So your current office lease is up and you need to find new office space. With any move, there are thousands of to dos and you are usually a total mess trying to coordinate it all. You seriously can’t afford to miss anything because you are on a tight budget. I know moving is not fun and it is usually very hectic but one of the most important business components but often overlooked is the phone system. The first thing people are concerned about are the computers and the data but if you put together a solid plan then the phone system can easily become part of the computer network. This will help your company not only save money but it may also bring a ton of value as well.
If you are a small business and you currently have an older PBX system, then it may not be worth moving the PBX to your new office building. The cost of moving a PBX can be expensive because whenever you have to call a technician to physically move the hardware and reconnect it then you are going to pay a pretty penny.
A more attractive option may be to dump the old PBX system and go with a more cost-effective hosted PBX solution. Why would you do this if you have a system that works? The first thing that comes to mind is flexibility. Lets say your main office is in Phoenix and you want to hire sales people in new locations like Dallas and Miami but you don’t want to invest in additional office space. Then a hosted PBX system offers the flexibility to have all remote sales people using the same phone platform. You are able to control costs by giving them access to the same inexpensive unlimited rate plan via a soft phone app on their mobile phone or their computer.
When making calls using a hosted PBX system, all you need is an Internet connection and a VoIP phone like the affordable models offered by Panasonic or you can use a soft phone software on your computer. Call quality is excellent especially with an HD phone but you need to make sure that you have the appropriate router equipment and bandwidth to support your data and VoIP traffic. The best way to determine if the call quality meets your standards is to test it out at your office. Ask the sales rep to bring a VoIP phone so you can make a few calls.
A hosted VoIP phone also offers increased productivity for your employees because they are able to stay in touch with co-workers and clients more easily. Voice messages are delivered to your email inbox so this eliminates the need to constantly check voicemail. Mobile workers are able to utilize their cell phones as an extension to the VoIP phone system so they are always in touch.
With the advanced features offered by hosted VoIP solutions, cost savings and increased employee productivity, switching to a hosted VoIP solution makes sense especially when you are moving to a new office. If you think outside the box, then you can really come up with a great solution for your business. You will be able to easily expand to new markets without having to spend any additional money on new office space. You will be able to provide a high level of customer support. Finally, your employees will be able to collaborate more effectively so that your company continues to focus on the most important business objectives.
For more information on Hosted PBX or to receive a free evaluation of your existing telecom carrier, please call Spiritel at 866-770-0300 or visit us online at www.spiritelsolutions.com for more information.
A friend of mine is an IT consultant and he started his business from of his bedroom a few years ago. John is super smart and is a whiz bang computer geek so I knew he would do extremely well. John used to work for a large financial services company and he managed a boat load of servers and thousands of workstations. Although John had a great job and he was making great money, he was stressed out and not satisfied with working long hours for someone else. He wanted to be the man in control of his own destiny and start his own business as an IT consultant.
I am happy to say that John is doing well but when he first started out he had several challenges with managing calls from his potential customers. Sometimes even smart geeks don’t have all the technical answers. John started out on his own and all he really needed was a cell phone a website and a few business cards. This worked great when he was the only employee because all the calls would go to one central phone number and one voice mail box. Around his first year in business, John started to see a boost in prospect inquiries because of his awesome ability to deliver outstanding IT support at reasonable prices. His cell phone started to ring because of all the referral business his clients were throwing his way. When he started, John didn’t want to take on new employees but his business was growing and he needed to hire a few techs and support staff to help with customer support issues for new clients.
The challenge for John was releasing control of the customer support because John is a hands-on type of guy and he loves to solve problems for his customers. At first John tried to manage the incoming call volume using a regular POTS phone line that just forwarded calls to his cell phone whenever he was out of the office but he started getting so many calls that he was pulled in too many directions. John would constantly miss incoming calls and he was having a tough time delegating the work to his employees. So John decided to try Google voice and forward the calls to various employees depending on availability but this didn’t work out either because it was too difficult to coordinate. Then John heard about Hosted PBX solutions.
