Emergencies and unexpected events can easily threaten and disrupt the intricate operations of financial institutions. IT incidents, store closures, civil unrest, medical emergencies, and extreme weather conditions can all affect operations – to name just a few.

That is why it’s so essential for organizations to develop plans to respond and recover quickly when an adverse event does occur. Preparedness strategy is called by many different names: business continuity plans, emergency response and evacuation plans, disaster recovery plans, and crisis management plans – it all comes down to the same thing. A financial institution must be prepared for a crisis and must have an action plan in place to respond to adverse circumstances.

Effective communications is essential to business continuity

For efficient implementation, a disaster plan must have access to advanced communication capabilities. In other words, organizations should ensure that the right person receives the right message as quickly as possible.

With the incredible connectivity we have today it really shouldn’t be difficult – yet, in practice, emergency communications is easier said than done. Sure, the tools are out there: emails, SMS, land lines, mobiles etc. But without a unified platform and established communications process, as outlined by a response plan, things can go wrong quickly. Instead, there is a real risk of misinformation, errors, and late responses. This article clearly outlines why mass notification systems are designed specifically for emergencies and unexpected events.

Disaster communication from Tekmon

The table below includes some real-world use case scenarios for Tekmon’s Mass Notification System in the financial sector. Our system is incredibly capable, but it is simple and quick to implement. it doesn’t take more than a week to set up and initiate our emergency response system. In fact, see here how one of SEE’s largest banks took just 7 days to roll out an emergency response platform that covers its 12 000 employees.

Use Case	Example	How Tekmon Mass Notification helps
Urgent safety notifications   Notify your employees and stakeholders immediately about a threat or an incident at one of your locations.	Riots taking place right now in this area: … Robbery in progress at store “D” – stay away.	Use the platform by graphically selecting an area on the map (eg radius of 2km) and send an immediate SMS notification to those working in that area.
Readiness updates   Notify your employees and your response teams about events that might affect their operations.	Today there’s a high risk for wildfires in this area: … Temporary traffic arrangements because of tomorrow’s national parade. Extreme weather conditions, there is high risk of system failure.	Use the platform to create groups of recipients, and do it on-the-fly using multiple criteria (eg geography, role, seniority level etc.). Reach recipients through multiple communication channels (SMS, email, voice calls) all at once.
Operational disruptions   When an operational change occurs, immediately inform all those involved with clear instructions that keep your business running.	From tomorrow, all stores in area “C” need to operate with minimum personnel, due to orders of the Ministry of Health in relation to COVID-19. Floor 3 of the office building “Z” will be vacated tomorrow for disinfection, please work from home.	By using multiple filters, notifications can be highly targeted – even at the floor level. Escalation of communications ensures that the right people will be informed – immediately.
Building evacuations   Instantly inform staff to evacuate a space or building by providing evacuation instructions that covers both staff and customers or visitors.	We received a threatening phone call about an explosive device. Do not touch anything, head straight to the underground passage south of the building and wait there for updates. Detailed instructions here. For confirmation, press 1.	When life is at stake, two-way communications enable real-time updates on who has been informed and who has not. Communications are escalated to multiple devices to ensure that the notification will reach the recipient as soon as possible.
Immediate damage estimation  Right after a dangerous natural phenomenon (eg an earthquake) damage should be reported quickly to enable response teams to act accordingly.	Please, if you have to declare damage to your office or building, press 1, if not press 2, if you are out of office and are unaware press 3.	The two-way communication feature gives a clear picture of the situation in a few minutes.
IT Alerts   In the financial sector, downtime of an information system can rapidly lead to extremely high costs. Response teams and affected employees should be notified immediately.	Server is down. Save your files locally until further instructions. Scheduled system maintenance will take place in 1 hour. Emails will not work for 15 minutes.	You can set notification templates and communications paths for each IT incident. Response teams and affected employees will be notified with the necessary information every time.