The Business Continuity Institute (BCI) has launched its latest annual Emergency & Crisis Communications Report, sponsored by the crisis comms SaaS product firm F24. Among the findings; a majority, 70.5pc of those surveyed – risk managers and resilience professionals, besides BC managers – are now using digital tools or software to manage their emergency communications within crisis scenarios. Rated by 85.9 per cent of those responding, the most valued feature of an emergency communication tool remains its ability to quickly alert and organise a high number of people, though also valued is the ability for teams to exchange info and enable team-work in a crisis.
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is used by most, as opposed to on-premise installed software, used more as a result of hybrid working after the covid pandemic.
Mobile phones are still the most popular device to manage emergency communications; although for sites such as factories that still have a lot of staff working on site, walkie-talkies and radio communication still have their place. Email is still the most popular means of communication in a crisis, while the second most popular mode of communication was through enterprise software (such as MS Teams, Slack and Skype).
While WhatsApp may be vulnerable to hacking, it is used, if only as a back-up. The 80-page report quotes a manager on the Continent who recalled a weather storm, ‘over a part of Europe where we have a number of manufacturing plants. We had to close a few of these locations to protect our people, mainly because it was also dangerous to go outside on the roads. Our efficiency rate reaching them via our dedicated tool was 20 per cent versus around 80pc via WhatsApp’.
Over the last 12 months, the main trigger for emergency communication plans has been adverse weather with disease outbreak, the primary trigger in the previous two years, now slipping to fifth place. An IT or telecoms incident was the second most common event at 43.3 per cent (up from 42pc last year). When faced by these triggers, organisations are getting faster at activating their emergency communications plan. Indeed, a majority, 73.1pc report that they are able to initiate their response within 30 minutes. As a result of these faster speeds (due to automation thanks to software tools to activate plans) and more use of emergency communications technology, many are now lowering their activation target times, the survey suggested – with the “golden five minutes” becoming a more appropriate target than the previous “golden hour”.
Training and exercising (of crisis comms) fell by the wayside during covid, but managers are working to get it back on track, Rachael Elliott, Head of Thought Leadership at the BCI, said while chairing an online launch of the report for the EMEA region this morning. She said beforehand: “This year’s report continues to demonstrate the importance of training and exercising emergency plans so response times can be met, and it is encouraging to see a marked increase in the frequency of training and exercising this year. Developments in technology and software are also helping to move the emergency and crisis communications sector from one where one-way communication was key to one which is collaborative, informative and critical to driving an effective response to a crisis.”
How often crisis comms plans are tested has gone back to pre-covid levels; most commonly (by 41 per cent of those surveyed who replied) once a year. Despite plans, they still fail sometimes, more likely due to people rather than tech. A business may lack the ability to get a response from affected staff because they do not receive regular training on tools and processes, they do not take part in exercising, managers fail to update contact information (tricky if it has to be done manually, to meet data protection law), or contact information is housed in spreadsheets in functional silos, on HR or other computers.
You can download the report from the BCI website – you have to register and log in (it’s free). See also the F24 blog, on an increase in attempted financial fraud in general, aimed at suppliers and customers.
