Don’t Let a Power Outage Take You Offline: Here’s How to Keep Your VoIP Up and Running

In the modern age of VoIP, power outage problems are lessened by the all-in quality of technology.

A working phone, after all, is only one component of an interaction with a business. The vast majority of businesses use call systems to facilitate some kind of doing. Unless your whole business model is strictly communicating you require some other things to operate.

With that as a prelude, let’s discuss how to handle a power outage and keep your VoIP up and running.

The VoIP Power Outage Difference

The last clear advantage that landline phones supposedly have over VoIP services is about to get kicked a few times. Not sorry to the outdated technology of a century otherwise long gone.

Phones, you see, work when the power is out because they work via a separate grid. Essentially, the power for a traditional handset runs through the phone lines themselves. This bit of redundancy makes for some handy emergency communications.

However, the most that can run through such a phone line is insufficient to power most modern phones. Yes, even the landline ones. With all the features that a business phone needs to run it’s every bit as much a brick during an outage as everything else. No power means no ability to swap lines, to enact digital holds, to route calls through a PBX and on and on.

A VoIP service builds in all of these features (and more). If the internet is up and running, everything else can still function to get work done.

So, how do you ensure that you can get your VoIP powered when the local juice is in short supply?

The following lays out some general solutions for keeping your business coping with call volume like the pros you are. The second is some specific things to do depending on the sliding scale of your needs and business size.

General Solutions

Since VoIP is a total system and not an individual device, you need to get several things running to power through without power.

The modem providing internet to your establishment is the first link in the chain. You need to confirm that the modem is getting both power and service.

ISP Backup

We’ll get to power in a moment. As for service, if a larger power outage is occurring, it may have also knocked out your ISP. If so, you will need to get a back up running preferably one out of the immediate area.

The fastest way to establish a secondary ISP (that doesn’t involve paying two bills as a just-in-case) is to have mobile service connected modems at the ready. These are more powerful than using a smartphone as a hub or tether but works in the same fashion. Rather than piping in internet through your ISP via a cable or wire, you access and distribute data through the $G or 5G connection.

Uninterruptible Power Supplies

When answering calls means making money, you can’t afford to lose time on callbacks and voicemail.

Powering up the handest in those situations calls for the might of the UPS. These glorified batteries are a must for sensitive mainframes and distributed systems anyway, so they make a solid investment for even moderately sized operations.

With enough smart-tech to avoid damage from power spikes and enough juice to power a device for six hours, UPS provide a lot of utility.

Call Forwarding

VoIP doesn’t live in the handsets in your office. It exists in the servers of the provider. The provider knows when your lines go dead.

Knowing this, you can plan ahead and have automatic call forwarding set. When the service detects that a phone is unavailable it can direct calls to a separate number or mailbox.

Smartphones

Certainly, you don’t want to reroute calls to employees’ personal devices (depending on your business size).

Mobile phones don’t need to be smartphones to take advantage of VoIP services. With rerouting lines, you can receive calls on any phone. You might feel like a kingpin with a stash of burner phones in the office but these cheap and reliable units are a solid investment for keeping call volumes handled in a pinch.

Large Businesses

Larger businesses have more options to avoid problems with a power outage. Calls can be redirected to a secondary facility or call volumes can be mitigated with voicemail diversion.

Operating a large call floor with smartphone data coverage isn’t easy. It’s far better to have redundancy through the ISP with a provider that can bring data from multiple areas.

For a long-term but still temporary power outage, a secondary site can be easily set up, all you need is an ISP because all of your VoIP numbers and services move with you.

Small Businesses

Small to medium-sized businesses can benefit from swapping to mobile ISP services.

They also have the ability to run VoIP numbers through personal smartphones. Using VoIP apps through a smartphone gives a business the ability to seamlessly interact with customers as if no power outage was happening at all.

Smartphones still need juice, though not as much as a full computer and dedicated handset. Keep a few quick rechargers on-hand for this eventuality. The good ones can charge a phone fully in an hour.

Nearly all provide enough power to run a phone while it charges, even when almost dead.

Get Joon

Much like the best way to stay dry is to avoid the rain, the best way to deal with a power outage is not to have one. Since that’s not within your control, getting a powerful provider makes a VoIP power outage a speed bump instead of a dead end.

Whatever your VOIP needs, Joon’s ready to match your needs and surpass your expectations.

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