Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.

|

Redundancy Keeps Businesses Connected

The internet is the foundation of our daily lives. From our work, to school, to health, to leisure—the internet is the root of everything we do in our increasingly digital world. So, it comes as no surprise that a company’s success also hinges on its ability to stay connected to the internet. That sounds easy enough; however, when the unexpected happens, that may not be the case.

That’s where internet redundancy comes in. When faced with an outage, a business should have a backup internet service provider that can kick in and ensure that your operations stay online. We saw a tragic example of this during the Nashville, Tennessee, explosion on December 25th of 2020. As AT&T sustained serious damage, businesses across Tennessee and surrounding states were without internet access, leaving them without the tools they needed to serve their customers.

These incidents, though devastating, remind us that loss of internet may be preventable—with a backup network.

What We Can Learn from Sudden Outages

We can’t see into the future, but we can plan for it. When internet service drops, and it’s painfully apparent that you need it to run your business, that’s when you wish you had a backup service provider and network.

By putting those controls in place now, you could save your business hours, or even days, of downtime, and prevent a loss of resources. Not to mention, if your business provides services that support the lives of others in a significant way—say, a medical clinic, for example—this extra step is especially vital and could protect those you serve. 

Why Your Business Needs an Operational Assurance Plan

An operational assurance plan is a procedure that helps your business be ready for anything that could prevent you from continuing operations. In the case of internet access and adding a secondary network, this plan can ensure that in the event of an outage, your business is not scrambling to find ways to keep operations running while the internet is down.

Please note that your primary and secondary options for connectivity should operate on two separate networks. What we saw from businesses in the Nashville area during the downtown crisis was that some had AT&T as their primary provider, and their backup provider was also an AT&T product, which both used the same network, and left them without service. United Communications worked to provide backup service to these businesses as quickly as possible to get them back online.

How Network Redundancy Prepares You

Having a backup network with another service provider gives your business the peace of mind that comes with knowing that if one ISP has interrupted service, your business can continue its most vital functions.

United Communications’ Business Representative, Joe Marchesoni, explains further:

“Even though United Communications has redundancy and diverse paths for access built into our network, we strongly recommend that every business—small, medium, and large—have redundancy for their internet and phone services. It’s crucial to consider how this would impact their business flow, and how much that downtime would cost their business if their internet service went down. 

For example, if a restaurant or a convenience store couldn’t process credit cards for even an hour, what would be the cost? Larger companies couldn’t communicate with other employees or their customers, for example, a call center not being able to receive calls from clients. As we have seen over the last year there are multiple things that can happen from natural disasters like tornadoes to man-made disruptions like a bombing at a central switch! We want to help you prepare for whatever might occur.”

United Communications Can Help You Plan Ahead

Internet redundancy isn’t about which provider is better than another; it’s about having service available from two different providers that operate on two different networks. We were devastated to see the effects that the Nashville bombing had on businesses in our area, and we want to do whatever we can to protect you from the loss of internet access in the future.

Our United Communications team is more than happy to discuss your network redundancy plan with you, regardless of whether we are your primary or secondary provider. We are always here to answer any questions you may have.

Call CHRISTOPHER TAYLOR, Business SALES MANAGER, at 931-993-1603 or email at CHRISTOPHER.TAYLOR@gounited.net