In any organization, speed and efficiency is critical when responding to network outages and interruptions. But as a company grows, and the networks expand, quick responses become more of a challenge.
Network mangers and engineers at large data centers prepare and review network failure scenarios. Failsafes and contingencies are built in, and they generally have the staff, equipment and access to respond quickly.
But when outages and interruptions occur at campus and branch facilities, fewer resources and qualified personnel are available locally to restore network service, and deploying branch-level technicians can take hours. Meanwhile, productivity at these remote locations is at an unacceptable standstill.
WTI’s Console, PDU and hybrid devices are the solution. With more than a quarter-million installations at some of the largest companies worldwide, our Out-of-Bandwidth (OoB) products have become an indispensable tool for remotely identifying and resolving network problems, and most importantly, they can keep network traffic moving.
WTI’s IP Passthrough™ technology allow branch or campus offices to stay connected through cellular modems available on WTI Console server and hybrid devices. IP Passthrough technology is a great failsafe to keep network traffic moving until normal connectivity is restored.
Is Your Organization’s Communication Infrastructure Reliable?
WTI’s devices should be a part of any organization’s network failsafe/contingency strategy, ensuring full-time remote power control, access and connectivity regardless of whether you company’s communications infrastructure is analog (POTS) or digital (cellular).
Whichever technology you use, as your organization and networks expand, it’s important to consider that POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) and cellular are two communications technologies that are moving in two very different directions.
POTS vs Cellular
POTS
POTS is and older technology and is in-use at many organizations around the world. In fact, in some of the more remote locations around the world, POTS is all there is, but that’s changing quickly.
Despite it still being a viable technology, increasingly, carriers are putting less of a priority on POTS installation, maintenance and upgrades. In fact, as of 2018, carriers like AT&T and Verizon are no longer required to install or maintain POTS lines at all. Third-party contractors will begin picking up the slack, and the increased costs will be passed along to the consumer.
POTS copper cable and wiring is cumbersome, expensive and aging rapidly. It’s served us pretty well during the 20th century, but its reliability has always been an issue. Bad weather, accidents, and even unwelcome critters have been known to bring POTS service to its knees.
Cellular
Cellular offers significantly more advantages for both carriers and users. For carriers, cellular is much easier and economical to install, maintain and upgrade, which is why we see carriers moving away from POTS and focusing much more of their attention on cellular.
Cellular users enjoy the same simplified deployment and cost benefits as carriers, but the advantages of improved performance, functionality and scalability options moving forward can’t be overstated.
Unlike POTS, the IP-based functionality of cellular service provides simultaneous access to network devices, which is absolutely necessary to allow telemetry and network automated maintenance systems to collect and monitor network data.
The network automation options cellular offers reduces the number of time-consuming, error-prone and expensive tasks and allows network professionals to manage their time and resources more efficiently.
Those of us who have watched cellular technology evolve know that speed, performance and reliability are rising exponentially, and costs are dropping rapidly.
Final Thoughts…
POTS technology isn’t going away completely any time soon; too many people and organizations still depend on it. But its expense and performance compared to the rapid rise of cellular technology is certainly something to consider moving forward.
Whatever choices your organization makes, rest assured that WTI products will continue to be a dependable part of your network failsafe strategy.