Integra Telecom partners with Verizon Wireless to deliver VPN wireless backup

Integra Telecom on Wednesday unveiled a new wireless-based VPN backup service, signaling its move to enhance its product set with a business continuity and disaster recovery option for its growing business customer base.

Developed in partnership with Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ), the new service from Integra will offer the VPN Wireless Backup service to customers on a nationwide basis. Given the increasingly mobile nature of businesses, the nationwide capabilities should resonate well with traveling executive or sales representative making various client visits.

Available to both Integra's SMB and growing base of medium and large businesses, the Wireless Backup service will ensure that customers can continue to get access to their applications if a wireline circuit goes down, the company said. Anytime a wireline circuit goes down, it will immediately failover to the Verizon Wireless network connection.

Any of Integra's T1, bonded copper and fiber customers can leverage the Wireless Backup service as an alternative lower-cost solution to the traditional method maintaining a wireline-based redundant connection into their building.

When a network disruption does occur, the Wireless Backup service leverages the existing customer premise equipment (CPE) to switch traffic from the wireline network to the wireless network automatically.

Such a concept will not be lost on Integra's growing SMB and larger business customer base that includes a mix of retail chains, multi-location enterprises and multi-campus hospitals.

"With our VPN Wireless Backup, Integra customers have a more complete range of reliable options to keep their businesses connected and secure," said Joe Harding, senior vice president of marketing at Integra.

Keeping to the theme of business continuity, the Wireless Backup offers three other key features: Security with IPsec allows encrypted data to go through a wireless connection; existing Cloud Firewall Service customers using a VPN solution can get protection from malware threats; and Access Control Lists that allow customers to prioritize network traffic to ensure critical applications can continue running during an outage.

While Integra is certainly not alone in offering a wireless backup solution (other CLECs like XO and TelePacific already provide similar services), having a wireless backup service gives the CLEC another weapon to gain the trust of larger business customers that expect constant service uptime.   

For more:
- see the release

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