Disaster Recovery Journal

Notification Systems

adequate personnel responded they were on the way to resolve the problem, a “situation handled” notification was delivered without alerting the masses.

29. Bombs away – When a bomb threat was recently called into a resort hotel, both staff and emergency responders had to act quickly to evacuate guests and staff. An alert was sent to all guests, no matter where they were, using cell numbers gathered through the reservation process.

30. Musical mayhem – When a multi-day concert act was delayed, disrupting a complicated schedule, an alert was sent to all organizers. The team joined a conference call and rearranged schedules quickly, avoiding an embarrassing lull and without upsetting the crowds.

31. Security breach – If a bank’s Web site
experiences a security breach, sensitive
customer data may be compromised.
One bank protects itself by automatically
launching an alert to on-call IT staff
whenever suspicious activity is detected,
using the cascade feature in case the alert
needs to be escalated quickly.

35. Something fishy – When food alerts and recalls happened, one company reacted swiftly with notification, alerting all customers with lot codes and other pertinent information. Stakeholders joined a conference call with the touch of a key to decide how to best manage the situation.

Now you get the picture – notification is no longer just for emergencies. You can get more out of your notification system by expanding the way you think about it, and by doing so, you’ll save money while improving your business operations – not to mention your staff, customers, clients, and partners will appreciate the extra communication.

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Ann Pickren is an expert in business conti-nuity/disaster recovery, crisis management, and supply chain management and acts as strategic counsel for many Fortune 500

companies. In her role as vice president of solutions at MIR3, Pickren evangelizes MIR3 solutions to the BC/DR market and consults with customers to develop emergency management and business continuity best practices.

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