IP Telephony

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Although an outbreak of Avian bird flu among humans in the UK still seems pretty unlikely, based on current information from the World Health Organization, it does make one wonder. What would happen if a human strain this deadly germ—or perhaps some other one like it—did arrive on Britain’s shores? What would the impact be on UK businesses?

 

With the potential for millions of people not being able to make it into work—not to mention the fact that these germs could be highly contagious and that millions more might need to be quarantined—the result would no doubt be devastating. A majority of the workforce could be out of commission for months (and, with new outbreaks, possibly even years), potentially resulting in the loss of billions of dollars.

But thanks to the advent of IP telephony, there is a way that businesses could carry on with their day-to-day operations: It’s called “teleworking.” Using the power of the Internet (or in the case of larger businesses, private networks), enterprises, government agencies and other organizations would be able to link their workers to their desktop phones and PCs from their homes in a “seamless” manner that would make it almost impossible for others to tell that they’re not right there at their desks.

 

Using the power of IP, workers could continue to communicate, collaborate and carry on with their routine duties—just as if they were in the office. And we’re not talking about some elaborate phone system that requires a massive investment in equipment—it’s as simple as taking your existing PBX, and adding the power of IP—providing new capabilities which can be “pushed out” to remote locations.

 

Here we’re talking about features like being able to dial four digit office extensions from your home when using your teleworker phone; the ability to join conference calls; the ability to retrieve corporate voice mail; and “presence” features that tell you who is available, and who is not, at any given time, via either your phone or your PC.

But just how many companies are prepared for such disasters? Although a lot more are being proactive these days, in terms of taking preventative measures, the vast majority of UK-based businesses lack the needed contingencies in order to be truly protected. Sure they have business continuity plans, which look great on paper, but do they actually have the systems in place so that these plans can actually work?

A recent research study commissioned by Mitel (News - Alert), a leading provider of unified communications solutions and services for business customers, shows that a little over half (52 percent) of London-based companies have no plan in place to deal with the outbreak of a pandemic, should one occur.

 

The research, which was carried out by DataMonitor Research in January 2007, with a sample of 100 senior IT directors of 100 financial services companies, shows that despite the tragic events of 9/11 and Katrina in the U.S., companies in the UK continue to take a lackadaisical approach when it comes to business continuity.

 

The research finds that while many of these firms are prepared for disasters such as fires, they still lack the IP telephony systems which are necessary in order to keep employees connected from home. According to the research, more than a third (36 percent) have no plan in place for dealing with a major failure—and another 44 percent have no plan in place should their normal working site become completely unavailable.

Interestingly, the research shows there is a divide in the financial services sector as to who as to who is best prepared to deal with the unforeseen. It shows that while eight in ten (85 percent) of corporate banking firms are confident they have plans in place in the event of their normal working site becoming unavailable, city traders and brokers are the worst prepared, with 45 percent not clear on how they would work if their site was shut down.

Furthermore the research shows that brokers and traders are also the least prepared in terms of risk from fire (55 percent) and the threat of terrorist attacks (50 percent).

“This is surprising given the high stakes involved on the trading floor where fortunes can change dramatically in a matter of minutes,” a press release from Mitel states. “Being out of action, even for a couple of hours, due to an unforeseen emergency, could have a significant impact on a firms’ bottom line.”

“Whilst financial services organizations are amongst the best prepared, this research suggests that their plans have not been developed to cover the increasing threat of terrorism and a pandemic,” said Ian Bevington, vertical marketing specialist, Mitel, in the press release. “This should be a high priority for businesses in all sectors, and the importance of having sound business continuity plans in place should not be underestimated.”

“The majority of financial services organizations are not fully exploiting the wealth of technology now available to support remote and flexible working,” Bevington added. “It is crucial to invest in a sound IT infrastructure so that employees can continue to work in the best possible way in the event of a disaster and minimize the impact on productivity and profitability.”

Mitel’s IP communications solutions help protect businesses from unforeseen disasters by enabling their workforces to continue operations from home. In addition to solutions that allow for teleworking, the company also provides redundancy solutions which serve as a highly reliable and available “failover” for voice, video and data networks. Best of all these solutions can be integrated with business applications and processes, and thus deliver true unified communications which comprehensively cover business critical operations.

For more information, visit www.mitel.com.

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Patrick Barnard is Assignment Editor for TMCnet and a columnist covering the telecom industry. To see more of his articles, please visit Patrick Barnard’s columnist page.