The Importance of a Communication Disaster Recovery Plan

If you talk with someone who has experienced a communications system crisis, they would likely tell you that having a disaster recovery plan in place helps ensure the least negative impact. Many of these plans start by addressing the company phone system because of its vital importance to communication efforts of the entire organization. It also serves as the primary communication tool in the event of an emergency – helping to get assistance as quickly as possible. If dial tone is lost, the first step in responding is hindered.

While we often think of events like floods, earthquakes or fires as the major threats to a company, even the smaller events like water damage, burglary, and extended power interruptions can become just as catastrophic. In any case, if the essential business tools like the company phone system become compromised, employee productivity is hindered, and costs against the business can escalate rapidly.

Leading businesses understand that it’s worth the investment to be prepared for the worst situations while hoping they never need to use those preparation efforts. That way, if a crisis does strike, the entire organization will be aware of who’s in charge of the response efforts, what procedures should be enacted, as well as who all should receive notification of the event.

And while no phone system is disaster-proof, there are systems available from companies like ShoreTel that offer features that help to ensure business continuity.

Many small businesses today find themselves in search of a cost-effective solution that can help to prevent connectivity and dial tone loss in the event of crisis.

With a ShoreTel phone system, some of these features include:

Server Backup: ShoreTel offers a list of backup options (including cloud-based options) that help to ensure business leaders can still manage the system features in an emergency.

Double-Take: This is a backup virtual server housed in another location that uses a WAN connection to the central server.

Design: ShoreTel products come with sound architecture and applications – this includes switch-based hardware and N+1 redundancy for the highest level of availability.

Investing the necessary time into developing your company’s crisis communications plan is a fundamental element of a stable and protected business. This plan will help provide assurance that if disaster does strike, you are prepared to handle the situation while it’s happening as well as throughout the critical recovery period.