Get Ready Queensland Week runs from 5 to 11 October 2026, and it starts a six-week preparedness campaign, according to Get Ready Queensland. Most preparedness advice is about your home: an emergency kit, a household plan, cleaning the gutters. This is the office version.
Plenty of businesses already do the important things. The backups run every night, the server has a battery box under it, and someone knows where the spare keys are. The usual gap is that nobody has checked any of it for a while.
These six checks come from what our service desk logs when the internet or the power drops. Over the 12 months to 18 August 2026, we logged 17 internet outage tickets from 14 clients, not counting notices about planned outages. The tickets don’t record the cause, so we’re not claiming those were storms. What they do show is how often a business finds out, in the middle of a working day, what actually happens when the connection goes.
Set aside 30 minutes this week and go through the list with whoever looks after your IT.
1. When did you last test a restore?
A backup that’s never been restored is a hope rather than a plan. Ask for three things: the date of the last test restore, what was restored, and how long it took to get back.
A good answer is a recent date and a file, folder or mailbox that actually came back. A weak answer is “the backup report says successful”. Those reports matter, but they don’t prove you can get your data back in a hurry.
While you’re asking, check where the backup copies live. A backup drive sitting next to the server in the same room doesn’t help much if that room floods or is out of reach for a few days. At least one copy should be somewhere else.
2. How old are the UPS batteries?
A UPS is the battery box that keeps a server or network gear running through a short power cut, or long enough to shut down cleanly. The batteries wear out over time, and a UPS that starts beeping is often telling you so. In August 2025 one business logged two tickets in the same week about a beeping UPS.
Check three things:
- What each UPS actually powers. The internet box and network switch need battery power too. Otherwise the server stays on while nobody can reach it.
- When the batteries were last replaced. The date is often on a sticker, in the unit’s display or in your IT provider’s records.
- Whether the server shuts down safely by itself when the battery runs low, rather than just losing power.
3. What’s the plan if the internet goes?
Decide in advance how the business keeps working for a day without its main connection. Options, starting with the cheapest:
- A mobile hotspot on a work phone for the one or two people who must stay online.
- A 4G or 5G backup service on your router that switches over automatically when the main link drops.
- A second fixed connection from a different provider, for businesses that really can’t stop.
Whichever fits your business, test it before you need it. On a quiet afternoon, unplug the main connection and see what still works: email, your practice or accounting software, card payments and the phones. That test tells you more than any brochure.
4. Can your phones divert to mobiles?
If the office loses power or internet, the desk phones usually stop too. In May 2026 a client called us during a power outage to have their phones forwarded. That’s a quick job when the steps are known and the right person can be reached. It’s slow when nobody’s sure who can do it.
Write down how calls get diverted to mobiles, who is allowed to do it, and whether it can be done from a phone app or web portal rather than from a handset inside the office. Check that a closure greeting can be switched on remotely too.
5. Who can get into the building?
After a storm, the problem is often physical. Who has keys and alarm codes? Who can reach the comms cupboard? Can they get there if roads are cut?
Name two people, not one, and ideally not two who live in the same suburb. If your alarm, cameras or door access report over the internet, find out what happens to them when the connection drops, and who gets told.
6. Print the contact sheet
When the power is out, the contact list saved on the server isn’t much use. Print one page, and keep copies at the office and at home with two people. Include:
- Your IT support line and after-hours number
- Your internet provider’s fault line and your account number
- Your electricity distributor’s outage line
- Your phone system provider
- The building manager or landlord
- Your insurer and policy number
- Support lines for your key software vendors
Check the numbers on it once a year. This week is a good time.
After the 30 minutes
You’ll finish with a short list of fixes. Some cost nothing, like a printed sheet or a second key holder. Some need a quote, like replacement UPS batteries or a backup internet service. Put a name and a date beside each one, and look at the list again in a month.
If you’d like a hand working through the six checks, get in touch. Our services page covers how we handle backup, recovery and network management.