Loadshedding and your practice software: five things to check

Loadshedding has settled into routine for many South African practices, but the practice software often hasn’t caught up. When the power goes, a system that lives on one server in the back office takes billing, bookings and records down with it. Here are five things to check.

1. Where does your system actually run?

If your practice software lives on a server on site, it needs power, a working network and a UPS that lasts longer than the outage. A hosted or cloud system keeps running in a data centre with its own backup power. Then the only question left is how you reach it.

2. Can your team reach it on mobile data?

When the fibre router is off, a laptop or tablet connected to 4G is often the only connection left. Check that your system works in a browser on those devices, and that a vet can pull up a patient history and a receptionist can take a payment without the office network.

3. How long does your UPS really last?

Test it rather than trusting the label. Run the reception PC, the router and the card machine off the UPS and time it. If it doesn’t cover a full stage of loadshedding, you need a plan B.

4. What happens to half-finished invoices?

Ask your provider what happens to an invoice or a clinical note that is open when the power drops. Good systems save as you go, so nothing is lost when a screen goes dark mid-consult.

5. When were you last backed up, and where?

Power surges when the grid comes back are hard on servers. Make sure backups run automatically, off site, and more than once a day. Ask when the last one ran, and how long a restore would take.

Where Otomys fits

pod.vet runs in the cloud and keeps working on mobile data from a laptop or tablet. Hosted Microvet runs on servers in South Africa, backed up twice a day. Both are backed by a long track record without significant downtime, with support Monday to Friday and a technician on standby after hours. If you want help thinking through your own set-up, talk to us.