Here in the Southeast, we’ve seen disasters take various forms over the years.  From severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, floods and ice storms to the dreaded word that has its own season, hurricanes.  There’s a lot that can go wrong and spell disaster for your business. While some businesses have a clear, well-defined disaster recovery plan for a worst-case scenario, as much as 68% don’t.  The result of not having a plan can be catastrophic in its own right.

In 2019, data is everything and losing your customer or business data can bring your business to a standstill. A standstill many businesses may never recover from. According to several sources, 93% of companies without a disaster recovery plan, who suffer a major data issue, are out of business within one year.

So, what you can you do?  You can plan TODAY.  Typically, we have several days to prepare for a potential strike from a hurricane, but why wait?  A severe July afternoon thunderstorm can cause havoc for your business as well.  Prepare now for the worst-case scenario. Make sure that you’re ready for anything should disaster strike.

Take a look at your insurance policy.  Make sure you have everything within your business covered should you experience losses.  Also check your deductible amount.  Make sure you have enough saved up should you need to file an insurance claim.

Check your technology devices and electronics to ensure that all are plugged into a surge protector.  Computers, tvs, modems, cable boxes, everything.  Even if you’re not preparing for a storm, this will protect your electronics from damage caused by a possible power surge.

Log onto your business services account to forward your land lines to your cell phone and back up all of your data with a cloud backup service.  This way even if your power is out and services are down, you can still function remotely.

Finally, make sure you have all of the important contact information in the form of an emergency contact list.  Program these numbers into your cell phone.  Your list should include police and fire departments, your insurance provider, power company, business services provider, employees, family, friends and any other important numbers you may need.  Charge your mobile device prior to the storm making landfall, and make sure you have a car charger as well.      

Following a storm, make sure you check on your most important resources first, your employees.  Ensure they’re safe and let them know the status of the business.  Allow them time to handle the issues at their home, if any, prior to coming back to work.

Once a storm has moved through the area and emergency crews are able to access the damage, they will first start with clearing away debris to make roadways safe and restoring power.  Cable, internet and phone companies, such as Cox Communications, will then come in behind the power companies to restore services.  It is critical that power companies first clear any active power lines and restore their service before telecommunication companies can restore services. Once power is restored, telecommunication services will be restored as soon as possible.

During the time you are waiting for services to be restored, you can access your files via your cloud connection.  If you forwarded your phone you should still be receiving calls to your business and you can check your voice mail remotely through most business service providers.

When you have power restored at your business, you may need to reboot your equipment.  Unplug your equipment from its power source for 5 seconds.  Plug everything back into the surge protector to get your equipment back up and running.

Following these simple steps can ensure you and your business are able to get back open quickly following the storm.  So, as you get ready for the 2019 Hurricane Season at home, don’t forget to get ready at your business, too.

For more tips, or questions on cloud and voice services, log onto www.CoxBlue.com.