System keeps phones ringing even in disaster 

Precision Communications, a Boise-based provider of phone and data services, is offering a new system to protect businesses’ telecommunications during times of crisis.

Known as PBX Disaster Recovery, the system provides a backup private branch exchange in the event of an outage, regardless of the cause.

“Any time anybody’s phones are down you lose business, and sometimes it’s a life safety issue,” said PreCom co-founder and vice president Heidi Woodhead.

If a business’ phones suddenly suffer an outage due to natural disaster, or a line or cable failure, the system works by automatically routing calls to preset emergency numbers through a virtual PBX hosted by PreCom.

The solution is universally compatible with all telephone exchanges and responds immediately in the case of an RNA – “ring no answer” – or ATB – “all trunks busy”.

Paul Smith, Mid West channel sales manager for FreedomVoice, a California-based company offering the service in conjunction with PreCom, said automation makes the PBX Disaster Recovery system different from other emergency phone backups.

“Usually when the phones are down businesses have to call the phone company and ask them to give out a cell number,” he said. With PBX Disaster Recovery, incoming calls are seamlessly diverted to one or several preset cell or home numbers, or “whatever the customer’s come up with,” he said.

“The inbound caller wouldn’t know the call’s been rerouted,” Smith added. “If it’s a situation where it’s a natural disaster and a business needs to give the impression that it’s still up and running, this gives them that ability.”

Voicemails are automatically downloaded to a secure server and can be retrieved remotely, giving businesses “a lifeboat” that let’s them stay connected to their customers, he said.

“Companies go to great lengths to back up data, co-locate servers, and otherwise protect the vital parts of doing business, but forget that their PBX is a large part of what connects them with customers,” Woodhead said. “PBX disaster recovery is one of the most overlooked aspects of business continuity planning – until it’s too late.”

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