About Rick Wellman Expertise I can address all questions regarding business continuity and disaster recovery planning,implementation, and management.
Experience Certified through DRII, (CBCP), Business Continuity Institute, (MBCI), and University of Virginia, (CRP). Currently manage Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery for QWBS business unit within QUalcomm.
Organizations DRII, BCI, American College of Forensic Examiners
Question I am intersted in knowing what the best practices are for preparing for corporate communication to employees, customers, and suppliers in the event of a diaster. What is the checklist that should be considered. What is the best way to plan ahead.
Answer Lori,
There are several methods of providing employee communications in the event of a disaster.
One is to establish a 800 number that you can record communications to employees regarding facility closures, alternate work areas to report to, work assignments to specific individuals, etc. One word of caution here: The number will be unsecure and can be accessed by anyone, so you have to either be careful about releasing sensitive information, or you need to password protect the recording.
But what if all communications facilities are not functioning?
Plan for alternate means of communication now and establish/publish the procedure so that everyone knows.
Perhaps a radio/TV announcement at specific intervals (needs to be pre-negotiated with vendor), or perhaps key individuals within the company could be given satellite phones.
There are also third party vendors that deal specifically with emergency notification services. Doing a search on the Internet will find a lot of them.
Whatever method you choose, be sure it's published and known by all and an integral part of your Business Continuity Plan. It should also be tested at least twice a year.
Hope this helps. If you need any further info, let me know.
Rick
