| Question |
What is your primary business? |
| Answer |
It's a simple question, but many "service
providers" will hem and haw because they really do something
else entirely. Southeast Voice and Data reaches beyond
simply hosting and residential services to focus on operating
and managing IT services for business. A simpler way to
say it: "Southeast Voice and Data is a big business IT
department for thousands of small businesses." |
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|
| Question |
Can I get a tour of your datacenter? |
| Answer |
Absolutely! We are proud of our state
of the art datacenter and you can call any of our sales people
to arrange for a tour. We will show you earthquake rated
racks, uninterruptible power supplies, backup power generation,
24 x 7 network operations center and physical security systems. |
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|
| Question |
Do you perform practice drills for
emergency power and backup generators? |
| Answer |
Southeast Voice and Data has extensive
experience delivering high availability environments. Our
processes include monthly drills to practice switching our
backup systems, including UPS and power generators. |
| |
|
| Question |
Have you eliminated all single points
of failure in your architecture? |
| Answer |
Yes, Southeast Voice and Data servers are
fully redundant, from network cords to power supplies to cables;
the datacenter has redundant power, cooling, and separate
physical entrances for three way fiber connectivity to the
internet backbone; and major systems are configured with backups
that can failover in an emergency. |
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|
| Question |
What kind of data storage systems do
you use? |
| Answer |
Some providers will use local disks in the
server for all of their storage requirements. This is
risky, and not the recommended configuration for highly
available storage, even with RAID5. Southeast Voice and
Data uses RAID-1 mirrored disk arrays for the local operating
system, and a NetApp FAS 3050 with field-proven data
availability greater than 99.998% for all subscriber data.
This enables us to deliver maximum reliability at a reasonable
cost. |
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|
| Question |
What kind of backups do you do, and
how often? |
| Answer |
Many service providers will do full backups
only weekly or monthly, and use incremental backups in between.
Southeast Voice and Data does full backups of all data in our
systems every night. It takes longer and cost more to
perform full backups, but in rare cases where restoration is the
only option, we'll have you up and running much faster. |
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|
| Question |
Do you route calls over public
internet? |
| Answer |
Although we use "Voice over IP" technology,
your calls are not routed over the public internet. Your
calls are delivered over a quality controlled business class
fiber connection ensuring the proper network performance.
This ensures VoIP calls sound just as good as your old desk
phone and secure as well. |
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|
| Question |
Do you support 911 and 411 Services? |
| Answer |
In late 2005, the FCC required all VoIP
providers to ensure customer safety through proper 911 call
delivery. Southeast Voice and Data has always provided 911
and 411 services and we even offer uninterruptible power
solutions so your business phones will always be available. |
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|
| Question |
What is your system availability
guarantee? |
| Answer |
Most service providers offer 99% or more
availability, but there are huge vacancies in this range.
99.0% availability is 7.5 hours per month of downtime and 99.9%
availibility is less than 45 minutes per month downtime; big
difference. Many providers offer these as "targets," but
include no penalties or rebates if they fall below the
guaranteed level - essentially rendering the SLA worthless.
Southeast Voice and Data guarantees 99.9% voice system
availability, with financial rebates for any months where we're
out of compliance. |
