What happens to your business phones when the internet or power goes down?
Short answer: a cloud phone system can keep taking your calls even if your office has no power or internet, because the system itself doesn't live at your premises. A traditional on-site PBX usually can't. Here's why — and how WiseCloud's disaster-recovery divert works.
Quick answer: With a cloud phone system, incoming calls reach the carrier network first — not your office — so they can be automatically diverted to mobiles or a backup team even during an outage. WiseCloud calls this disaster-recovery divert, and it happens automatically, with no manual step required.
Why a traditional PBX fails during an outage
An on-site PBX (private branch exchange) is physical hardware sitting in your office, connected to a specific phone line. If the power goes out, the hardware stops working. If your internet connection drops (for VoIP-based on-site systems) or the physical line is cut, calls generally can't reach it — callers hear ringing with no answer, or are sent straight to voicemail, until the outage is fixed on-site.
Why a cloud phone system behaves differently
With a cloud (hosted VoIP) phone system, your phone number and call-routing logic live in the carrier's network and data centres — not a box in your office. That means an outage at your premises doesn't have to stop calls from being answered: the system can be configured to reroute calls elsewhere before they ever try to reach your (currently offline) office.
How WiseCloud's disaster-recovery divert works
- You nominate one or more mobile numbers, or a backup group, in advance.
- If your office internet or power goes down, incoming calls automatically divert to those numbers.
- No manual switch-over is needed — it's built into the service.
- Once your connection is restored, calls flow normally through your office system again.
Making the most of it
- Keep your nominated divert numbers current — review them whenever staff or roles change.
- Use at least one divert number on a different network to your office internet (e.g. a mobile), so a local outage doesn't take out your backup too.
- If uptime is mission-critical, consider a Tailored Link with built-in internet redundancy alongside your phone system's divert.
Outage & disaster recovery — quick answers
Does a cloud phone system stop working during a power outage?
A cloud (VoIP) phone system has no on-site hardware that needs power, so calls to your number can still be answered elsewhere — for example diverted to mobiles — even if your office itself has no power or internet.
What happens to calls with WiseCloud if the internet drops?
WiseCloud’s disaster-recovery divert automatically redirects incoming calls to nominated mobiles or a backup group the moment it detects an outage, so calls keep being answered without any manual action.
Does an on-site PBX system have the same protection?
Not usually. A traditional on-site PBX depends on power and often a specific internet line at your premises — if either goes down, incoming calls are typically lost or go to voicemail until service is restored.
What should I do to make sure disaster recovery works for my business?
Keep your list of nominated divert numbers (mobiles or a backup group) up to date with WiseCloud, and make sure at least one nominated number is reachable on a different network to your office internet.
Never miss a call, even during an outage
See how disaster-recovery divert works on WiseCloud's cloud phone system — set up once, it just works.