Disaster PreparednessBy Rich Tehrani & Max SchroederPersonal DR PlansVoIP, FoIP, unifiedcommunications,SaaS andother hosted<strong>service</strong>s providethe tools for a mobile workforce. Home offices, once a rarity,are now an indispensable component of many businessoperations. An added benefit is a built-in business continuity/disasterrecovery strategy. Employee dispersion reducesthe risk of business disruptions caused by fire, power outagesand other problems. However, it does not eliminate the risksentirely. Smaller companies are particularly vulnerable asmany employees reside in the same community or region asthe primary company office.Since most business interruptions last less than 72 hours,total relocation time is critical for maximum efficiency. Roadwarriors usually have portable offices at the ready. However,stationary home office employees will not be as mobile unlesstheir company has provided a clear plan and the proper equipment.Senior management is usually focused on data preservation,maintaining communications and other centralizedissues, so personal BC/DR planning can easily be overlooked.Plus, many managers are also road warriors and simply assumetheir critical employees are equally prepared.To get started, identify your critical employee home office locationsin relation to your company offices. Step two is to identifyhotels for your team outside of a defined radius with a secondarylocation at a greater distance. Most hotels provide high-speedaccess in their rooms and a business center, but do not take thesefor granted. You may also want to consider making arrangementswith hotel management to guarantee a number of rooms for yourcompany. Space can disappear quickly in an emergency. If theemergency is of a longer duration than 72 hours, you easily canmake adjustments, as your team already will be fully operationaland in communications with management.One of this column’s authors, Max Schroeder, recently experiencedhis second storm-related power outage in two years.Within an hour, Max was at his designated BC/DR hotel andfully operational. Putting a company BC/DR plan in placeis not complicated and generally pays for itself quickly inimproving overall company efficiencies, but it does require youto get it done – no time like now to start. ITMax Schroeder is the senior vice president of FaxCore Inc. (www.faxcore.com ) and managing director of the DPCF.Rich Tehrani is the CEO and group editor-in-chief at TMC, andconference chairman of ITEXPO.Regulation WatchBy William B. Wilhelm and Jeffrey R. StrenkowskiFCC Imposes Network Neutrality Rules onBroadband ProvidersOn Dec. 21, 2010,the FCC votedto approve rulesaimed at “preserving the open Internet” (i.e., network neutralityrules). As expected, the FCC voted to impose transparency, nondiscriminationand a no-blocking rule on broadband <strong>provider</strong>s.The rules require wireline broadband <strong>service</strong> <strong>provider</strong>s to treatlawful content in a “nondiscriminatory” manner. Likewise,<strong>service</strong> <strong>provider</strong>s will be prohibited from blocking legal content,applications, <strong>service</strong>s, and non-harmful devices. Broadband<strong>service</strong> <strong>provider</strong>s also will be required to disclose their networkmanagement, performance characteristics, and commercialterms of their offerings. All of the new rules are subject to anexception for “reasonable network management.”The rules also do not specifically ban the practice of paidprioritization, but the FCC has stated that the practice isnot likely to be considered “reasonable.” The FCC willconsider that practice, and others, on a case-by-case basis,with the burden on the <strong>service</strong> <strong>provider</strong> to prove that thepractice is “reasonable.” The rules will not strictly prohibittiered pricing for consumer broadband access, but the FCCintends to monitor the practice.While not treated identically to wireline <strong>service</strong>s, wirelessbroadband <strong>service</strong>s will be subject to several open Internetrules as well, including a requirement to disclose networkmanagement practices, including device and application certificationprocedures and the criteria for placing restrictions on<strong>service</strong>s or applications. The rules also prohibit the blocking ofwebsites as well as access to applications that compete with thebroadband <strong>provider</strong>’s voice or video <strong>service</strong>s.A number of members of Congress have announced theiropposition to the new rules, and it is expected that this debatewill continue into 2011 and beyond. ITWilliam B. Wilhelm is a partner and Jeffrey R. Strenkowskiis counsel at the global law firm of Bingham McCutchen LLP(www.bingham.com).GoTo:8 INTERNET TELEPHONY ® February 2011 Table of Contents • Ad IndexSubscribe FREE online at www.itmag.comGoTo:
NEWSIP Trunk-Unified Communications Summit @ ITEXPOGet the Facts About SIP Trunking and Unified CommunicationsLearn everything you need to know from the industry’s top experts atthese educational seminars, free for all ITEXPO attendees.LIVE DEMOS -- Watch as a SIP trunk is deployed live — on-site — in 20 minutes or less.Wednesday, February 2, 2011SIP Trunking Professional Development ProgramPRE-CONFERENCESERVICE PROVIDER WORKSHOPThe Case for SIP Trunking: How to MinimizeDeployment Costs and Maximize RevenueTuesday, February 1, 20111:00pm The Case for SIP Trunking1:30pm Delivering SIP to the Enterprise2:30pm The Value of a Service ProviderDemarcation Point3:30pm Ensuring Interoperability-- The Key to Service Revenue growth4:30pm Addressing Security <strong>Issues</strong>5:30pm Generating Revenue from HD Video6:30pm Cocktail receptionAll sessions inlcude Case Studies and Practial Solutions.Presenting companies: Bandwidth.com, Broadvox, EarthLinkBusiness, Ingate Systems, Intertex Data AB, Unified CommunicationsInteroperability Forum (UCIF)Moderator: Joel Maloff, Principal Consultant, Maloff NetResults9:00amThe State of SIP Trunking: A World View- SIP Trunking in Latin America and SIP Trunking in Europe10:00am Building for ROI11:00am Live Demo: Setting Up a Secure SIP Trunk11:30am The Service Provider Perspective12:30pm Telia: Lessons Learned from Across the Pond1:00pmTOWN HALL MEETING: SIP, UC and Security2:00pm The Need for an E-SBCThursday, February 3, 2011Unified Communications Day9:00am TOWN HALL MEETING: Unified Communications10:00am SIP: Unifying the Distributed Workforce11:00am Fax-over-IP12:00pm Unified Communications: The Future for Service Providers1:00pm Hosted Unified Communications2:00pm Enterprise-Centric Unified Communications3:00pm UC Across the BordersFriday, February 4, 2011SIP Trunk-Unified Communications Boot Camp9:00amSIP Trunking and Unified Communications forthe Sales and Marketing Professional10:00am SIP Trunk ”Basic Training” with IngateMiami Beach Convention Center, ITEXPO, Room A208For more information: http://www.ingate.com/SIP_Trunk_UC_Summit_Miami_2011.phpPlatinum Sponsors:Sponsors and Guest Speakers:
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