February 10, 2012
UC Ensures Continuous Communications in the Event of a Disaster
By Ashok Bindra, TMCnet Contributor
Organizations that have not been through a disaster tend only to think about the ones that gain national attention such as hurricane Katrina or 9/11. However, according to the Yankee Group (News - Alert), most disasters occur with very little media attention and can be just as harmful to small and big businesses. For example, the research firm recently talked to an enterprise that had a chemical truck spill directly in front of the building, prohibiting workers from entering. As a result, workers were unable to reach their offices even though there was no physical damage inside the building.
Hence, planning for such unforeseen disasters with traditional communications tools is very difficult -- if not impossible -- overly expensive and not really feasible, according to the Yankee Group. The research firm thinks that communication systems are especially difficult, as the systems will reach peak utilization in times of disaster. “With many disasters though, even if the telephony systems are unavailable, Internet connections are often available,” the Yankee Group wrote in an article posted on Wireless Week (News - Alert) site.
In this Wireless Week posting, Yankee Group wrote that IT executives looking to maximize their unified communications (UC) investments or searching for a way to gain budget approval should make UC a core component of a company’s business continuity and disaster recovery plans. When the research firm interviews current or potential deployers of UC, the discussion typically focuses on cost savings and how to measure productivity gains, wrote the Yankee Group. However, wrote Yankee Group, “One thing that does not get brought up often enough is how organizations can use UC as a way to ensure continuous communications in the event of a disaster.”
The statistics collected by the Group shows that implementing UC gives workers a wide variety of communication tools to collaborate with other workers, partners, customers or others in the organizations extended enterprise. The study indicates that UC tools offer the same experience whether the worker is in the office or working remotely. “If the UC suite is coupled with a softphone, workers can almost re-create the ‘in office’ experience from where ever they are,” wrote Yankee Group.
The research firm emphasized the fact that many disaster recovery plans fail because workers are not trained to use the tools in the event of a disaster. With UC though, wrote Yankee Group, “The applications are the same and should be familiar to the worker when operating in a disaster environment.”
In conclusion, the Yankee Group wrote that organizations that are looking for justification to deploy UC tools should consider using business continuity disaster recovery (BCDR) as additional justification for purchasing UC tools.
Ashok Bindra is a veteran writer and editor with more than 25 years of editorial experience covering RF/wireless technologies, semiconductors and power electronics. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.Edited by
Rich Steeves
