After a harsh winter, spring is certainly a warm, welcomed change. Despite the milder temperatures, the weather has been erratic at best, with snowstorms still hitting areas in the northern parts of the country. Soon enough, the heavy rains and severe thunderstorms will follow, which is a good reminder to businesses to take a gander at their continuity plans, if any exist.
Staying connected is the lifeblood of businesses. Without a connection, business communications would cease to exist. Because Mother Nature can be rather brutal during the stormy months, it’s important to have a plan in place to make sure all systems are go, no matter what the weather brings.
Telephone equipment hardware failure or interruption caused by inclement weather would result in lost revenue, poor customer service or even worse, if you rely on your telephone system to deliver mission critical information to internal and external customers. A hosted phone system will deliver a solution that will maintain mission-critical telephony services in the event that communications are disrupted at the business site.
Hosted phone systems deliver the functionality that is required to sustain business when telephone communications are disrupted. Going hosted means that business operations continue throughout the duration of any emergency.
Before the storm hits, it’s the time to plan for whatever types of disruptions may impact your business: manmade, natural, technology, or facilities-related. Plan your emergency communication and business continuity notification messages and templates now, while the urgency and stress level is low.
A few checkpoints to ensure you’re prepared include:
Predict and address the types of disasters most likely to impact your organization.
Anticipate and develop likely preliminary answers to customer and employee questions.
Develop and test communication systems and networks that will relay notifications.
Because it’s spring, that also means it’s time for spring training for America’s favorite warm weather sport: baseball. Much like the MLB (News - Alert), put your continuity plan through a training program. As BroadConnect notes, try out a hosted phone systems provider to see what works with your game plan, and above all, don’t settle.
Businesses in search of the right plan have a number of cost-effective options at their disposal. Many incidents can place a company in a precarious position if it is not prepared. Going with a hosted phone system is perhaps the most effective solution when it comes to recovering in a rapid fashion.
Edited by Alisen Downey