Business continuity

Decide what happens when the office cannot answer.

An internet outage, an unavailable desk or a busy reception should not leave you inventing a plan on the spot. Build and document the alternative route now.

Another team can help

Choose a second group to ring after a set wait. Check that they know which calls they are taking.

Another location can answer

Plan an alternate site or mobile destination. Keep the destination and the person responsible up to date.

A message can explain

If nobody can help immediately, tell callers what to expect and give them a way to leave a message.

What to work through

Step 1

List the dependencies

Include power, broadband, devices and the people needed at each site.

Step 2

Try the outage scenario

The builder shows where a simulated call goes when the site is offline.

Step 3

Review the plan

Check it again when your team, sites or opening hours change.