As John’s business started to grow, his phone service became a crucial business component. John’s main focus is to provide excellent customer service to his clients so actually speaking with his clients, employees and partners on demand, from anyplace, at anytime was a major priority. Prior to Hosted PBX services, there were a limited number of solutions but none of them really provided a solid communications infrastructure for John. To keep costs down, John relied on POTS lines and his cell phone to communicate but this had limitations especially when he needed to collaborate with his employees.
Hosted PBX has been the perfect solution for John’s business because he is able to manage the call flow much better. Every employee has their own direct number which acts like a virtual extension and rings to their cell phones. All the voicemail messages are sent directly to the employees email account so it’s easy to retrieve and forward from anywhere. For after hours support, John can simply login to the web portal and assign a specific on-call tech to handle the incoming support calls each week. John is happy because he is now able to focus on bigger issues and is still able to provide high quality customer service for every client. With Hosted PBX, John is now able to keep costs down, improve employee productivity and focus his time on expanding to new markets.
John is a happy customer of Spiritel Solutions and is currently helping small businesses with their ongoing IT management issues. For more information on Hosted PBX or to receive a free evaluation of your existing telecom carrier, please call Spiritel at 866-770-0300.
I am sure you will love Hosted PBX for your small business because it brings the latest and greatest phone services to your company without spending a ton of money for a new phone system. The major benefits of Hosted PBX are enhanced unified communication features which improve employee productivity, centralized communications for remote locations and remote workers and the substantial cost savings over a traditional PBX phone system.
The cost to install a traditional PBX phone system may run anywhere from $3,000 to $6,000 for a typical small business. Keep in mind, the initial cost does not include physical maintenance and regular monitoring, modifications and difficult upgrades. Compare that to a hosted PBX system which costs a few hundred dollars to implement, zero maintenance fees and all new upgrades are included in the price. Many small businesses just use their cell phone with a SIP application that interfaces with the Hosted PBX. Finally, adding and modifying new users, remote offices or telecommuters is as easy as managing your email account.
Hosted PBX is a low cost, hassle free and easy to maintain alternative to the expensive traditional PBX. It offers a full featured, technologically evolved and highly cost effective communication system with loads of attractive add-ons and advanced call handling features. Many business enterprises are rapidly taking the plunge and are switching to Hosted PBX solutions for their growing needs.
Hosted PBX is cost efficient and predictable in terms of budgeting. Most service providers offer unlimited local and long distance calling which will eliminate the metered pricing of traditional carrier services. In addition, some specialized carriers offer international free zones with their standard packages. This can be a huge cost savings for those companies who make a lot of international calls.
Because of the various Hosted PBX providers, it may be in your best interest to work with a knowledgeable telecom consultant like Spiritel to find the most qualified carrier services that fit your exact business requirements. Your telecom consultant will look at a large pool of Hosted PBX solutions, evaluate the benefits and help you select the ideal solution for your business.
Obviously, Hosted PBX is not for everyone. Hosted PBX works well for small businesses who may not have the technical expertise to manage their IT and telephony equipment. If you have more than one location or a decentralized workforce, then the Hosted PBX solution is a very attractive model because of the ability to seamlessly connect remote workers on a centralized phone system.
If you are moving to a new office, you may be able to save thousands of dollars by ditching an old PBX system in favor of the Hosted PBX. Tearing down a PBX system and setting it back up in your new location will most likely cost more than the initial fee for a Hosted PBX system. There is also the hassle factor for most companies because plugging an IP phone into a jack is a lot less complicated then programming the old PBX. So it makes sense for most companies to make the switch to a Hosted PBX system prior to moving locations.
So to review, the Hosted PBX solution may be your best option if your company is looking to do more with less money, has a staff that works outside the office, or simply wants to take advantage of a sophisticated cloud based PBX system. The upfront costs of a Hosted PBX are much lower because you eliminate the need to buy expensive phone system hardware. In addition, employee productivity increases because your staff can receive business calls from anywhere. If you are looking to drive down operating costs, then one of the biggest benefits of Hosted PBX may be the elimination of your “brick and mortar” office lease. You can certainly save big with a new Hosted PBX system so take advantage of your free telephone analysis and give us a call at 866-770-0300 or visit us at http://www.spiritelsolutions.com.
