Call center continuity planning

401 Pages·1999·13.225 MB·English

by  Rowan, Jim, Rowan, Sharon

CALL CENTER
CONTINUITY
PLANNING
Jim Rowan
Sharon Rowan
Boca Raton London New York Washington, D.C.
LIMITED WARRANTY

CRC Press LLC warrants the physical diskette(s) enclosed herein to be free of defects in materials and
workmanship for a period of thirty days from the date of purchase. If within the warranty period CRC Press LLC
receives written notification of defects in materials or workmanship, and such notification is determined by CRC Press
LLC to be correct, CRC Press LLC will replace the defective diskette(s).
The entire and exclusive liability and remedy for breach of this Limited Warranty shall be limited to replacement
of defective diskette(s) and shall not include or extend to any claim for or right to cover any other damages, including
but not limited to, loss of profit, data, or use of the software, or special, incidental, or consequential damages or other
similar claims, even if CRC Press LLC has been specifically advised of the possibility of such damages. In no event
will the liability of CRC Press LLC for any damages to you or any other person ever exceed the lower suggested list
price or actual price paid for the software, regardless of any form of the claim.
CRC Press LLC specifically disclaims all other warranties, express or implied, including but not limited to, any
implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Specifically, CRC Press LLC makes no
representation or warranty that the software is fit for any particular purpose and any implied warranty of
merchantability is limited to the thirty-day duration of the Limited Warranty covering the physical diskette(s) only (and
not the software) and is otherwise expressly and specifically disclaimed.
Since some states do not allow the exclusion of incidental or consequential damages, or the limitation on how long
an implied warranty lasts, some of the above may not apply to you.

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY AND LIMITS OF LIABILITY: The author(s) of this book have used their best
efforts in preparing this material. These efforts include the development, research, and testing of the theories and
programs to determine their effectiveness. Neither the author(s) nor the publisher make warranties of any kind, express
or implied, with regard to these programs or the documentation contained in this book, including without limitation
warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No liability is accepted in any event for any damages,
including incidental or consequential damages, lost profits, costs of lost data or program material, or otherwise in
connection with or arising out of the furnishing, performance, or use of the programs in this book.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Catalog record is available from the Library of Congress

This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reprinted material is quoted
with permission, and sources are indicated. A wide variety of references are listed. Reasonable efforts have been made
to publish reliable data and information, but the author(s) and the publisher cannot assume responsibility for the
validity of all materials or for the consequences of their use.
Neither this book nor any part may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
The consent of CRC Press LLC does not extend to copying for general distribution, for promotion, for creating
new works, or for resale. Specific permission must be obtained in writing from CRC Press LLC for such copying.
Direct all inquiries to CRC Press LLC, 2000 Corporate Blvd. N.W., Boca Raton, Florida 33431.

Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only
for identification and explanation, without intent to infringe.

© 1999 by CRC Press LLC
Auerbach is an imprint of CRC Press LLC

No claim to original U.S. Government works
International Standard Book Number 0-8493-9982-3
Printed in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
Printed on acid-free paper

