvious direct costs associated
information were lost can push the panic button.with a disaster that stem from business
Consider this scenario on a much grander scale,interruption; however, there are also many
for example, in a major corporation. Without theindirect costs to be considered, such as, cash flow
ability to receive or make phone calls, accessdisruption, loss of customers, loss of competitive
information or get on the Internet the amount ofedge, loss of market share, loss of investor
lost revenue can reach staggering proportions.confidence, erosion of business image, and legal or
How long can your company be out of touch withregulatory violations. Installed and serviced by a
your customers, suppliers, vendors?professional voice and data solution provider,
Two such incidents that crippled businesses,disaster recovery is a tested and proven
resulting in billions of dollars in lost revenue,comprehensive formula for business continuity.
involved the recent widespread power outage inReviewing this checklist will help you to determine
New York and in Chicago, Illinois, extensive firehow well-protected your company would be if
damage at LaSalle Bank. Although La Salle bankyour voice and data communications were
was up and running on a limited basis by the nextcompromised in a disaster.o If our phones go
morning, having a disaster recovery system indown, we have an alternate system in place to
place would have resulted in far less downtime.maintain contact with our customers.o Our data is
How much revenue can your organization affordbacked-up off-site on a daily basis.o We have a
to loose?system in place that allows us to inform the staff
Businesses that forgo having a disaster recoveryimmediately to begin specific and designated
plan in place run risks similar to those taken byfunctions.o To decrease downtime, we have an
businesses without insurance in chronic naturaloff-site facility accessible where employees will
disaster paths-a gamble that successful companieswork until the primary site becomes available.o
are unwilling to take. Aaron Kane, CALLTELE, Inc.,We have a step-by-step plan of action for when
President, states, "Having a disaster recovery plana disaster occurs.o We are prepared for any
is like having insurance that protects your businessbusiness interruption that will adversely affect our
from service interruption. The cost is minimalbottom-line.
versus the alternative scenario. CALLTELEMost businesses fear competition or terrorist
specializes in proven solutions that can be appliedattacks as the highest risks to their bottom-line,
to any size business in a cost effective mannerhowever, business disasters caused by human
that will ensure you maximize the return onerror, natural disaster, and power outages pose a
investment (ROI) in the event of a disaster."much greater risk to uninterrupted business.
Many large corporations have disaster recoveryProtecting your voice and data services is critical
plans but small to medium companies often areto maintaining business continuity during disasters
unprepared for this type of emergency becauseas well as in day-to-day operations.