Many small businesses are hesitant to make any changes with their old phone system because if it ain’t broke why fix it. Well, the old phone system may work but it may not be the best fit for your business. With hosted PBX, you get all the features of an expensive phone system for a small monthly fee without the hassle of maintaining onsite phone equipment.
If you are considering a hosted PBX solution, please consider the following reasons why VoIP may benefit your business.
- You eliminate maintenance costs of expensive traditional PBX phone systems.
- Most hosted VoIP providers offer unlimited calling nationwide so your monthly invoice remains the same every month.
- Remote workers are able to connect to the corporate phone system with a simple softphone interface or standard VoIP handset.
- It’s easy to add or remove users with a simple web control panel
- Customize the auto attendant to route calls to specific users
- Easily connect remote offices and centralize all communications
- Save money and only pay for the maximum number of simultaneous calls, no matter how many users you have on the system
This is not a comprehensive list of benefits of hosted PBX. There are many more benefits depending on your business and call volume. With our industry experience and top rated vendors, your company is guaranteed to save money with our recommended hosted PBX solution. So give us a call at 866-770-0300 or send us an email for a free billing analysis to determine your potential savings on telecom services.
Unified Communications is extremely valuable for a ton of reasons but there are a few major benefits that stand out.
- Lower cost of ownership
- Increase worker productivity
- Create new efficient business processes
- Improve customer satisfaction
The value proposition of Unified Communications (UC) has changed and is not just about saving money but, more importantly, about fundamentally changing business and building long-term competitive advantage.
Over the years, companies have deployed silo applications that address one specific method of communicating. Think of the desk phone, e-mail, mobile phone, video system, conferencing, and other communications tools. Each of these systems operates independently and do not communicate with other applications. This creates a major burden for supporting each application and drives up the cost of the tool because of redundant networks and hardware, separate management tools and expensive support contracts for maintenance, and administration of voice systems.
Because of the cost advantages of UC, companies are implementing UC to save money. Here are the main methods of lowering costs using UC:
- Reduction of network costs
- Lower maintenance costs
- Reduced long-distance calls
These are the primary cost saving benefits but there are other indirect savings as well for corporations. For instance, companies may reduce office space by allowing employees to telecommute, more efficient use of IT time or even a reduction in IT staff. Regardless of how you slice it, there certainly are big time cost savings for any corporation willing to deploy unified communications.
Nexaira has a line of Linux-based 3g and 4G routing solutions that are ideal for mobility, M2M applications or Internet failover.
There are a couple of relatively new products that we are offering that I thought may be of interest to you and your product offering.
HANA – High Availability Network Adapter www.nexaira.com/hana-high-availability-network-adapters
HANA combines our BC2 router with a high gain directional antenna, power over Ethernet, and a security cover (with optional NEMA kit).
In all the router deployments, antenna installs I have been involved in over the years – HANA is a game changer. It solves the most common problems encountered with mobile router deployment..
- Signal strength/throughput – 13 dBi directional antenna locks in the signal – especially in WiMax
- Physical modem Security – HANA’s Radom cover locks in the USB modem with 7 screws
- Flexibility of Placement – using POE allows the router (and aircard) to be placed where signal is best and router is out of the way (air plenum rated for above suspended ceiling, outdoor with NEMA kit, etc..)
- Easy Installation – HANA’s “all-in-one” design allows for easy installation with 1 CAT 5 cable connection and 4 screws on the mounting bracket (if necessary) Our signal strength meter on the user interface allows for easy site placement and antenna tuning.
- Enterprise Class Features – HANA’s onboard BC2 router provides all the necessary advanced routing features like snmp, SSH/CLI, Open WRT, VPN. IP Pass through that are not found on similar priced Cradlepoint units.