© 1998 by CRC Press LLC
Contents
Introduction
PART 1
Principles of Voice Recovery
1 Planning Philosophy
Business Continuity
What Is a Call Center?
What Is a Disaster?
What Is a Business Continuity Plan?
Why Voice Recovery?
How to Build a Fire Engine
2 Six Principles for Developing an Effective Plan
Principle 1
Principle 2
Principle 3
Principle 4
Principle 5
Principle 6
3 Illusions of Recoverability
Illusion 1
Recovery from One Fully Functioning Call Center to Another
Problem
Example
Illusion 2
Recovery to a Cold Site (Dark Site)
Problem
Example
Illusion 3
Recovery to a Virtual Call Center
Problem
Example
4 Rationalizing Procrastination
The Executive Will Not Support the Idea
We Are Too Busy
We Do Not Have the Budget for It
We Do Not Know How
Where Would We Begin?
© 1998 by CRC Press LLC
You Cannot Plan for Everything
It Cannot Happen Here
PART 2
Planning
5 Plan Stages
Preplan
Recognize Problem
Justify Need
Management Buy-in
Dollar and Time Commitment
Planning
Recovery Team Selection
Business Impact Analysis
Risk Analysis
Plan Contents
Team Responsibilities
Backup Procedures
Disaster Implementation Tasks
Return to Normal Operations
Postplan
Plan Testing
Plan Maintenance
6 Business Impact Analysis
Senior Management Buy-In
Identify Business Functions
Operations
Data
Communications
Utilities
Risk Implications
Lost Sales
Fines/Jail
Lawsuits
Loss of Market Share
Loss of Good Will
Loss of Employee Productivity
Loss of Shareholders
Business Impact Summary
Outline
Recovery Window
How Much Speed to Be Cost-Effective?
How Much Delay Is Deadly?
BIA Report
Why You Must Issue a Document
© 1998 by CRC Press LLC
Executive Summary
Summary of Topics
7 Risk Analysis
What Are The Risks?
Regional, Economic, Seasonal, Political
Statistics and Their Sources
Finding the Risks
Risk Analysis
Risk Categories
Insurance Industry Input
Risk Assessment Matrix
Examples of Levels
Probability
Degree of Predictability
Duration of the Disaster
Severity
Frequency of Types of Disasters
Speed of Onset
Amount of Forewarning
Risk Mitigation
Philosophy
Prevent What Is Preventable
Minimize Vulnerability
Planning and Preparation
Chicken Little and His Friends
Plan to Update Your Continuity Plan
8 Recovery Team Selection
Team Structure
Primary Personnel and Alternates
Tasks and Checklists
Keep Updated
Shift Schedule — Every Shift Must Have a Representative
Representatives from Security and Maintenance
Incident Manager
Centralized Reporting
Emergency Communications Plan
Emergency Operations Center
Authority
What the Incident Manager Does Not Do
Department Managers
No Bureaucratic Sign-Off
Full Support Essential
Keep Subordinates Informed
Keep Departmental Operations Information Updated
Updating Departmental Checklists
Notes
© 1998 by CRC Press LLC
9 Plan Contents
Mission Statement
Not a Career
State the Obvious, Then Start Planning!
Planning Process
Definition of Disaster
“All Events Are Potential Disasters”
Many Disasters Start out as a “Bad Day”
“Any Event That Adversely Impacts”
Time Frames
RTO That Fits Your Company
Rationale
Team Responsibilities
Checklists
Deputies
Contact Information
Active
Passive IVR Situation Reports
Reports to Incident Manager
Up-to-Date
Escalation Plan
Levels of Response
Declaring an Emergency
Scalable: Same Procedures at Higher Pitch
Critical Documentation
Files (Letters of Agreement, Contracts) and Databases
Vendor Contact List
Equipment and Software Manuals
Critical Functions
Other Critical Tasks
Sales
Fulfillment
Accounts Receivable, Credit Card Payments
Public Relations
Business Communications and Purchasing
Critical Applications
Call Center Computer–Telephony Integration
Customer/Sales Database
Accounting Software
Word Processing and E-Mail
Call Volume Management Plan
Key to Call Center Continuity
Recovery Site Inventory
Backup/Recovery Process
© 1998 by CRC Press LLC
Implementation Plan
Assessment and Declaration of an Emergency
Command Center
Alternate Personnel List
External Contact List
Inventory of Critical Documentation
Inventory of Equipment
Inventory of Forms
Distribution Register
IBM Business Recovery Services
10Team Responsibilities
Plan Update Requirements
Every Station
Every Change in Procedure or Contact
Every Department Representative or Alternate, Every New Employee
Every Change of Telephone Extension
Frequency of Updates
Predisaster Responsibilities
Checklist Updates
Training Sessions
Tests, Exercises, Simulations
On-Call Pager/Cellular Phone
Handover to Alternate
Updates of BIA
Disaster Responsibilities
