PBX Rx for natural disaster?

Well, this is one way to get those in the industry concerned about climate change: have Gartner Group write a report, release a product.

A recent Gartner Group report entitled “Management Update: Protect Your Call Center With a Comprehensive Disaster Recovery Plan” emphasizes the importance of alternate solutions to a private branch exchange (a.k.a. PBX) system, with extreme weather conditions on the rise due to global warming conditions.

In case of a storm or other natural disaster, states the report, “companies that rely solely on PBX equipment in their offices find themselves with no ability to receive calls. Instead, customers get a neverending ring or an emergency receptionist to field the calls.”

In response to (and heavily citing) the report, Miami, Fla.-based SageCom, Inc. has introduced SageVone VoIP, a hosted PBX solution. With the SageVone system, a company’s phone lines, call center, and individual voice mailboxes, continue to be answered normally by the phone system or a live receptionist during a natural disaster.

The system is promised to be SIP-compatible and therefore interoperable with most phone systems on the market. All settings are web-based and user-configurable. SageVone PBX also has an integrated Windows toolbar providing caller ID and other features.

The SageVone PBX solution from SageCom includes company directory, multi-level calling trees for incoming callers, and other typical PBX features and starts at $30.