HomeBlogManaged FailoverWhat is Managed Failover?

What is Managed Failover?

Key Takeaways: Definition of Managed Failover, Failover Configuration, How Long Does Failover Take?, Failover Deployment

Definition of Managed Failover

Managed Failover is a proactive solution that ensures your business data connection is always available by providing a backup internet circuit with automatic failover.

Failover is the process of automatically traversing internet data over a secondary circuit if your primary internet circuit fails. Network downtime can halt business operations and result in lost sales and productivity. Managed Failover ensures a reliable data connection is always available for your business to use.

Looking to add failover to your business network?

Contact our business team today to schedule a free consultation.

Managed Failover Configuration

Blackfoot’s Managed Failover is configured as an active/passive solution, where active is your primary circuit and passive is your secondary circuit in case of failover.

The passive circuit can be serviced by any ISP, but for added protection from network outages, we recommend using a geographically and technology diverse carrier. This ensures your secondary circuit doesn’t leverage any part of the last mile or middle mile network of your primary provider. And if a carrier-wide outage occurs, both of your circuits won’t be impacted so you remain online. For ease, Blackfoot can supply your business with a diverse LTE secondary circuit.

How long does failover take?

Our reliable solution uses a failover device to monitor the heartbeat of your circuits for uptime. Both circuits are connected to our Meraki device and if monitoring senses that the primary circuit is no longer active, it will automatically failover and traverse traffic to the secondary circuit. Automatic failover kicks in if there is an outage of 30 seconds, so your network disruption will be less than a minute.

Our failover device will retry the failed connection periodically. However, if you want to ensure your primary circuit is restored as soon as possible, you can also leverage our team by adding Managed Connectivity to your failover solution. This allows Blackfoot to contact your internet provider on your behalf to resolve the outage with your primary circuit. As the owner and operator of a modern data and voice network, we're focused on up-time all day, every day — and our experts are well-equipped to speak geek with your ISP to get your primary circuit back up and running as soon as possible. With Managed Connectivity, Blackfoot will aggregate all internet circuits on your behalf and manage all vendor billing and troubleshooting. This simplifies things on your end, so you only work with one provider and receive one bill.

What about restoring your primary circuit?

Our failover device will retry the failed connection periodically. However, if you want to ensure your primary circuit is restored as soon as possible, you can also leverage our team by adding Managed Connectivity to your failover solution. This allows Blackfoot to contact your internet provider on your behalf to resolve the outage with your primary circuit. As the owner and operator of a modern data and voice network, we're focused on up-time all day, every day — and our experts are well-equipped to speak geek with your ISP to get your primary circuit back up and running as soon as possible. With Managed Connectivity, Blackfoot will aggregate all internet circuits on your behalf and manage all vendor billing and troubleshooting. This simplifies things on your end, so you only work with one provider and receive one bill.

How is failover deployed?

Managed Failover is quick to deploy, with a zero-touch configuration so none of your IT resources are needed! In addition, our device includes a basic firewall that provides secure connectivity with intrusion detection at the network perimeter. Depending on your security needs, you can also choose our enhanced solution that includes a more heavy-duty firewall. As your managed service provider, Blackfoot will support and manage the life of your failover device to ensure it’s working properly and always up to date.

Free up internal resources to focus on your core business by relying on Blackfoot Communications to support your network. Partner for Managed Failover to ensures your business data connection is always available.

Why Blackfoot?

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“I wish more business partners and solution providers were as transparent and collaborative with their “access” and expertise as Blackfoot Communications.”

Bryan Dady, IT Infrastructure Director, Glacier Bancorp

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"Always within reach by phone or email, with great customer service!  When I have to call with any questions or support, I know I will get someone who will assist me with the utmost respect, skill, and professionalism. I highly recommend Blackfoot as a partner for any telecommunications needs.”

Sam Perkins, Center Network Engineer | IT Operations, Community Medical Center

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quote purewest
“I was sick of dealing with an internet provider, a WiFi provider, and a separate phone provider to figure out one problem. Blackfoot was adaptable and came up with unique solutions for our business. If something goes wrong, it’s so much simpler to troubleshoot by making one call to one vendor. It’s really nice having a company that is willing to work with us.”

Ashley Grassa, Director of Operations PureWest Christie's International Real Estate

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“The team over at Blackfoot has been instrumental in the success of our business. Their customer service and dedication to supporting us has been refreshing. It’s nice to be able to reach out to someone and have them genuinely want to help.”

Mike Rogers, Controller, Sleep City / Cranky Sam's Brewery / Smart Rooms

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“Dusty St John and the technical support team at Blackfoot have been a pleasure to work with. Their response time when contacted with either a problem or general question is excellent. Blackfoot, especially Dusty, has also been willing to consult and help with questions about products and processes that are not necessarily part of its product suite in order to help solve problems my organization has needed help with.”

Dale Asanovich, IT Director, Hellgate Elementary School

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“Blackfoot Communications provides and manages our phone solution at the Sanders County Courthouse. We had an outdated phone system that we needed to replace. The transition was very coordinated and proved to be smoother than we thought. Now we have a modern phone solution with the best tech support ever!”

Kathy A. Conlin, Sanders County Commissioners’ Office

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"Blackfoot is our partner. They care as much about our business as they do their own."

Earl Akers, Director of Information Services, Western Montana Mental Health Center

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“Customer service is so important in our line of work. That’s why we needed a provider who could deliver reliable voice and data services. Blackfoot has been a great partner since 2015 and truly shares our vision of customer service excellence.”

Quin Williams, Vice President, Williams Plumbing

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"It’s a matter of confidence, trust and rapport."

Dan Lee, IT Support Specialist, JCCS

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"While cost savings are significant, having a company that can provide timely and superior support is pretty significant, as well."

Matthew Roberts, Systems Administrator, Garlington, Lohn & Robinson Attorneys

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