VoIP to the Rescue

Posts: 13 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Mar 03, 2005 Posts: 13

There has been a lot of negative publicity about VoIP and 911 service. Nevertheless, the Internet in general and VoIP in particular are more disaster resistant than the traditional phone networks. It's time to be vocal about VoIP successes during emergencies.

After the transit bombings in London, my daughter was able to reach us easily using our London Vonage number at a time when CNN reported that international calls were having a hard time getting through on the PSTN. I blogged about that here.[url=http://blog.tomevslin.com/2005/07/call_from_londo.html]http://blog.tomevslin.com/2005/07/call_from_londo.html[/url]

Currently Verizon with its vaunted service says it will be two days before they can get our service in New Jersey restored. Fortunately we have Vonage and Skype and don't care very much.[url=http://blog.tomevslin.com/2005/07/verizon_outage.html]Verizon outage[/url]

Please post your VoIP success stories and don't forget to tell the FCC and your local PUC.

Posts: 646 · Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 9:37 pm Post subject:

Vonage is only more disaster-resistant than the PSTN if the disaster doesn't occur near their New York datacenter. You only have to knock out one point to bring down all the Vonage users worldwide.

Then, of course, if your Internet connection gets knocked out, it's all over, no matter which VoIP provider you have.

Posts: 70 · Full Forum Member Joined: Jun 17, 2004 Posts: 70

Good point, Paul.
Wonder what Vonage's Disaster Recovery plan is like.

Posts: 18 · Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2005 1:16 am Post subject: backup plans

paul248 wrote:

Vonage is only more disaster-resistant than the PSTN if the disaster doesn't occur near their New York datacenter. You only have to knock out one point to bring down all the Vonage users worldwide.

Then, of course, if your Internet connection gets knocked out, it's all over, no matter which VoIP provider you have.

Vonage is the only service I've seen so far (in Canada) with simultaneous ringing and a Network Availability Number
Do these services survive a data center outage?

Rogers Cable claims they have an dedicated network for their VoIP and a 6 hour battery but I don't don't believe it will save them if my building loses power to their repeater/amplifier. (so I chose Sympatico DSL as my primary internet source)

Everyone should have a backup plan, whether it is
An alternate phone provider (Skype/cellular/POTS),
Dialup or cable internet
Battery backup or UPS. (Uninteruptible Power Supply)
Some candles, propane and good neighbors doesn't hurt either

Posts: 1715 · Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2005 3:00 am Post subject: Re: backup plans

jdsharp wrote:

Do these services survive a data center outage?

That's a good question...and one I don't think we'll ever find out about.

jdsharp wrote:

Rogers Cable claims they have an dedicated network for their VoIP and a 6 hour battery but I don't don't believe it will save them if my building loses power to their repeater/amplifier. (so I chose Sympatico DSL as my primary internet source)

Even if your building's amps have backup power, there's a good chance the cable co doesn't have backup power on the amps along the street. I learned this the hard way during the hurricanes of 2004. I have enough generator power & fuel to run full AC, lights, everything for almost a full week. Comcast (cable) kept cutting out any time the power outside blinked. Even though I was on generator power the whole time, the cable modem would un-sync and have to re-sync, which could take some time depending on how quickly the cable co's stuff came back on. Eventually it went out entirely and I was forced back to good 'ol dial-up. And eventually I lost a few phone lines when they became fully submerged. Even at that, I was still able to find a few working phone lines in the phone panel. Local calls were usually possible, but all of the long distance trunks were maxed or out of service. I didn't have VoIP then, but am getting it soon. I also now have DSL instead.

Quote:

Everyone should have a backup plan, whether it is
An alternate phone provider (Skype/cellular/POTS),
Dialup or cable internet
Battery backup or UPS. (Uninteruptible Power Supply)
Some candles, propane and good neighbors doesn't hurt either

Don't forget a battery operated radio, plenty of batteries, and beer -- the water might not be drinkable after a storm...but the beer still is! And if you're worried about having to drink warm beer, grab a block of dry ice and toss it in the freezer. It'll keep the fridge & freezer cold for about a week if you pick up a decent size block.

Posts: 646 · Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2005 3:03 am Post subject:

I wouldn't really worry too much about it though. With somewhere around a million customers to answer to, Vonage has a good incentive to keep their outages to a minimum. A single point of failure is also a single point of concentration.