Virtual PBX Helps Florida Travel Agency Avoid Hurricane Downtime With Backup Phone System

    SAN JOSE, Calif. and FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Oct. 30 /PRNewswire/ --
 Virtual PBX(R), inventor of the hosted PBX service, today announced that
 its customer, Reservations Services International, Inc. (RSI), is using PBX
 Parachute(TM) as part of its hurricane preparedness plan. RSI, a
 reservations company for dive trips throughout the Caribbean, makes
 thousands of travel arrangements for its clients by phone each year, and
 required a backup phone system to allow continuous business operations even
 during emergency situations.
     PBX Parachute is a remote backup phone system that mirrors a customer's
 primary phone system, automatically and instantly taking over if the
 on-site PBX phone equipment fails, or if the customer's office is
 inaccessible. The system requires no on-site software or hardware. PBX
 Parachute was put to the test by RSI in October 2005 when Hurricane Wilma
 hit south Florida and knocked out the travel agency's power for 10 days.
     "We had just completed our implementation of PBX Parachute the day
 before Wilma hit," said Cheryl Arscott, president of Fort Lauderdale-based
 RSI. Our existing PBX phone system went down but incoming calls were
 immediately transferred over to the PBX Parachute backup, which transferred
 the calls to our employees who answered from their homes or left voicemails
 for us to call them back. We didn't miss a single customer call and our
 business continued, virtually uninterrupted."
     Prior to implementing PBX Parachute, the company had already taken
 steps to protect other aspects of its business. "We already had emergency
 plans in place to cover our computer systems and facility, but we wanted to
 complete our plan by covering one of the most important components of our
 business -- our phone system," added Arscott. "We chose PBX Parachute based
 on the strong recommendation of one of our long-time clients. With PBX
 Parachute, our customers are assured that we're open for business even in
 the event of a hurricane."
     Lessons Learned for 2006
     Since Hurricane Wilma, Arscott has expanded RSI's hurricane-readiness
 plans. RSI now has remote agents in Illinois, Massachusetts and South
 Carolina, as well as an Orlando-based call center available during
 emergencies. The company also has provided many of its employees with
 traditional analog phones for use during power outages. The company is
 currently preparing its outgoing messages on PBX Parachute to apply to
 varying scenarios that could happen during a hurricane, storm or power
 outage.
     About Reservations Systems International
     Reservation Services International (RSI) provides client branded
 "private label" reservation services. Offering complete toll free (800)
 reservation capabilities, airline reservations, customer service and an
 on-line booking engine. RSI services resorts as well as adventure and dive
 companies that want a U.S. based presence. In support of the reservation
 process the newly formed RSI Marketing Group provides an a la carte menu of
 marketing and P.R. options. For more information, call 954-351-9688 Ext.
 105 or go to http://www.diveres.com .
     About Virtual PBX
     Virtual PBX pioneered the hosted PBX market, introducing the first
 service of its class in 1997. Virtual PBX utilizes the public switched
 telephone network and the internet to provide PBX functionality as a hosted
 service. The three primary customer types for Virtual PBX services include
 small businesses that want full PBX functionality without the capital and
 support expense of installed equipment; companies of any size that need to
 route calls to telecommuters or other employees outside of a main office;
 and enterprises looking for phone system disaster recovery solutions.
 Additional information about Virtual PBX can be found at
 http://www.virtualpbx.com or by calling 888-825-0800.
     NOTE: Virtual PBX is a registered trademark and PBX Parachute is a
 trademark of VirtualPBX.com, Inc.
     Media Contact:
     Tim Shisler/Corey Oiesen
     Dovetail Public Relations
     408-395-3600
     tim @ dovetailpr.com / corey @ dovetailpr.com
 
 

SOURCE Virtual PBX