I had written earlier about why a complete (or even a large scale) switchover to VoIP is not a plausible option under the current scenario. That belief is continuously being reinforced.
I had signed up for Airtel Callhome and have been using it for some time. Although their rates are not the best, I use it as an emergency VoIP service and I have been satisfied so far. But it suddenly stopped working yesterday. Some investigation revealed that this could be due to the breaking of the undersea cable. Although Airtel cannot be blamed for the breaking of the cables, but the fact that the company was not prepared for such an situation left me unimpressed. A similar cable break happened earlier this year and companies relying on such service could have had a backup option so that their services are not disrupted. Ever heard of Business Continuity Planning (BCP)!!!
It is very easy for company to blame the cable breakage for the disruption of their service, but they cannot hide the fact that they were not prepared for this. Customers relying on their services were left high and dry. Imagine the fate of business customers due to such a disruption.
Communication is the most basic need, at least in today's world. Just because VoIP is cheap, companies cannot take it for granted. We obviously will not complain if this was Betamax, we do not expect 100% uptime from them (considering the price that we pay). But when the customers are paying premium prices, they should expect a premium service.
I only hope, that Airtel and other VoIP companies take a lesson from this episode and have a backup plan for the future.
Technorati Tags: BCP, Airtel, India, Undersea Cable, India
I had signed up for Airtel Callhome and have been using it for some time. Although their rates are not the best, I use it as an emergency VoIP service and I have been satisfied so far. But it suddenly stopped working yesterday. Some investigation revealed that this could be due to the breaking of the undersea cable. Although Airtel cannot be blamed for the breaking of the cables, but the fact that the company was not prepared for such an situation left me unimpressed. A similar cable break happened earlier this year and companies relying on such service could have had a backup option so that their services are not disrupted. Ever heard of Business Continuity Planning (BCP)!!!
It is very easy for company to blame the cable breakage for the disruption of their service, but they cannot hide the fact that they were not prepared for this. Customers relying on their services were left high and dry. Imagine the fate of business customers due to such a disruption.
Communication is the most basic need, at least in today's world. Just because VoIP is cheap, companies cannot take it for granted. We obviously will not complain if this was Betamax, we do not expect 100% uptime from them (considering the price that we pay). But when the customers are paying premium prices, they should expect a premium service.
I only hope, that Airtel and other VoIP companies take a lesson from this episode and have a backup plan for the future.
Technorati Tags: BCP, Airtel, India, Undersea Cable, India
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