IT Management

Business Continuity Emergency Communications Plan

Last updated Oct 28, 2004.

An emergency communications plan is a critical component of any business continuity program. It is normally associated with an emergency operations center that becomes activated in response to a major IT or business interruption. The cause of the disruption may be due to some natural or man-made disaster or calamity. An emergency communications plan may also be used for events that do not require the activation of the EOC but do need the wide-spread and timely dissemination of information.

Prior to developing an emergency communications plan, one should first determine the critical success factors that will contribute most to the plan's successful deployment. The following six factors are the ones I focus when initiating such a plan:

  1. Objectives

  2. Criteria

  3. Roles

  4. Logistics

  5. Publications and Training

  6. Dry-run testing

The individual or team responsible for developing the emergency communications plan should address these factors in the order shown. The next segment describes each of these factors in more detail. I include some real life examples where appropriate.

  1. Objectives - The overall objectives of a communications plan should be established at the outset. This is not always as obvious as may seam. The objectives should be agreed upon, well understood, and publicized. For example, will the primary objective of the communications plan be for communications only to employees, and only during a disaster? Or is the intent to advise customers of interruptions to service? Or is it for investors and stockholders? Or regulatory agencies? Or is it some combination of these? One of my clients took this issue all the way to the Board of Directors to agree that the objective would be very broad in scope, while another company limited it to only major disasters affecting life, limb, or significant revenue loss. Whatever the objectives they should be shared, supported by executive management, and widely communicated.

  2. Criteria - Knowing when to activate a communications plan is critical to its success. Similar to the emergency operations center, for catastrophic events such as major earthquakes or terrorist acts, the decision is straight-forward. But the majority of the time events fall into areas that are not so straight-forward. Does a power outage warrant activating the communications plan? Or air-conditioning problems? Should the number of employees (or customers) impacted be the criteria? Or the length of time, or severity, of the impact? Some companies use a threshold of number of customers or employees impacted, or the amount and length of time revenue is disrupted, while others make it a judgment call which brings in the next issues of roles. In most cases, it will be a combination of criteria that warrants activating the communications plan. But in any event the criteria, similar to the objectives, should be agreed upon, well understood, and widely published.

  3. Roles - Specific roles and responsibilities for key participants of a Communications plan should be spelled out. Who is the overall decision-maker that will activate the emergency communications plan? I have seen this role go to one of many individuals depending on the company culture and organization. In some companies it is the CIO, in others the head of business continuity, or of risk management. Still others use Human Resources or a formal public relations officer. The important element here is to have this role, and several other roles, specified and understood. Other departments such as facilities, legal, and marketing may each have a role to play in carrying out an emergency communication plan. One role I often see overlooked is the role outside agencies may play, such as local radio and television stations, telephone companies, police, fire and emergency medical personnel. Broadcast media can be especially effective in getting valuable information out large numbers of people in a short amount of time.

  4. Logistics - Logistics refer to the type of technology that will be used for a communications plan? In some cases this will be totally IT's responsibility. In many companies the telecommunications department is separated from IT requiring a close partnership between the two organizations to affect good communications. For example, one of my clients uses a combination of 800 numbers, emails, and the Internet to update the status of a major business disruption. Some companies outsource much their emergency communications on the premise that company facilities may not be available for any kind of useful sharing of information. Regardless of the logistics used, the technology needs to be well-planned, successfully implemented, reliably supported and publicized to all who will use it. This brings us to the next critical success factor.

  5. Publications and Training - The communications plan needs to be documented in hardcopy and electronic formats. Current employees need to receive training on it, and all new employees should be versed on this plan at their time of hiring. I have seen various types of formats used to remind employees about emergency communications. These include pocket cards, fold-out cards, brochures, and small booklets. One company sends out monthly reminders and helpful hints on the company Intranet to supplement the information on their employees' pocket cards. The team responsible to developing the emergency communications plan needs to specify how this training will be performed, who will conduct it, and how the information will be distributed and kept current.

  6. Dry-Run Testing - The final critical success factor involves testing. Once established, the emergency communications plan should have dry-run testing of its activation. These tests should be coordinated jointly between the sponsors and owners of the plan, IT and business continuity. Debriefings, lessons learned, and improvement actions should follow these tests.

These are the six critical success factors I find to be of most benefit in developing an emergency communications plan. As I stated at the outset, this type of plan is normally associated with the activation of an emergency operations center during a major IT or business disruption. But in many instances, the plan can also be used with smaller events that warrant quick, accurate information to be communicated to many individuals in an effective manner. These six factors should help you develop such a plan.