Recent natural disasters cause us to pause for many reasons. We grieve for the many lost lives and those who continue to suffer. We wonder how events of such horrible magnitude can occur. We marvel at our society's ability to rally in the face of such devastation and we feel kinship in the outpouring of support for those in need.
For those of us who are remote from the immediate impact of these events, these events should cause us to learn and act. Will we be prepared when the future earthquake, tropical cyclone, wildfire, flood or other catastrophe impacts our organizations?
There are many levels of concern: the first should be for our people. When employees are impacted how will our organization locate them? What resources are available to help? How will our people's families gain information about what has happened to those who are on the job when the worst happens?
Next we are concerned about our property, plant and equipment. Yes, there may be economic damage, but more importantly rapid understanding of the situation and the ability to react depends upon our organization's physical capabilities.
Our communications tools are especially critical in providing leverage against the challenges that include making accurate decisions and executing a response.
At the same time we are concerned for our customers, suppliers and stakeholders. What will our customers and stakeholders need from us? What communications tools do we provided to make sure access to our available resources is expedient? How quickly can we restore the various demand chains necessary to react to our customer's needs? How will we let our suppliers know what we need from them?
At the bedrock of all of these questions are communications. Communications are a critical lynchpin to minimizing the impacts of events. Communications are key to establishing situational awareness:
• What has happened?
• Who is affected?
• What resources are available?
Communications are the tools that empower effective decision making. They are how we put our resources to work, execute on decisions and know how effective we have been.
For Avaya customers there are a large number of communications resources available to meet the challenges of emergencies. These tools include many communications applications in our products that can be activated before, during and after events.
In addition to the inherent capabilities, Avaya products are backed up world-class service organizations.
Avaya Global Services can be reached using the following access:
• Dial (800)242-2121
• Access support.avaya.com
Avaya customers also have access to a large number of tools to help plan in advance of emergencies. These include the Avaya Online Service Manager.
Other tools available are:
• Avaya Emergency Procedures checklist
• Self-service options
that include -
o Account identification number (Sold-to) administration
o On line service request creation
o Real-time case status and reports
o Parts replacement ordering
o Administration of site and out of hours contact information
Consistently using these tools especially paying regular attention to account identification number administration and site contact information, among other techniques, can reduce latency in activating resources in response to events. Your Avaya representative will be glad to assist.
Now that we have paused to reflect on recent events, it is time to act. When the ground is moving, when the water is rising and when the wind is howling, if we have not taken steps in advance to plan, we have significantly increased the odds against success.
Now is the time to make sure we have a plan. It is always time to make sure that the plan is current; that we have tested the plan and that we are ready to act.
Let us honor those swept up by recent events by not missing this moment of learning. Time will pass, other urgencies may tend to overrule, but we should not forget that what we do today can mean all the difference when ...
For more information on the many applications and tools in Avaya products that can help during emergencies, please visit the Response and Recovery Solution on Avaya.com.
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Posted 4 Feb 2010 at 07:59 AM