Businesses and residents lost phone services today in Mt. Lebanon, Pa. after gas company employees accidentally cut landline cables, according to published reports.

 

A Verizon (News - Alert) spokeswoman told  WTAE Channel 4 Action News that workers cut the lines while working in a residential area of the city. The company was not sure how many customers have been affected or how long it will take to restore service.

 

While a pair of workers accidentally cutting phone service to a Pittsburgh suburb does not constitute a major disaster, it does highlight the need for businesses to protect themselves against such untimely disruptions.

 

Every year the United States is pummeled by unpredictable hurricanes, floods and storms and that often sends companies scrambling to develop or update plans for “business continuity.” Often, the ability to keep operations running during outages can be the difference between success and failure.

 

In fact, the smartest companies develop continuity plans that account for not just major interruptions but also consider smaller events like local power outages that happen more frequently but can be just as devastating.

 

As TMCnet reported in October, Max Schroeder (News - Alert), senior vice president at FaxCore, said studies show 75 percent of business interruptions are related to smaller outage events –sooner or later every business is likely to experience some level of outage.

 

Often, the first step for businesses is to perform an audit of what needs to be protected and which procedures are already in place that can be built from.

 

According to Schroeder, Data backup essential and communications have to be maintained and using a converged IP communications solution is a great advantage in creating business continuity.

 

The FaxCore solution includes a Web user interface (UI) for full staff mobility, integration with Microsoft (News - Alert) Exchange 2003 and 2007 support for Active Directory and integration with SharePoint Server 2007 for data sharing and backup.

 

Another company extending its reach in the business continuity market is Spacenet. As TMCnet recently reported the company signed a contract with Cumberland Farms to provide an upgraded data network to approximately 500 locations across the United States.

The new network is expected to offer improved business continuity with the help of common carrier and satellite technologies.