Call Center Operation: Design, Operation, and Maintenance
Gives complete coverage of the critical issues involved in the design, implementation, organization, and management of a customer call center.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Call Center Operation: Design, Operation, and Maintenance
3.8 Disaster and contingency planning in call centers
3.8 Disaster and contingency planning in call centers
An important aspect of managing a corporate facility one that includes resources, equipment, and people is disaster and contingency planning. There are several reasons why a disaster and contingency plan should be put in place by every call center operation, and should be rehearsed, like a fire drill, periodically. Not the least of these reasons is maintaining call center services in the face of natural or human disasters. Many problems or contingencies can arise that result in a call center being shut down and customer communication lost, possibly for an extended period, if alternative arrangements have not been made.
Downtime
Several situations can result in call center downtime: natural disasters storms, snow, flooding can keep people from getting to the center; construction, often the bane of those who need to maintain continuous communication services because of frequent disruptions to power, cable, or telephone lines; fire; power spikes; cable cuts; computer crashes; and network outages all can very quickly cut communication links to the outside world. While these disturbances may be localized, affecting only a small number of centers, the cost of downtime to any center hit by a temporary shutdown can be enormous. This is why it is critical for call centers to invest in disaster contingency planning, with the hope that it may never have to be implemented but if required the center and staff are well prepared.
Coping with emergency situations
The following procedures for coping with emergency situations have been developed from the experience...
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