When two carriers both promise "99.9% uptime," it's tempting to call it a tie. But SLAs differ in the details that matter when something breaks. Here's how to compare them properly.
Line Up the Same Metrics
Put the SLAs in a simple table and compare these rows for each carrier:
- Uptime % \xE2\x80\x94 and translate it to actual downtime/year (99.9% \xE2\x89\x88 8.8 hrs; 99.99% \xE2\x89\x88 52 min).
- Mean time to repair \xE2\x80\x94 the guaranteed fix window, and when the clock starts.
- Latency / jitter / packet loss targets \xE2\x80\x94 critical for voice and video.
- Service credits \xE2\x80\x94 the formula, and whether you must request them.
- Exclusions \xE2\x80\x94 maintenance windows, last-mile carve-outs, force majeure.
The exclusions decide it: a 99.99% SLA riddled with carve-outs can protect you less than a 99.9% SLA with few. Always read what does not count as downtime.
Weight by What Hurts You
If downtime is your pain, prioritize uptime and MTTR. If call quality is the issue, weight latency/jitter/packet-loss commitments. Don't treat all rows as equal \xE2\x80\x94 weight them to your business.
Make the Comparison Easy
Gathering and normalizing SLAs across carriers is tedious \xE2\x80\x94 it's exactly what we do for you, for free. See what an SLA covers and uptime percentages explained.
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