What is Failover?

Failover is the ability to switch to another communication channel in cases where the primary communication channel fails to deliver a message.

Failovers can be considered as backup or standby channels.

Failovers occur automatically after a certain amount of time when a system detects that a message was not delivered via the primary source of communication. They ensure that you can get your messages delivered via an alternative means of contact.

In Infobip, we use failovers in our Moments and Broadcast modules. They are easily set up during message creation and compatible with numerous communication channels. Failovers are a potent tool for ensuring message delivery in cases where users may have lost connection to a particular channel.

For example, a user may be in a rural area with limited data coverage but has a stable cellular signal. If you set up a broadcast with the primary delivery source set to WhatsApp, and the message is not delivered, the system can rely on an SMS failover option to get the message to the customer.

Backups are copies of existing systems or data stored for later recovery. Failover is a backup connection or duplicate of the production server environment when the main one does not work unexpectedly.

Failover and disaster recovery ensure high availability and business continuity. Still, failover is more relevant to day-to-day small-scale machine or network failures, while disaster recovery addresses large-scale infrastructure damage.