|
Communication
The
Benefits Of Emergency Notification Systems
By MICHAEL JENNINGS
One of the lasting
images from Sept. 11 is of thousands of dazed and bewildered New Yorkers
trekking uptown, unusable cell phones to their ears, trying in vein
to reach friends, family, and co-workers. Not only were they not able
to reach loved ones, they could not contact their companies to inform
them they were safe and possibly available to assist with the recovery.
Due to an overloaded system and damage to the communications infrastructure,
many continuity plans were delayed or altered because of the lack of
adequate communications.
The need for redundant and effective communications has been an ongoing
theme since the terrorist attacks. According to a Gartner report which
discussed the business continuity planning (BCP) lessons learned from
Sept. 11, “Those within the agency responsible for BCP must document
and regularly update a broad range of contact information – including
home, office, vacation home, and mobile telephone numbers; work and
personal e-mail addresses; and pager numbers.”
People are the most important asset an organization possesses and never
is that more true than in times of crisis. Enterprises need to be able
to locate, inform, and coordinate employees, vendors, and key customers
quickly and effectively. As companies have become larger and more geographically
dispersed, manually dialing thousands of phone numbers is just not an
option.
Many organizations are choosing to use an automated emergency notification
system. These products are no longer standard, run-of-the-mill auto-dialers.
They are intelligent, interactive systems that combine advanced communications
hardware with relational databases and powerful software. They allow
users to contact key personnel in a time of crisis, deliver critical
messages, and receive important data; they offer many advantages over
traditional means of crisis communications.
High-Speed, Two-Way Communications
The most obvious advantage is these systems can contact thousands of
individuals in a short time – up to 20,000 people per hour via
phone, cell phone, e-mail, or pager. In the event of an emergency, these
systems can be activated by phone, through BCP software, or via a secure
Web site.
Let’s face it, call trees are only as strong as their weakest link.
What happens if a key person on a call tree is unavailable to make additional
calls? The whole process would break down and many employees could be
left in the dark. Emergency notification systems eliminate the need
to rely on the availability or accessibility of individuals.
When contacted by an emergency notification system, call recipients
are given the appropriate information such as the situation, tasks,
and team assignments. The systems also enable administrators to receive
and record information from the people it contacts. They can be asked
questions such as medical qualifications, transportation needs, estimated
time to arrive on scene, and any other data that may be useful during
the crisis
For example, they can receive information such as which employees are
CPR certified, who can reach the office in 30 minutes, or who has a
four-wheel drive vehicle. The administrator can view these responses
in real time and make informed decisions based on the information he
or she receives.
Safe, Secure, And Reliable
Emergency notification systems also offer safe, secure, and reliable
crisis communications. Since the hardware, software, and phone lines
for these systems are usually installed at a third-party vendor, the
system will be available in the event of a disaster.
On Sept. 11 several companies learned the building housing the equipment
for their employee 800 phone number was located in the World Trade Center
complex. Their phone numbers were eventually rerouted, but their notifications
were delayed.
Be sure to choose a vendor that also backs up the hardware and data
at an off site, secure back-up facility. This will have two benefits.
First, if the vendor is affected by the same disaster, users can automatically
be switched to the backup location. Second, during normal operations,
the backup server can be used to load balance communications, dramatically
increasing the system’s call volume capabilities.
With emergency notification systems, individual organizations are given
their own database to store contact information and their own Web site.
From the Web site, changes can be made to any of the information stored
in the system by an administrator or the individual contact.
Some systems can even provide vital communications by functioning as
a call-bridge, patching key personnel into conference calls. This is
especially useful should the local telecommunications infrastructure
be damaged or hindered during a disaster. If the recipient cannot get
an outbound phone line, they can be transferred to a bridged conference
call.
Flexibility Under Pressure
During a crisis, new information is constantly being processed. What
happens if you inform all members of a damage assessment team to report
to the office, only to learn later that the building has been severely
contaminated? They would be heading right into the danger. Emergency
notification systems offer unique technology that helps keep everyone
thoroughly informed throughout a crisis.
After an individual has been contacted, they are asked if a new contact
method should be used as time goes forward and what that method should
be. For example, if the CIO is contacted via her home phone and is asked
to report to the office immediately, the system will also ask what is
the best way to maintain contact with her. The CIO can let it be known
that while taking the 30-minute drive to the office, the best means
of contact is via a cell phone. Then the system will automatically update
the contact method prioritization for this individual. If an urgent
need to contact the CIO arises, it can be done quickly and efficiently.
This feature ensures that key personnel always remain in contact as
a disaster unfolds.
In addition, these systems allow users to enter in an unlimited number
of contact methods for each individual and to prioritize the contact
methods based on the time of day, day of week, or any other chosen variable.
The notification system will attempt to contact the individual based
on the established order and preferences. If it does not reach the person
using the first means of communication, it will continue through the
list, based on the priorities established, escalating until the person
is contacted.
Conclusion
Emergency notification systems have advanced a long way in the past
few years. The ability to ensure accurate, reliable, two-way communications
during a crisis makes them a worthwhile investment. They can contact
large volumes of employees, customers, and vendors in a fraction of
the time it would take using traditional methods. And since the systems
are housed off site, they are available when you need them most. Today’s
emergency notification systems are flexible enough to perform under
pressure and can integrate with BCP software.
With emergency notification systems, organizations will no longer waste
time trying to contact key personnel – time that can be better
spent recovering from a disaster.
Michael Jennings is the manager,
consulting services for Strohl Systems, a global leader in the business
continuity planning software and services market. He has more than 10
years experience in business continuity planning and has traveled extensively
to work with consulting clients throughout North America and Asia. Jennings
can be reached at mjennings@strohlsystems.com.
To comment on this article, go
to 1504-10 at www.drj.com/feedback.
«BACK
to the Articles Index
|
