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Conference Calling!
For more information, click on our Products link and follow the guide, or call us at 800 796-3311 and ask for extension 606!
6/2/2006
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IS YOUR COMPANY READY FOR DISASTER?
Between Lines, a free monthly e-zine, published by Voice Report recently featured an article, by Art Yonemoto, former IT manager and current owner of a Telecom auditing firm, which addressed this very issue.
Mr. Yonemoto stated that there are several areas that may affect your telecommunications efforts during a disaster, which may include the above mentioned as well as floods, landslides, snowstorms, wildfires, or any other sudden, wide-spread emergency. Even if your company is not directly impacted by the disaster, you should still anticipate telecom problems in these areas:
The Office:
As soon as everyone at the office is assured to be safe, employees will want to call their families at home, at school, at their jobs, etc…to be sure they are safe. These local calls will not complete.
Most companies do not provide a separate outside line for each employee extension, so only a few calls (23 on a T1) will be processed at one time. All other local calls will be blocked.
The Telephone Company:
Since the call-attempt volume during a disaster is greatly elevated over a normal day’s volume, the telephone company’s switches will be overloaded. In addition, the telephone company will block all calls from non-essential sources. This procedure is designed to allow emergency (911 etc.) calls to be processed.
Cell Phones:
Many employees will try to call out on their cell phones when they are unsuccessful from the company lines. Once again, the cell provider switches will be overwhelmed with the excess volume. If the call terminates on a land-line, there’s a very good chance that the call will not connect. The cell carrier will also be blocking non-emergency calls.
TIP: You may be able to send a text message. They use less bandwidth and are carried differently than voice calls.
Inbound Long Distance Calls:
When word of the disaster gets out, your friends and family will attempt to call to see if you’re OK. They will not get through either because of the call volume.
Outbound Long Distance:
Even though the long distance companies will be blocking incoming calls to the area of the disaster, most long distance calls out of the area via a T-1, etc. may be allowed.
Dedicated Access – Internet and email:
Dedicated access to the internet via a T-1, DSL, or cable modem should retain connectivity. These are on a separate network from the local telephone system. The same should hold true at home.
If your ISP is not adversely affected by the disaster, you should be able to send email and VoIP calls, as long as your VoIP calls stay off the local Telco network.
Dial-up and ISDN Internet Access:
Dial-up access uses the local Telco lines, so will not complete. ISDN lines are also switched through the local network and will not work.
Home/Local Phone via Cable Modem or DSL:
You may be able to place and receive calls, but not complete local calls.
CONCLUSIONS:
You may be able to complete outbound long distance calls over dedicated lines, but not receive inbound long distance calls. Local calls will be blocked.
PAY Phones are considered “emergency” phones and are not blocked from making local calls by the telephone company. You may have to wait for dial-tone because of high volumes, but it is not blocked. Your call should go through. You should limit your usage in respect for others who may be attempting to contact others in the emergency.
Your company should identify a specific person to be the single point of contact for telecom emergencies/disaster recovery. That person will gather and release information and serve as a clearing house until some normalcy returns.
5/20/2008
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