Nexaira has a large-scale installation of HANA going on right now all over NY providing connectivity to Boiler Monitoring systems throughout the Bronx and Manhattan. 90% of the locations are utilizing 4G. It works unbelievably well.
HANA is the perfect combination that solves the challenges that customers are seeing with other solutions.
- Business Class 2 Advanced M2M Routing Board – we have taken all the features of our BC2 router and added..
- 4 Ethernet ports
- POE on Ethernet Port 1
- External SMA antenna ports
- USB and Mini PCIe embedded card capability
All available in a PC board configuration allowing M2M solutions the easiest most direct way to connect their devices to the 3G and 4G networks.
NEW YORK (AP) — “The Smurfs’ Village,” a game for the iPhone and other Apple gadgets, was released a month ago and quickly became the highest-grossing application in the iTunes store. Yet it’s free to download.
So where does the money come from? Kelly Rummelhart of Gridley, Calif., has part of the answer. Her 4-year-old son was using her iPad to play the game and racked up $66.88 in charges on her credit card without knowing what he was doing.
Rummelhart had no idea that it was possible to buy things — buy them with real money — inside the game. In this case, her son bought one bushel and 11 buckets of “Smurfberries,” tokens that speed up gameplay.
“Really, my biggest concern was them scratching the screen. Never in my wildest dreams did I think they would be charging things on it,” the 36-year-old mother said.
She counts herself lucky that her son didn’t start tapping on another purchase button, like the “wheelbarrow” of Smurfberries for $59.99.
Rummelhart joins a number of parents who have been horrified by purchases of Smurfberries and other virtual items in top App Store games. The 17 highest-rated comments on “The Smurfs’ Village” in the App Store all complain about the high cost of the Smurfberries, and two commenters call it a “scam.”
Apple introduced “in-app purchases” last year, letting developers use the iTunes billing system to sell items and add-ons in their games and applications.
This year, developers have started to use the system in earnest as the main revenue stream for many games. Of the 10 highest-grossing apps in the App Store, six are games that are free to download but allow in-app purchases. Four of those are easy, child-friendly games. Two of them, “Tap Zoo” and “Bakery Story,” have buttons for in-app purchases of $100 in just two taps.
Capcom Entertainment Inc., the publisher of “The Smurfs’ Village,” says inadvertent purchases by children are “lamentable.” When it realized what was happening, it added a warning about the option of in-app purchases to the game’s description in the App Store, and it’s updating the game to include warnings inside it as well. The game has retreated to being the fourth-highest-grossing app in the App Store.
The warnings may alert parents, but it’s doubtful that they’d deter children who can’t read and don’t understand money. Also, the option to buy $59.99 worth of Smurfberries at a time remains. Capcom spokesman Michael Larson says “Smurfs” is no different from other games in this regard, and the bulk purchasing option is useful to adult “power players.”
It’s quite likely that most of the money pulled in by these games comes from addicted adults who want to quickly build their Smurf villages, bakeries, zoos and zombie farms. But there’s a loophole in the in-app purchase process that children stick their fingers through.
Usually, the purchases require the owner of the device to enter his or her iTunes password. But there is no password challenge if the owner has entered the password in the last 15 minutes for any reason. That means that if a user enters the password for a purchase or a free app upgrade, then hands the phone or iPad over to a kid, the child will not be stopped by a password prompt.
Capcom and other game publishers have no control over the 15-minute password-free period, which is set by Apple.
Apple defends its system. Spokeswoman Trudy Muller says the password system is adequate and points out that parents can restrict in-app purchases. The parents contacted for the story received refunds from Apple after complaining, and praised the company’s responsiveness.
However, there’s reason to believe that the password timeout doesn’t always work.
Andrew Butterworth of Brooklin, Ontario, was well aware of how in-app purchases work and of the password-free period. He was careful to let at least 15 minutes pass after a password entry before letting his 5-year-old son play with his iPod Touch. That didn’t help, once he’d loaded “The Smurfs’ Village.”
