Ignorance is bliss? Wrong – find out how to set your disaster recovery plan up now before it’s too late!

Having a proper voice disaster recovery plan (DRP)  in place ensures you that your company can keep doing business, and keep your customers happy – no matter what prevents you from opening your office. It’s also very important to remember that maintaining internal communication and collaboration is just as critical as maintaining your customer communication channels.

Ignoring the creation of a voice disaster recovery plan is ignoring something that could critically damage your business, which should ring alarm bells in your head already! But not to fear, there are steps that can be followed to ensure that you can create a bulletproof plan that keeps calls coming in and your business operating.

 

Steps to follow to ensure you have a bulletproof disaster recovery plan

1. Document – Document the call flow processes at your company, both for inbound and outbound calls. Gain a high-level overview of your company and the way your communications are handled. Start by identifying what platforms your employees use to communicate with each other. Create a document that includes this information and be sure to make a note of the following:
   

   Internal conversations – How do you replace Informal lines of communication and collaboration? Crucial forms of knowledge sharing, like the odd conversation over a desk, often lead to fast problem solving and creative ideation. Can you replicate this spark of social interaction effectively with technology?

   Team meetings – Top down coordination, bottom up feedback – campaign, initiative, and project updates. Vital flows of business information and team management are under pressure without proper technology support. Maintain productivity and accountability with regular team conference calls.

   Customer presentations – The rest of the world may be business as usual, or there may be large macro issues at play. Either way customer needs must be met and impact to new business must be limited. How will external presentations, pitches and proposals carry on?

   Reliable connectivity – Quality connectivity is the foundation of any modern-day organisation and crucial to powering your business-critical cloud-based applications. Can your teams access these effectively remotely? Do you have VPN access in place?

   Phone numbers – Which numbers does your company own and where does each of them ring through to when called?

   Inbound call routing – How are calls routed after they are initially answered? You might have an IVR that directs calls automatically, a receptionist who directs them manually, or you might drop callers directly into call queues or ring groups. Make a note of how a call flows through each department in your company, from the time the phone rings to the time the call ends.

   Outbound call routing – What do your staff members need to do in order to make an outbound call? Do they have to dial 9 to get an outside line? Do they have account codes that need to be entered to call long distance numbers? Document the procedures that must be followed to make an outbound call under normal circumstances so that you will know how the procedure differs during a disaster.

   Key personnel – If there are a handful of staff members who handle the majority of the calls in your organisation, write that down. These are the people who need to receive calls the most in the event of a disaster. If they are well trained on how your voice services will change during a disaster, you will not need to worry about answering “how do I…” questions.

   Supplier information – Ensure you include contact details for your key telecoms and connectivity suppliers. They will be able to help you implement your recovery plans if necessary. Gain a thorough understanding of how calls are made and received at your company and make sure it is documented in detail.

2. Identify – Identify any gaps that might disrupt your call flow. Include gaps caused by people, processes, and technology. At this stage you don’t need to figure out a solution, you simply need to identify the types of problems that might disrupt your communications.
   

   Key personnel are not available – Is there anyone else who can answer calls? Are they correctly trained to do so? Can you create call plans in advance to trigger overflow call routing when teams are unavailable?

   Most staff are unable to get to the office – Staff absenteeism can happen due to ill health, pandemics, extreme weather that can make commuting difficult, or even your own company functions. No matter why absenteeism might occur, you need to ensure you understand the impact it will have on your ability to handle and route calls.

   Your phone lines are dead – Maybe someone has cut the wrong cable, or a disaster has damaged your office location. Whatever the case may be, how does it impact your ability to do business if you pick up the phone and have no dial tone? Do you have any single points of failure that need addressing? How quickly and easily can you reroute calls to other office locations or mobiles?

   Your office is closed – Not a standard disaster by most definitions, but how a call gets routed when your office is closed — be it outside of business hours, a holiday, or because the office is inaccessible for whatever reason — is important to keep your customers happy and, with sales lines in particular, ensure your business can continue to make money. Are your customers aware that your office is closed when they call in? Are they able to reach the right department on their own, or are they directed to a general delivery voicemail system and left feeling like nobody will ever return their call?

3. Resolve – Identify and resolve any gaps that you identify — train additional employees, consider replacing any legacy services with cloud based alternatives, get set up with an inbound call management system or implement whatever new processes and technology necessary to prevent disruption to your voice communications and team collaboration. To find out what solutions could be a possibility to your organisation read this blog ‘What Communication Platforms You Should Consider When Creating An Effective Disaster Recovery Plan’.
   
4. Plan – Document your plan in detail and distribute it to everyone who plays a part in the plans’ execution. Consider saving your plans in an online shared drive or cloud-based application, so that they can be referenced from any location.

 

Learn more about disaster recovery planning and how it could benefit your organisation, with our free eGuide: Your Disaster Recovery Plan.