Old phone lines had one useful trick. They kept working when the electricity went off, because the line carried its own power from the exchange. Modern connections do not do that. Once your phones run over the internet, a power cut takes the broadband, the phones and the card machine together, which is why business broadband backup is worth ten minutes of your time.
Why business broadband backup matters more than it used to
This is the part of the switch-off that catches people out after the event rather than before it. The migration goes smoothly, everything works, and then six months later the power dips and the whole building goes quiet.
It is not a reason to avoid the change, since the old network is closing regardless. It is simply something to plan for once, properly, rather than discover on a busy Friday.
What the regulator now expects
Ofcom updated its guidance on network resilience in June. For new street cabinets it treats three to four hours of battery backup as good practice, and expects longer where power cuts are common. You can read the full guidance on the Ofcom site.
That covers the network outside your building. Inside it is your responsibility, and nobody is going to fit it for you. Ofcom is also checking how providers keep 999 access working during outages, which tells you how seriously the regulator takes this.
The jargon, in plain English
- UPS. A battery that sits between the plug and your equipment, keeping things alive long enough to finish a call or shut down safely.
- 4G backup. A mobile connection built into the router that takes over automatically if the main line fails.
- Resilience. Industry word for how well things keep working when something goes wrong. It usually means having two of something.
- Diverse route. A second connection that arrives by a genuinely different path, so one digger cannot take out both.
Building a business broadband backup that actually works
Start with the router and the phone system, because everything else depends on them. A modest battery keeps both running through the short cuts that make up most outages.
Then think about the connection itself. A mobile fallback covers a cable fault, while satellite covers the rarer case where the whole street loses service. Finally, make sure calls divert to mobiles automatically when the system cannot be reached, so customers never hear a dead line.
"Everyone tests the fire alarm and nobody tests the phones. Pull the plug on a quiet Tuesday and see what still works. It's a five minute job and it tells you more than any amount of paperwork."
Matt Stead, Director, Excel Communications
Medical and care settings have the least room for error here, because a lost connection can mean a lost appointment or worse. Our healthcare solutions page covers what that involves.
We will walk your building, work out what stops when the power does and tell you what is worth fixing. Take a look at our business broadband options, or call us on 0800 711 7111.