“He came to me all proud and said he’d figured out a way to get all these Smurfberries,” Butterworth says. “And as soon as I saw the Smurfberries, I knew that he’d purchased them using my credit card. I was amazed that he’d figured out a way to do it, because I was sure that he would have needed my password.”
He had last entered his password on the iPod four or five hours earlier, he said. His son’s shopping spree cost $140.
Chris Gropp, another Canadian, said he had not entered his iTunes password the same day his son bought $67 in Smurfberries, apparently without being asked for the password.
TeamLava LLC, the publisher of “Bakery Story” and “Farm Story,” says the games follow all of Apple’s rules and restrictions. In either game, it’s possible to buy $99.99 worth of “gems” in one go.
The game publishers and Apple point out that device owners can turn off the option to conduct in-app purchases by going to the Settings app, then hitting the General button, then the Restrictions option. The parents contacted for the story had done so after being alerted to the purchases through their iTunes billing statements.
Butterworth was pleased with the refund, but still thinks “Smurfs” is a “scam.”
“They make it a ridiculously difficult game to play, and you can skip all the difficult parts by spending money,” he said. “I believe that they know exactly what’s going on.”
The swift rise in wireless cell phone and mobile data usage is forcing IT department heads to look for help in managing wireless assets and controlling expenses. Cell phone data usage is booming and is likely to increase. With the increase in demand for faster handsets, increased bandwidth and more powerful apps, this perfect storm has brought about increased complexity in effectively managing employees, usage, devices, plans, and costs. The goal of most CIOs is to eliminate the mobility management burden of having to support mobile devices, monitor usage and verify billing charges. Without the proper resources, many mid-size IT departments typically devote too much time managing wireless assets.
For CIOs, understanding employee wireless activity can become a bit overwhelming when there is no system in place to manage uncontrolled expenses and errant usage. Getting a handle on these devices is even more difficult when you have multiple carriers, multiple locations, multiple service plans, multiple devices, billing platforms and customer support contacts. Wireless devices are a moving target and many organizations are not able to wrap their arms around it but must act now to reduce the overall costs for these devices. Many organizations cell phone services exceed 50% of their total telecom expense. Finding a way to strategically manage these assets and services has become more and more difficult. Talented IT staff assigned to supporting mobile phones is often diverted from more meaningful and important core responsibilities.
Additionally, there are opportunities to drive down the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and improve management and service delivery, especially in the area of ongoing plan optimization and defect elimination. By outsourcing the non-strategic components of wireless management to Spiritel Wireless wireless teams achieve additional savings and are able to focus on the strategic wireless roadmap and align the best mobile IT resources with the needs of the business units.
With Spiritel Wireless onboard to help you successfully execute a managed mobile strategy, your organization is headed in the right direction. Spiritel Wireless guarantees complete mobile phone asset control with our mobility management solutions. Once control is established, cost savings and improved support and service can be achieved and maintained. Through this partnership with Spiritel Wireless, clients leverage their mobile enterprise to enable more effective business practices.
By taking a preventative approach, Spiritel Wireless delivers a powerful new way to manage mobility. After establishing the optimal cost configurations for purchasing a corporate pooling plan environment, mobility management is deployed to keep those configurations in place. By centralizing every transaction, from ESN swap to plan change, ordering a new device to canceling a line, upgrading a line to suspending service, each move/add/change transaction is referenced against business intelligence rules before it is executed into the carriers system. So once Spiritel Wireless deploys your provisioning plan, your costs will always be optimized, your inventory will be accurate and your company will continue to save money month after month.
Spiritel Wireless eliminates the burden of mobile phone management and helps your organization keep tabs on all of your wireless assets. With a smooth running mobility management system, your IT staff will focus on more meaningful core responsibilities. So outsource mobility management to not only improve the bottom-line but to free up your IT department for more important tasks.
Spiritel Wireless successfully helps companies reduce their annual telecom spend by an average of 30% or more. Spiritel Wireless also provides a free analysis guaranteed to lower wireless costs. For a free consultation, please visit us at Spiritel Wireless or give us a call at 866-770-0300.