Eyes and Ears of Incident Manager
Passing Messages and Instructions
Checklist Tasks and Notes
Head Counts and Condition Reports (Personnel)
Team Responsibilities by Expertise
Covering for a Disabled or Absent Team Member
Diffusing Panic
Recall/Call Lists (Company Personnel)
Conditions for Use (Privacy)
Ensuring Correctness of Information
Alternatives during Wide-Area Disaster
Constant Updates
11IS Department Recovery Planning
What IS Does
Information Systems
Data Center
Site Teams
Checklists and Objectives
Damage
Disaster Recovery
Interim Call-Handling Team
© 1998 by CRC Press LLC
The Hot Site Recovery Team
Telco
Data Storage
IS Recovery and the Call Center
12Disaster Implementation Tasks
Whether to Declare a Disaster (or Not)
Every Disruption a Potential Disaster
Minor Disruptions with Major Consequences
Declaration of Disaster, Disaster Type
When There Is No Warning
When You Can See It Coming
When It Looks Innocuous, Then Embarrassing, Then …
Disaster of Infrastructure
Escalation Chart
Stages of Disaster
Ripple Effect
Same Methods in All Circumstances
Disaster Checklists
First Person to Notice Sounds Alert
Alerting Recovery Team
Assessment
Declaring a Disaster
Enacting the Plan
Following the Plan
Life Preservation
People First
Training Takes Over
First Aid
Evacuation and Rescue
Call Switching from the Parking Lot (Get Safe First)
When the Whole Recovery Team Is Incapacitated
Disaster Plan Survivability
Likelihood of Being Affected by the Same Disaster
Single Point of Failure
What Happens If Backups Fail?
Battered but Not Beaten
13Return to Normal Operations
Cold Site
Too Slow for Emergency Use
Useful for Long-Term Recovery from Outsource Call Center
Alternate Locations for Permanent/Temporary Relocation
Precontracted Premises
Similar to Building a Cold Site
Dependence on Assisting Call Center
Assisting Call Center Maintains Company Cash Flow
Restoration Procedures
© 1998 by CRC Press LLC
Ensure Power, Telephony, Supporting Systems
Personnel
Information Systems
Telephony
System Restoration
Technical Personnel
Equipment Fitness
LAN Restoration
Server
Desktop Computers
Booting Up
Applications
Call Volume Management Restoration
Call Management Software Is Operational
Telco Confirms Connectivity
Alerting Assisting Call Center
Switching Call Flow
14Plan Maintenance Procedures
Operational Changes
We Do It Differently This Week
Planned Changes Changeover Date
Departments Responsible to Announce
Personnel Changes
Preparation to Hire Includes List Change
He Moved to Another Company
Human Resources Monitoring of Turnover Rate
Promotions and Task Changes
Hardware Changes
Documenting New Installation
Manuals and Specifications
Checklist Updates
Plan Book Supports Insurance Claim (Damage or Destruction)
Boot-Up and Maintenance Procedures
The Essential Person
PART 3
Call Volume Management
15Call Volume Management Issues
External CVM Solutions
Real-Time Overflow
Interim Call Handling
Hot Site
Company Cold Site
Other Solutions
High-Volume Call Answer
Direct CSR Link
© 1998 by CRC Press LLC
Preestablished Procedures for Disaster Call Routing
Real-Time Backup for Mission-Critical Calls
Internal CVM Solutions
Redundant Site
Distributed Architecture (Virtual Call Center)
Reciprocal Agreement
16ICH and RTMO
Interim Call Handling
What Is Interim Call Handling?
How Does it Work?
Scripting
Call Completion
What Should You Look for in an Interim Call-Handling Facility?
IBM Call Protect
Familiarizing External CSRs with Your Products, Services, and Customers
Aid in Answering Calls during a Disaster
Real-Time Minimum Overflow
Definition
Contract with Assisting Call Center
Prearranged Routing of Calls
Benefit to Your Company
Familiarizing External CSRs with Your Product, Services, and Customers
Quality of Service
“Can-Do” Attitude Needs Support
Initial Training on Dummy Databases
Pop-Up Screens and Scripts
Building Skill
Assistance for Peak Time-of-Day Call Volumes
Benefit for Customer
Benefit to Your Call Center Personnel
Aid in Answering Calls during a Disaster
17Other Uses for Your CVM Backup
Managing Call Volumes to Reduce Rates of Abandoned Calls
Call-Handling Goal
Caller Response to Being on Hold
Did Anyone Ask If Caller Had Time to Wait?
Hold Time Music or Message (Why, How)
Option to Receive Callback
Adapting to Seasonal or Time-of-Day Peaks
PreChristmas Rush (Season)
Cold Season Holiday Rush (Season)
Student School Supply Rush (Season)
Accountant’s Tax Rush (Season)
Other Rush Seasons — General Discussion
Noon Hour (Time)
© 1998 by CRC Press LLC