BCP (Business Continuity Plan) Call Tree

eSBee15 · Oct 23, 2020

Hi everyone! I'm just wondering if using group chats can replace the traditional call tree drill where information will be shared via phone calls. In this day and age, most companies are using group chat (WhatsApp, Viber, Messenger) as the main platform of information dissemination.

Thank you!

Tagin · Oct 23, 2020

As a result of COVID, many in our company have been working from home, and we began using Slack for internal comm (after evaluating Teams vs. Slack for our needs), instead of email and it has been a big improvement. To the point that we intend to replace the idea of a call list in our BCP with Slack instead. With immediate chat, group discussions (channels), single or group voice/video chat, file sharing and formatted documents (posts) it does all we need for comm in BCP situations.

Ninja · Oct 23, 2020

We had a call list, and email/text as a backup if phones were down.
If you move to WhatsApp, Slack, whatever...consider a second method as well as backup.

Doesn't happen often, so risk is quite low, but what if Slack servers go down for a day? Food for thought.

Jim Wynne · Oct 23, 2020

What is a "traditional call tree drill"?

Tagin · Oct 23, 2020

Ninja said:
We had a call list, and email/text as a backup if phones were down.
If you move to WhatsApp, Slack, whatever...consider a second method as well as backup.

Doesn't happen often, so risk is quite low, but what if Slack servers go down for a day? Food for thought.

I've considered that, and we would have phones as backup. We are a small company, so the phone list is not hard to maintain. It's just clunky.

Ninja · Oct 23, 2020

HR calls five people.
Each of them calls five other people.
Each of them calls five other people...until everyone knows.

Jim Wynne · Oct 23, 2020

Ninja said:
HR calls five people.
Each of them calls five other people.
Each of them calls five other people...until everyone knows.

Assuming that you're replying to me, why not just get everyone on the same call to begin with?

Ninja · Oct 23, 2020

Yes Jim...it was to you.

Phone tree's started before I was in grade school...snow day announcements, building emergencies, etc.
It didn't move to radio announcements until I was in 4th grade, and then was just about snow days.
They are not typically planned things (thus under the BCP forum I figure)...so there really isn't a way to get everyone on the call without notifying them to get on it...and if you're notifying them about the call...well why not just tell them right then?

They persist because "everyone knows how they work".
Mass text would work fine...but there isn't a confirmation that someone read it.
I was called once in the 14yrs I commuted an hour to work... gas leak closed the plant.
If I were texted while at the start of my drive, I would have spent a 2hr round trip for nothing...I'm glad it was a call instead.

HTH

eSBee15 · Oct 24, 2020

Ninja said:
Yes Jim...it was to you.

Phone tree's started before I was in grade school...snow day announcements, building emergencies, etc.
It didn't move to radio announcements until I was in 4th grade, and then was just about snow days.
They are not typically planned things (thus under the BCP forum I figure)...so there really isn't a way to get everyone on the call without notifying them to get on it...and if you're notifying them about the call...well why not just tell them right then?

They persist because "everyone knows how they work".
Mass text would work fine...but there isn't a confirmation that someone read it.
I was called once in the 14yrs I commuted an hour to work... gas leak closed the plant.
If I were texted while at the start of my drive, I would have spent a 2hr round trip for nothing...I'm glad it was a call instead.

HTH

Yes, this is exactly what I meant by traditional call tree. Our ISO 22301 auditor always requires us to show evidence that we have tested our call/phone tree. This is a challenge for us because we are a company with multiple sites and hundreds of employees and workers for some project sites. Our project managers have suggested using WhatsApp, Slack, etc. to relay information and ensure that the staff responds to that message. Otherwise, the person-in-charge will have to call him/her to relay the information.

Silex7 · Dec 30, 2020

I have a question here, if a company is already made its own BCT , how would they ensure the proper information delivery to ' no access ' employee / operator ?

I guess the failure of many organizations in handling effective crisis management and Business Continuity correct scheme is their lacking of effective communication and information reporting. During Covid-19 tens of of meetings and decisions are being made without proper confirmation of information/ decisions output delivery to everyone, and yet, every top management keeps confirming that 'everyone is speedily informed'. I have seen many troubles raised from such situations.

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