RE industry should review telecom options in wake of recent disasters.

With disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis and tornadoes striking everywhere from Indonesia to Indiana, there is growing concern among building owners, property managers, brokers and tenants about avoiding communication system failures, reports ConnectMe, a leading business communication solution company with more than 25 years' experience in the industry.

One doesn't have to watch CNN nightly to see real estate assets taking it on the chin from natural disasters. That's why ConnectMe created a special industry advisory to help keep real estate companies and related businesses like construction, architecture, engineering, insurance and law firms from the knockout blow of a widespread business communication system failure.

"After a disaster, it is important to get a building up and running ASAP, not only because it's the bottom line for a building asset, but also because of the businesses that buildings support and the neighboring community recovering from the disaster," says Scott Seltzer, CEO of ConnectMe, adding, "A great majority of business phone systems failed just at the very time they were most needed."

"The good news for real estate is that there is a new generation of cost effective options now available that can help small and mid sized businesses in vulnerable areas be better prepared should they face emergency situations in the future," says Mr. Seltzer. "These systems can also provide value added benefits that transcend emergency considerations."

Mr. Seltzer provides the following advice to protect businesses and real estate assets:

* Consider Virtual Hosting: There was widespread failure of local PBX and cell phone services in the wake of Katrina. Towers fell, antennas and other equipment were seriously damaged and generators intended as a fail-safe for the loss of the grid were submerged. On the other hand, new virtual PBX business telephone systems provide a range of advanced features--including call routing, follow-me calling, voicemail, fax-mail, and ACD queues--which delivered over the public switched telephone system, thus requiring no customer-installed equipment. These systems are an alternative to the expensive on-site PBX systems used at major corporations, costing thousands of dollars. And given that they're virtually hosted, they can continue to be operative even when equipment is damaged locally.

Mr. Seltzer pointed to two examples:

* During recent hurricane Katrina, a church in the New Orleans area used ConnectMeVoice virtual PBX services to communicate critical information to their congregation when telephone service was largely unavailable. Users retrieved prerecorded information from the system at their convenience; they were able to leave voicemail messages for church staff that could then be retrieved at any time from any telephone or Internet connection.

* Also, during the blackout in August 2003 that affected most of the Northeast, Canada and parts of the Midwest, ConnectMeVoice virtual PBX systems kept the communications for a number of major New York City firms from going dark.

ConnectMe, which has developed and provided business phone system solutions for thousands of users at Fortune 500 companies, also suggests that real estate businesses set up an 800 emergency number. In the midst of an emergency, and in the absence of working traditional communications systems, properly configured business phone systems can serve as a vital communications point for employees to communicate with family, friends and other colleagues. New phone systems also enable users to leave specific, detailed messages, which can be critically important when others have difficulty reaching them. Businesses should consider setting up a special 800 number that can be dialed from any location toll free that can be utilized by employees during an emergency.

One of the primary challenges facing individuals following Katrina was that they were difficult to find as "moving targets." These individuals were staying with different families, friends and in hotels. New "follow me" services within select business phone systems allow individuals to forward the calls to a toll-free number to as many as six additional numbers.

ConnectMe is pioneering new, robust, innovative and cost effective business communication solutions for small to mid-sized businesses across the country.