Businesses that experience any type of downtime face the risk of financial penalties, reputational damage, loss of customers, and more.
And with 1 in 5 organizations reporting that they experienced a severe outage in the past 3 years, it’s more important than ever to fortify your business’ systems and processes.
You can build your business’ reliability by implementing backup power sources, internet connections, network devices, phone lines, and redundant routing strategies.
In this article, we will cover the basics of redundant routing, including its definition, importance, how it works, and so on.
Redundant Routing Meaning
Redundant routing is a failover strategy that ensures every call connects by rerouting traffic to alternate destinations if the primary one fails.
For this reason, it is also commonly referred to as failover forwarding or failover routing.
Voice redundancy is the method of installing backup systems and protocols in case your main phone network fails. And redundant routing plays an integral role in this process by increasing your phone system’s availability and reliability.
How Does Redundant Routing Work?
Many businesses use call routing technology to effectively direct and distribute all calls to teams and locations. But what happens when your main office doesn’t answer due to high call volumes, system outages, or a crisis?
Enter: redundant routing.
Once a call fails to connect to your initial destination, redundant routing redirects the call to another phone line or location based on your preset rules.
Most failover forwarding services also allow you to select the amount of time the call rings at each location and the ringing strategy (random, sequential, or simultaneous).
If, for some reason, none of your backup destinations connect, you can loop the forwarding sequence to try each location again or simply route calls to your voicemail.
With every alternate call pathway you add, you increase your phone system’s geo-redundancy and the overall reliability of your business communication.
Example:
Let’s say your primary location (Office A) experiences a power outage due to inclement weather in the area. When an incoming call attempts to connect to this location, it will ring for 15 seconds. When no one answers, the system determines the call failed at Office A.
So, redundant routing takes over, and forwards calls sequentially to the first phone number (Team B) based on your preset rules. The call again rings for 15 seconds. If this location fails, it forwards to the next destination on your list (Call Center C).
And it repeats the same steps until the call successfully connects or routes to voicemail.
Why is Redundancy Important in Business Communication?
Voice communication remains a prominent channel, with more than 76% of consumers reporting a preference for phone calls for support interactions. This means you must ensure your business phone network is always available to customers. And with failover forwarding, you can do just that.
Here’s why this service is important for business communication:
- Ensures all incoming calls connect, so you don’t miss lucrative opportunities.
- Routes calls automatically when lines are busy or inoperable.
- Decreases the number of lost or dropped calls.
- Fails over to any IP-enabled device located anywhere in the world.
- Connects multiple locations, teams, devices, etc.
- Maximizes your business’ productivity.
- Protects against phone service disruptions when redundant routing is included in your disaster recovery plan.
- Maintains business continuity during crises.
- Lets you build reliability and uptime within your phone service.
- Assures quick response rates and increases connectivity.
- Improves caller experience by increasing your service’s availability.
How to Get Started?
With redundant routing in place, you can rest easy knowing that your business network is prepared for disruptions. However, it is essential to note that this feature is only as reliable as the provider you select.
So, look for a provider with high-availability infrastructure with an uptime of 99.999% or more.
Start by reviewing each service’s network reliability by ensuring they include multiple points of presence (PoPs) and data centers as well as customizable redundant routing options. Inquire about:
- How they prevent network disruptions
- What happens to call traffic if their service fails
- Do they have backup routing for their network
- And if they have recovery plans in place
Once you find a reliable provider that fits your needs, sign up for the service and set up failover routing for your business.
Redundant Routing with Global Call Forwarding
Global Call Forwarding delivers cloud phone services to businesses around the world. Our service includes failover capabilities like redundant routing as well as other advanced communication features.
We’ve built a reliable and high-availability network through long-term relationships with telecom carriers and local partners. And when adding new vendors, we carefully evaluate whether they comply with our strict reliability and quality requirements.
We also have multiple PoPs across the Americas and APAC as well as a 99.999% uptime guarantee.
On top of that, Global Call Forwarding offers 24/7 support and a dedicated account manager for every user, so you always receive help when you need it.
Ready to get started? Sign up online or call us at +1 (561) 908-6171.
