Reestablishing your organisation's IT capabilities takes ample planning before a disaster or a crisis happens. Here's how to plan for putting together a crisis communications centre when you need to connect your business with the rest of the world.
The crisis communications centre (CCC) is the nexus for all communications among the teams involved in disaster recovery. It serves to eliminate confusion, establish confidence among working partners, and act as the single point of contact between the organisation and all external bodies. Not all communications will be routed through the CCC, but it will set the rules by which all disaster recovery communications will be conducted.
Although the term "crisis communications centre" evokes images of banks of phones and swarms of bustling clerks, its primary attribute is simplicity. The CCC is a single point of contact between the affected organisation, its leadership, and the outside world. Most of the time this will be a single trusted individual connected to the organisation by phone, Internet, or personal contact.
The CCC establishes the three most critical communications needs in the event of a disaster: control, veracity, and authority.
Prerequisites
Three things are needed for any crisis communications centre: the equipment to operate it, the personnel to staff it, and the rules by which it will operate. Location is not a primary concern. If the disaster is limited to a portion of the site affected, the CCC will be on the premises. If the disaster prevents the whole site from being used, the CCC will be located at a preestablished backup site specified in the organisation's disaster recovery plan.
Equipment
A CCC will need to include the following equipment:
- A landline phone, multiple lines optional, with a voicemail system
- A PC running the applications needed by management as specified in the disaster recovery plan
- An e-mail program compatible with the company standard and with a known and verifiable address, preferably within the company's domain and firewall
- A fax machine and copier
- Furniture for the equipment and operator(s)
Typically this equipment will be available at the affected location outside the disaster zone. If the disaster encompasses the entire site, it must be provided at the backup location, if present, or at a temporary crisis communications location determined by management. Note that all e-mail addresses, phone and fax numbers, and other contact information will be in the disaster recovery plan that each manager must have with them.
Personnel
The crisis communications centre will be staffed by at least one senior administrative assistant who is knowledgeable in the disaster recovery plan. Above all, this person must know the command structure and be familiar to all the management teams involved in disaster recovery.
Depending on the size of the organisation and its disaster communications needs, more personnel may be required, particularly for multiple shifts. Whenever possible, all personnel should be internal to the organisation.
Rules
The most basic rule is this: The crisis communications centre is responsible for establishing and maintaining control over communications, for the veracity of the information, and for speaking with the authority of leadership. The following documentation must be present:
- The disaster recovery plan for the affected unit and all contact listsââ,¬"verified and datedââ,¬"for management and the affected teams
- Guidelines in the crisis communications policy for establishing and controlling internal and external communications
Additionally, any requirements established for the particular situation by management and senior management, which must be documented when they are received and used, need to be at hand.
Setup: in-house
For most disasters, the crisis communications centre will operate out of the senior manager's administrative assistant's office. When the contact numbers and addresses are known, the authority and veracity of the person do not need to be established, and control is not an issue. Equipment and information will be in place or provided as per the disaster recovery plan. The most critical part of the setup of any CCC is establishing its role in the handling of disaster recovery-related communications. It is far easier to do this from the original location, even if it must be done from a side office on borrowed equipment.If several staffs occupy the same location, leadership may move to have a single common crisis communications centre established to be manned in the event of disaster involving one or more staffs. The common CCC needs to be established under the leadership responsible for all the staffs sharing the facility, so that responsibility and costs are centralised. No one staff should be made to bear the full cost, even if the common CCC is located in its area. This location, once established, should not be changed, and it should not be used for any other purpose.