FCC recently proposed new regulations to help prevent mobile phone bill shock. The new regulations may require cell phone carriers to notify users if they approach plan usage limits.
These moves are in response to a recent study by the FCC, which found that 30 million people have experienced some form of bill shock, typically $98 in overage fees, and as much as $8,553 for unspecified data usage. The FCC study also found that some individual complaints have even been as large as $68,505 in unexpected overage fees.
If this is what’s happening on the consumer level, imagine the overages phone companies routinely charge to global corporations, where telecom spending is one of the largest components of the enterprise expense budget (as much as 4 to 10 percent).
Companies typically receive phone book-sized telecom bills each month and have virtually no checks on their accuracy, and no framework to understand whether their telecom service is properly utilized. However, there are a few simple things companies can do to better anticipate, track and control their overall usage and correct billing errors while keeping pace with the latest mobile technologies.
For both individuals and companies, one must know what the baseline mobile usage figures are. Implementing a comprehensive inventory and usage management system is central to gaining and maintaining control over mobile usage. These systems track who is using which devices, how much cost they are incurring and what their pattern of usage is. When coupled with effective policy enforcement (e.g. device/plan selection, rate plan optimization and identifying unapproved use) companies can reduce their costs, improve policy compliance and reduce bill shock risk without impacting usability.
You can’t manage or find errors in what you don’t track usage-wise. Given the rapid growth of mobile usage within corporations, it is critical to monitor different types of mobile usage for cost control, security and policy management reasons. Managing by department in particular gives line managers the insight and incentive they need to control the usage patterns of their user groups.
However, capturing the information is only the first step. It is critical that information be made available to the budget holders and the individuals that are actually using devices in order to drive maximum benefit. Everyone must understand what the base usage costs are so that discrepancies can be discovered quickly and resolved.
This process provides multiple layers of oversight that work with one another in order to understand and monitor usage. In addition to this process, companies should survey the telecom needs of their employees to streamline usage from top to bottom and to avoid being oversold by providers.
The following steps provide both short-term financial boost and long-term cost reductions. These steps can streamline the telecom budget with resulting baseline operational costs reduction. They also provide greater oversight and reduced bill shock risk exposure while equipping your workforce with the best technology for the job.
• Survey the technology and services in every category where you have visibility
Look at both the internal communications structure and the mobile structure of the company and the work force. Internal and external communications must be consolidated. Most of your large expenditures should be defined by contract. Review your contracts to determine if there are openings in the contracts that allow you to take action.
• Include employees in the reduction and optimization efforts
Consider distributing the corporate responsibility of your telecom expense management. If you bracket it during the period when you need the help most, you will find everyone can gather together and push forward, leaving old habits and biases behind.
• Negotiate with your service providers to maximize your ROI
The best way to achieve this is by hiring expertise to negotiate the price and terms of telecom contracts on your behalf. This will force providers to compete and will drive down the final cost of the contract. This is similar to hiring a consultant to do your taxes, to find the most possible deductions.
The only wrong answer is, “I don’t know!” If you answer “I don’t know” to one or more of the following questions or the answers stress you out, then it’s time to talk to your friendly technology business consultant to ask for a “data & backup recovery review”. There are many new BDR “in office” and “cloud based” solutions available through your trusted technology advisor that are next to bullet proof, surprisingly affordable and can be implemented in a very short period of time.
1. Where is your company’s most important data?
On your employee’s PC’s? On their cell phones? On the network servers in your computer closet? In your “CRM-in-the-cloud” application? Spread over several application servers in several different places? Step one in backing up important data is knowing where it all is and how many individual “data pieces” need to be backed up.
2. Are your data files separate from the application files?
Often the computer application that processes the important business data set is huge. Backing up the application and the data requires way too much space. Classically, the data is separated from the application on a regular basis and then copies of the application software and the application data are stored separately from the application and data the business uses everyday.
