Managed Services Monthly

Communications Disaster Recovery

If yours is like most organizations, you back up your data to ensure that it is available in the event of a disaster. But is restoring data all there is to disaster recovery planning?

“No matter what size your organization is, it is essential to take into account communications with customers, suppliers and staff,” said Victor von Schlegell, Appia’s president. “The consequences of not doing so in terms of lost revenues and lost customer confidence can be every bit as serious as losing data.”

As an Appia customer, you already have the means for communications disaster recovery. Calls come into our operations centers, which are located in secure, telco-grade facilities, and then are routed over the dedicated connection between us and your location. If your location goes offline, calls can be rerouted to an alternate location or to mobile or home phones, according to your communications disaster recovery plan.

Also, because your auto-attendant continues to operate, there is no interruption to customers’ or suppliers’ ability to contact you, even if it is only by leaving a voicemail that you can retrieve remotely.

Finally, if you have our fax and voicemail to email services, faxes and voicemails are sent to your email inbox and can be read from any location.

“We work out a plan with our customers, which outlines what will be done in the event of an emergency,” said von Schlegell. “That plan is kept up to date, so that the customer and we know exactly what to do when an emergency occurs.”

For help in designing your communications disaster recovery solution, please contact your Appia regional manager, who will put you in touch with our engineering resources.

Customer Profile

Krieg DeVault’s emphasis on disaster recovery is based on the firm’s experience. “In April, 2006, the high rise we were in was hit by straight-line winds. We had to vacate our building for 12 weeks,” said George Smith, Krieg DeVault’s IT director. “We have a remote office in our area and we went to that office, but the PBX system could not handle the 120 additional extensions we needed. The biggest challenge we faced during that situation was to give all of our staff access to a telephone.”

With Appia’s managed voice services, incoming calls can be routed quickly to a back-up locations, mobile phones, or home phones. This allows organizations like Krieg DeVault to maintain vital customer contact should disaster strike.

Read the complete case study here.

Appia Welcomes New Regional Manager for Northeastern U.S.

Richard Pellichero has been appointed Regional Manager for the northeastern United States. Rich brings extensive experience in developing and supporting channel partners; we are excited to have him on our team.

Rich has been in the telecommunications industry for over 30 years. His responsibilities have included channel development and direct sales. His former employers are NBX Corporation, Sonexis, Avaya, and 3COM, and several technology start-up companies.

Rich is a graduate of Alliance College. He has two children and lives in the Boston area.

For more information about Appia’s managed IT and telecommunications services in the northeast, please contact Rich Pellichero, Regional Manager, at 877-277-4297, or email him at rpellichero(at)appiaservices.com.

Appia Contacts

To learn more about Appia’s products and services, and how they can benefit your organization, please contact the Appia Regional Manager for your area.

Michigan and Northern Indiana
Dan Swain
574-707-7788
dan(at)appiaservices.com

Central Indiana and Ohio
Steve Battiato
317-806-2170
steve(at)appiaservices.com

The Northeastern U.S.
Rich Pellichero
877-277-4297
rpellichero(at)appiaservices.com

Illinois and Wisconsin,
New York and California
Jason Ulm
317-715-9507
jason(at)appiaservices.com