How To Plan For Business Continuity With An Answering Service

A business continuity plan is essential to ensure your organization can survive and recover from any disruption, whether it’s a natural disaster, a cyberattack, or a pandemic. 

As a business owner, the ability to weather storms and emerge stronger is no longer just a necessity – it’s a key differentiator. 

The unpredictable nature of these disruptions can wreak havoc on your operations and strain customer relationships. From unexpected crises to technical glitches, the ability to navigate disruptions with resilience lies in strategic preparedness.

Understanding Business Continuity

Business continuity isn’t merely a buzzword; it’s a philosophy that underpins operational stability and customer trust. 

A business continuity plan (BCP) is a comprehensive strategy designed to ensure your organization can keep essential functions up and running and deliver key products or services, during and after disruptions and disasters. The primary goal of a BCP is to minimize downtime, mitigate financial losses, and facilitate a swift and effective recovery. It encompasses elements such as risk assessment, resource allocation, and redundancy. 

Planning for business continuity involves defining any and all risks that could impact critical business processes, and then establishing protocols for how to respond. A robust BCP should cover the four P’s:

• People: your staff and customers.
• Processes: The technology and systems used to deliver key products and services.
• Premises: The physical buildings and locations your business operates in.
• Providers: The third-party vendors, suppliers, or any partner organization your business relies on for resources or service.
  

The four Ps can be used as a compass to guide you through various disaster scenarios and the impact they have on your people, processes, premises, and providers at every stage.

Through business continuity planning, you should be able to answer three essential questions: 

1. What could go wrong?
Example: natural event e.g. extreme weather, flood, wildfire, hurricane, tornado, etc.

2. If something went wrong, how would it impact the business?

People	Example: Employees may face challenges commuting to work, which may create additional health and safety hazards.
Processes	Example: Disruptions to operations and customer service due to power outages, phone and internet connectivity issues, and loss of IT infrastructure supporting critical applications and tools.
Premises	Example: Potential damage to physical infrastructure, leading to facility closures, repairs, and increased operational costs.
Providers	Example: Supply chain disruptions due to weather-related issues, affecting the timely delivery of goods and services from external vendors.

3. How would your business continue or resume essential service(s)?
Example:

• Communication strategies, protocols, and channels
• Remote work provisions
• Dependencies on other branches, departments, or providers
• Maximum time the business can continue without a specific service available
• Specific steps taken to respond to a disaster,
• Steps for notifying specific personnel for activating the plan

The Role of An Answering Service In Your Business Continuity Plan

During a disruption, your people – customers, employees, partners – need to know the steps you’re taking to resolve the issue. 

An answering service can play a pivotal role in your business continuity plan by serving as a reliable communication bridge between your organization and stakeholders. Their staff act as a virtual extension of your team, ensuring that calls are answered, messages are relayed, and your business appears professional and reliable, no matter the circumstances. 

Let’s explore how an answering service can be integrated into your BCP so your team is ready to respond, reassure, and maintain customer trust even in the face of a crisis. 

Continuous Customer Support

Your customers are a crucial part of your business ecosystem. In times of crisis, they seek information, support, and reassurance. An answering service equipped with information about your business and kept abreast on your contingency plans can address customer queries promptly and professionally. Their team can keep customers informed and provide updates through messaging that reflects your brand values – minimizing the impact of the disruption on your relationships.

Employee Coordination

Effective communication among your team members is essential for a coordinated response to disruptions. An answering service can serve as a central hub for disseminating information to your employees, providing instructions, and facilitating communication between different branches or departments. This streamlined approach to communication helps maintain order and productivity amid chaos.

Emergency Notifications

In certain situations, prompt communication is critical. An answering service can program emergency notifications to be sent out to specific personnel or groups, ensuring that everyone is aware of the situation and can take appropriate actions. This feature is especially valuable in scenarios where time is of the essence, such as during a cyberattack or security breach.

Remote Work Support

Many business continuity plans include provisions for remote work to ensure operations can continue even if physical premises are inaccessible. An answering service can assist in managing remote communication by forwarding calls to appropriate individuals or teams, ensuring that your business remains responsive and functional, irrespective of the physical location of your employees.

Documentation of Calls 

Having a record of all incoming calls during a disruption can be valuable for post-event analysis and improvement of your BCP. An answering service can document calls, capturing essential information about the nature of inquiries, concerns, and responses. This data can inform future refinements to your business continuity strategy.

How to Incorporate An Answering Service Into Your BCP

Incorporating an answering service into your BCP isn’t just about maintaining communication, it’s creating a strong support system through strategic planning and collaboration. 

Whether you’re already working with an answering service or just starting to cosider one, let’s break down the process into actionable steps:

1. Identify Critical Communication Points

Identify the specific touchpoints crucial for your business operations. For instance, in a tech support company, critical communication points include customer inquiries, issue resolutions, and service updates. During a disruption like a technical outage an answering service steps in to support these touchpoints whether it’s over the phone, email, or live chat to ensure customers can still reach you and information flows seamlessly.

2. Define Service Requirements

Clearly outline the services you need from an answering service, tailoring them to both routine and crisis scenarios. For example, if you run a law firm you may want to specify exactly how you want calls to be handled for client inquiries versus the steps for escalating urgent messages. Setting expectations and response times for both regular and critical situations can ensure clarity and enhance efficiency.

3. Establish Communication Protocols

Create clear and practical communication protocols to steer the answering service through different disaster scenarios. This should also include key customer-facing messaging and procedures, up-to-date contact lists, and alternative/back-up points of contact. Most answering services can also help you develop custom messaging for specific types of disruptions.

4. Integration with Emergency Response Plan

Integrate the answering service into your broader emergency response plan. To ensure swift and coordinated response, define the role of the answering service in the event of various crises. For example, a property management company may need an answering service to perform different tasks during a building emergency such as communicating with tenants, coordinating emergency services, and disseminating critical information.

5. Share Information For Training

Equip the answering service team with comprehensive information about your business, its services, and specific details from your BCP plan crucial for stakeholder communication. This ensures the team is well-versed in the intricacies of your organization and can effectively convey essential information during disruptions.

6. Monitor Performance and Quality

Tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) can help you measure how well you maintain continuity during disruptions. Through reporting and message summaries provided by the answering service, you can contrast and compare data during normal and crisis situations. Monitoring KPIs such as response times, message accuracy, and dispatch efficiency can help you evaluate the effectiveness of your response and areas for improvement.

7. Establish a Feedback Loop

Establish a communication feedback loop between your business and the answering service to facilitate continuous improvement. Each party should have a designated point of contact to encourage timely information exchange, open communication and collaboration.

8. Document, Update and Regularly Review

Keep detailed documentation of all procedures, contacts, and protocols related to both the answering service and your BCP. Imagine it as a constantly evolving playbook – and be ready to adapt your BCP based on lessons learned. Regularly review and refine the procedures and protocols shared with the answering service, drawing insights from past incidents and aligning with any shifts in business processes.

Selecting a Reputable Answering Service

Choose wisely. Reliability is the bedrock of any effective BCP, and the answering service you partner with can either strengthen or compromise your reputation. Do your research and select an answering service with a proven track record in supporting business continuity. 

Ensure they offer seamless 24/7 support, real-time call handling, and the ability to adapt to dynamic situations. A reputable answering service doesn’t merely answer calls – they likely offer specialized services and expertise such as urgent call response and disaster preparedness support.