3. If your application data files become corrupted, how old is the backup file you’d use to restore from?
The data in your critical business applications change every minute of every business day. If the data file becomes corrupt then all the “new data” collected or created since the last backup is lost. Backing up every hour may be too cumbersome while backing up once a week might be too risky. The best decision is one that is regularly considered and revised to reflect your current business environment.
4. How do you know the backup data file does not have the same corruption?
Can you say “worst case scenario”? Nothing’s more upsetting for a business owner than to learn that they’ve invested good money in a backup solution that ends up restoring bad data. The best way to prevent this is to challenge your technology consultant and backup solution vendor – and to regularly test the system. Before a backup data set is put on the shelf and called the “safe data” can it be tested and proven to not be corrupt? This becomes an issue when older safe data sets are deleted to make room for the newer data sets that may have a problem if untested before storage.
5. Are your backup data files in the same physical location as your working data files?
Many business owners back up desktop computer data to a network server but the network server is usually in the same building if not the same room as the desktop computer being backed up. That’s fine if just one desktop computer breaks but what happens when the building burns down or all the computers are stolen along with the network server?
6. Does your remote data backup procedures require human interaction?
Many data sets are still backed up to “tape drives” which require that a human (office manager) carefully remove (yank out) the tape with the backup data set and then physically transport it (car trunk) to a safe place (kitchen table). While this “system” may have seemed perfectly reasonable when it was implemented many years ago, many business owners are surprised to learn that no one is actually swapping tapes out anymore. The one and only backup tape just sits in the backup drive 24/7/365 and is written over every 24 hours. More reliable systems now exist.
7. If a key application server died or was stolen, how long would it take to replace the server, load the application and restore the data?
A clean backup data set is only one of three items needed to restore a stolen or destroyed application server. A new server is needed as well as the application software. Is a backup server with upgraded and tested application software being stored somewhere safe for when it’s needed? It might seem overkill but I had a customer recently experience a total failure of their phone system server. It took two days to get a replacement server from the manufacturer and when they finally got it their IT guy admitted he did not ever make a backup of the phone system programming. It took another day and a half for all the individual phone suers to be reprogrammed as well as the entire auto-attendant. One unhappy law firm!
8. Do you have a workable plan to replicate application servers remotely and then access them remotely?
In the scenario mentioned with the law firm above, they had physical access to their facility. What if their facility was burned or flooded? How would they replicate their customer files on a new server and then allow access by all their employees from their home or some other remote office?
9. When was any part of your data and application restoration plan last tested?
While it may seem ridiculous to have a business owner “fake steal” his or her own application server in the middle of the night to see how well the data backup & recovery solution provider performed the next morning, but why not? Isn’t that the exact scenario the business owner is paying to recover from quickly? When I was in the Navy they taught us a very important lesson, “Don’t EXPECT what you don’t INSPECT”. Test your BDR solution one way, another way and then a different way again.
10. How much does your company pay to have a working BDR plan in place?
A good BDR plan is like buying good insurance. You hope you never need it but when you do need it you hope you like what you bought. Are you getting your “BDR insurance” through an employee who might quit or get hit by a truck? Are you getting it from an outside vendor who’s “throwing it in for free” with something else? To appreciate your BDR plan’s value you need to know how much you’re paying in actual hard or soft dollars.
11. What would it cost your company if your applications and data files could not be recovered?
Do you operate a single hot dog stand on a popular beach? No big deal. Do you serve a large client or prospect base that counts on you to track their information? Super big deal. To appreciate the “BDR insurance” you’re buying to protect against data loss you must obviously know what complete loss would cost you so you know the proper amount of money to invest preventing a catastrophic loss.
12. Who at your company is in charge of knowing the answers to these questions?
As a business owner your answer should be “me” but it’s likely someone else. Hopefully “someone else” is someone you still employ or a contractor you’re still paying. Just as you review your life insurance on a regular basis, as a business owner you need to review the details of your BDR plan on a regular basis to make sure you’re getting your money’s worth and you’ll be happy with what you bought when you need it.
If you don’t currently have a trusted business technology advisor to help you with a review of your data backup and recovery plan, please contact Spiritel for a free analysis at 866-770-0300.
