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When the line drops, the tills keep working

Automatic cellular failover on a second carrier, so card payments carry on while the main service is down.

The cellular modem — takes over automatically when the line drops

The half hour nobody can afford

Card payments are the one thing that cannot wait for a line to come back. A busy Friday with the card machine down is takings lost and a queue that walks out.

A cellular backup takes over on its own. Nobody has to notice, phone anybody, or move a cable.

It runs on a different carrier from the main service, because a regional fault that takes out one will usually take the other with it if they are the same network.

Tills and terminalsWHAT CANNOT STOPOne box choosesSECOND BY SECONDCARRYING IT NOWThe main serviceA CABLE IN THE STREETIF IT STOPSA second carrierOVER THE AIR, ANOTHER NETWORKONE FAULT CANNOT LAND ON BOTH CARRIERS
Tills and terminalsWHAT CANNOT STOPOne box choosesSECOND BY SECONDCARRYING IT NOWThe main serviceA CABLE IN THE STREETIF IT STOPSA second carrierOVER THE AIR, ANOTHER NETWORKONE FAULT CANNOT LAND ON BOTH CARRIERS

The second line runs on another carrier deliberately, because two services down the same street cabinet fail together. Which line traffic goes down is a decision the equipment makes, not one anybody in the room has to notice.

What you get

What happens when the line goes

Nobody in the room has to do anything for any of this to happen.

The switch happens by itself

Failover is automatic and quick enough that a transaction already in progress is usually the only thing affected.

A different carrier on purpose

The backup runs on a separate network from the main line, so one regional fault cannot take both down together.

It switches back on its own

When the main service returns, traffic moves back without anybody deciding to.

Sized for what has to keep running

Card terminals and the till first. A cellular line is not there to carry a full building streaming video, and what it covers is agreed before it is fitted.

The antenna goes where the signal is

In some buildings that means somewhere with a view of the sky rather than in the comms cupboard. It is checked before it is quoted.

You find out it worked afterwards

The changeover is logged, so an outage is visible after the fact rather than a mystery about why the afternoon was slow.

The equipment

A modem that takes over, and a gateway that decides

Two pieces. One provides the second line, the other chooses which line the traffic goes down.

The cellular modem — takes over automatically when the line drops

The cellular modem — takes over automatically when the line drops

The gateway that decides which line traffic goes down

The gateway that decides which line traffic goes down

How it works

How the work runs

01

A signal check first

Cellular coverage measured in the building itself, because a bar on a phone at the front door is not the same as signal in a back office.

02

Carrier chosen against the main line

Deliberately a different network, so one fault cannot take both.

03

Fitted and proved

The main line is pulled on purpose and the changeover watched, rather than assumed.

04

Handover

What is covered, what is not, and how to tell it has happened.

Questions we get asked

Will card payments keep working if the internet drops?

That is what this is for. Failover happens automatically, normally fast enough that a transaction already in progress is the only thing affected.

Does it need its own data plan?

Yes, and it should be on a different carrier from the main internet service. Otherwise a regional outage takes both down together.

Will it carry the whole building?

It is sized for what has to keep running — payments, the till, the phones. What it covers is agreed before it is fitted rather than discovered during an outage.

How do we know it is working?

It is tested by pulling the main line deliberately at handover, and every changeover after that is logged.

Does somebody have to switch it over?

No. It takes over on its own and moves back on its own when the main service returns.

Name the things that cannot stop

Card terminals, the till, the phones, or all of it. The signal check settles what is possible in your building.

CloudCentric · Mount Pleasant, SC · serving Charleston and the Lowcountry(844) 422-7000