If a crisis manager can't get online, retrieve his files and/or make a phone call when he needs to, business is severely impaired and his reputation is threatened. If there's anyone who needs to walk their talk on connectivity and accessibility, it's those of us who work in the field of crisis management. However, by extension, anyone who might end up becoming engaged in crisis response also needs to have a very high level of connectivity and accessibility or at least be able to ramp up those levels as needed.
I thought I'd share with you how I attempt to achieve this goal,
with some significant success. I also welcome your ideas for publication, and I'm always open to checking out new systems and technologies that could be of assistance. Please know that I can't write about everything I review, but if it impresses me it's bound to result in an article or two. And I also have to point out that what works for me, as a small consultancy operating as a virtual agency on larger cases, wouldn't necessarily work for others.
Staying Online
I need Internet and email access to operate my business at its peak efficacy. Ideally, I want to be able to continuously use my Outlook-based email system. Yet I found, often the hard way, that:
* Some locations, even major hotels, don't have currently functioning Internet access.
* Sometimes my local ISP "goes down" for an indeterminate period of time.
* Client locations, given today's IT security needs, seldom afford me the ability to send email out from Outlook, although I may be able to access Web-based email if they will at least allow me to run my browser through their server.
* On the go -- even in the back of a car -- I might want to receive or send email or access the Internet.
Here's what I do:
* Ensure I Don't Rely On Any Single Service. You'll see what I mean as you read the rest of this.
* Use Sprint PCS When No Broadband Is Available. I have two computers, my desktop and my notebook (usually used for travel but fully capable of replacing my desktop on a few minutes notice -- I'll talk about data backup and restoration in another article). At home or traveling, I can connect to the local broadband service by ethernet cable or wirelessly. But when that's not possible, I have a SPRINT PCS card for my notebook computer that allows me to get pretty-darn-fast Internet and email access using a service completely different than my primary ISP (Adelphia). For the non-technical, a PCS card is a special card-shaped device that slides into a slot on your notebook computer and which is able to call into the SPRINT network wirelessly. Verizon, Cingular, T-mobile and, I believe, other services have their own PCS cards, SPRINT just happens to be the fastest-speed service I could find in my local market.
* Use My Cingular-powered Blackberry When Needs Must. Face it, typing on a computer (at least for an experienced keyboard user) is one heck of a lot easier than thumbing a Blackberry keyboard. However, I have found my Blackberry to have multiple uses in the area of connectivity and accessibility:
o It gives me a third Internet service to use if no others are available.
o Its Internet/browser access is quite decent.
o I can and do maintain a separate Blackberry email address for my clients to use in the event of urgent communications AND in the event that my primary email server is down. I choose not to "sync" my Outlook email with the Blackberry, the volume of regular email (I tried it once) just buries the tiny device.
o Oh yeah -- it's a telephone too, one which has powerful data duplication capability (i.e., storing every contact and appointment from my Outlook program).
* Host My Email And Website On Yet Another Service. I use a relatively small but very reliable service, BAPORT.COM, to host my Bernstein Crisis Management website and my email. Hence, even at home, if Adelphia has crashed, I can use my SPRINT PCS card to retrieve my email from the BAPORT server. If BAPORT goes down, and it has, it still has a backup system which stores incoming emails and eventually gets them to me -- and I alert my clients to cc my Blackberry address until further notice.
* Become Skilled At The Use Of Wi-Fi Sites. If you are going to be engaged in any form of crisis response, it is an essential, not optional, skill to become VERY familiar with how to access your email and other Internet functions from a "wi-fi site" -- i.e., anywhere where wireless access can be found, which could even be your local Starbucks. AND, to know how to operate securely from such a site. I'm pretty good at this but I don't feel competent to "train" you in the techniques. Rather, I strongly urge you to get your IT department, or even the "Geek Squad" from your local computer store, to do so ASAP.
Use of these tools and methods is guaranteed to better protect your business against crises and prepare you for a rapid response.
