In business it is always smart to have a back-up plan in terms of keeping your business afloat, operational, and profitable. One of the most important areas of operations to consider is your telecommunications services…phone calls, Internet, data networking, internal system access and any communications with the outside world.

What would happen if you could not access customer files, purchase orders, emails, or your customers had trouble getting a hold of you?

This past weekend over 45,000 Verizon workers went on strike in protest of changes to their employee health insurance and benefits. The outcome is not pretty. Workers are lashing out and not only effecting Verizon’s operation but businesses all over. A blog posted in the The Heritage Network website discusses the following acts;

  • “Ten incidents of fiber-optic lines being deliberately cut in the Bronx, Pomona, Farmingdale and Guilderland in New York; two separate incidents in Tewksbury in Massachusetts; incidents in Bel Air in Maryland, and East Dover, Oakland and Plainfield in New Jersey.
  • An outage due to stolen electronic equipment in Cedar Grove, N.J., affecting a local police department, among other customers.
  • An incident due to tampering with a heating system at a central office in Manhattan”
Customers (old and new) and other telecommunication suppliers are also experiencing the effect of the strike with install dates of new services being delayed and extremely longer than normal hold times for customer service reps. No one knows how long this will last and when we can expect resolution.

In the meantime, businesses need to push forward with their day to day operations. Here are a few suggestions on ensuring you do not run into these problems:

  • Always have an emergency /redundancy plan – if one service goes down, what are the steps to get it back up and what other solutions are already in place to take advantage of.
  • Consider multiple resources/providers – putting all of your eggs in one basket may not be the best solution. Although this can be cost effective, spending a few extra dollars for that ‘in case of emergency’ solution is a good idea.
  • Understand what services are available – there are so many providers that offer similar services and it is best to know what your options are and who the players are in the marketplace.
  • Plan ahead – if you are making a change to your business infrastructure, adding services or moving a location, give yourself time and develop a scope of work to ensure you cross the T’s, dot the i’s and have your back-up plan included in the plan.
Source One Management Services, a strategic consulting firm, has experience assisting companies developing and optimizing their telecommunications infrastructure including looking at disaster recovery plans and redundancy solutions. You can check out all of Source One’s service offerings at www.sourceoneinc.com.
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Leigh Merz

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  1. Those bastards at Verizon stole my flutophone. I want it back!

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  2. You should also keep a back up supply of assorted nuts, in case you get hungry and the nut store is closed.

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  3. Yagnesh, Wal-Mart is open 24 hours a day. You can find nuts there any time of the day or night.

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