Power outages are a real concern for anybody using VoIP solutions. From unexpected weather conditions to grid issues, several things can go wrong and disrupt your power. Since it is not the question of if it will happen, but when, it is imperative to plan for these unforeseen events.
In this article, we will discuss different ways to stay connected during a power outage to ensure business continuity.
Going through a power outage can be quite frustrating. Fortunately, there are several options that can help you and your business stay in touch with your customers and thus maintain an adequate level of operation.
1. Backup Power Supply
During a power outage, everything goes down: routers, modems, and of course, your VoIP phones too. Having a backup power supply (UPS) will make sure that these pieces of hardware remain up and running, at least for a given period of time. By connecting those important devices to your UPS, your business will be able to function normally until the power is restored.
2. Make Use of Softphones
Softphones are software-based virtual phones that do not require the use of a handset to make and receive calls. Physical VoIP phones operate on a dedicated power source. However, softphones installed on mobile devices can run without power for hours due to their built-in batteries. Therefore, adding softphones to your VoIP phone system will help you stay connected during a power outage.
To learn more about softphones, read our article here
3. Route Calls to Your Colleagues
If your organization operates offices in various locations, you can quickly route incoming calls to your colleagues in other locations during a power outage. VoIP.ms provides the call forwarding features to route calls to your colleagues as and when required. To be prepared for all eventualities, you can also configure a permanent incoming call failover to reroute the calls when the situation matches certain criteria such as « Busy », « Unreachable » or « No answers ».
Your customers will not even know that anything has changed. Your business will continue to function normally. Check out our video tutorial on call forwarding right here
4. Divert Incoming Calls to Voicemail
If you cannot receive calls on your VoIP softphone or route them to your colleagues, you can also divert incoming calls to voicemail. VoIP.ms provides a powerful voicemail functionality to receive any missed calls during power an outage and thus, get back to your customers when business is back to normal. You can also set up voicemail to send the messages in an email attachment and receive voicemail messages directly into your inbox. Moreover, the voicemail features can be part of the previously mentioned failover strategy.
Take a look at our Voicemail video tutorial here
Final Thoughts
Whether you are a small or a large organization, you cannot run a successful business in the dark. Having a reliable service provider like VoIP.ms who provides various features like call forwarding, voicemail to email, and failover policies to stay connected during an outage is the best way to be well prepared to deal with power outages.
