Optus cable cut? Think of your own backup plan

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Thursday, 17 July 2008 16:27

Opinion and Analysis

You might also be able to call your telco from an unaffected mobile – if you can get through – and ask them to put a temporary diversion in place to another number.

If you can’t get through at all and can’t put a diversion in place, an existing mobile phone on an unaffected network can be used to call important clients to let them know what’s going on (assuming they aren’t likewise affected) or a pre-paid mobile phone can quickly come to the rescue.

This option is only really applicable to small businesses or individuals with a single or just a few numbers. Large businesses with hundreds of lines could divert their main office number to a mobile for the receptionist but might find themselves out of luck trying to divert hundreds of numbers to mobile phones.

There’s also the option of a VoIP provider such as MyNetFone, Engin or even Skype. These work independently of any particular ISP, and so if your connection goes down but you have a wireless alternative as described on page 2, you can just connect your VoIP box to the wireless connection (via a router as described) and your VoIP phone number is back in business.

Call quality could vary from what it would be through ADSL or cable but if call quality is an issue, at least you’d be able to have the option of calling your VoIP number, getting into the message bank system and leaving a new message to call you on a temporary new pre-paid mobile from a carrier that isn’t affected by any outages.

So... as I’ve already said, none of these options are cost-free. They all cost money.

But if being in contact or being connected is important, and you don’t know how long any outage will last for, you can put this “Plan B” into action the moment you know an outage has occurred, racing out to buy the equipment you need to set up and install immediately, although you might then have to wait for your wireless service to still be "switched on".

Alternatively you can have these options already paid for and working, just waiting for the moment something goes wrong so your downtime is minimised and you can get back to work.

Do the sums for yourself or your business, and see if it’s affordable, or would pay for itself in the event another contractor rips into someone else’s fibre optic cabling.

With so many wireless options at increasingly better pricing, it’s definitely worth investigating the cost of having your own personal Plan B!