Case study: Easier business continuity with SMS

Mediaburst's Business Continuity text tool is one of the most cost-effective and efficient means of instantly communicating and interacting with people during emergencies

Neil Davison, RPC's IT operations manager

How many businesses would survive a severe disaster, such as a bomb or a fire? And how would they communicate and interact with staff, customers and suppliers during these business-threatening emergencies?

London law firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain (RPC) LLP is just one of many enterprises that have looked closely at the implications of disasters on their business and decided to adopt Mediaburst’s Business Continuity (BC) tool as a result as the communications platform of their disaster recovery plan. The web-based text tool will enable the law firm to instantly communicate with all of its 500 plus partners, lawyers and support staff during emergencies with minimum fuss and maximum effectiveness.

Selecting Mediaburst’s BC solution was a simple decision for the law firm. Like other businesses, RPC knows only too well that phone lines will become congested during emergencies and people will be difficult to contact. But not if you communicate with them using text messages. Why? Text messages don’t rely upon voice channels for transmission. Instead, they travel as small packets of data on a wireless carrier’s control channel, the same channel that keeps a mobile network apprised of a particular phone’s location and status. Being isolated in the control channel, SMS messages are therefore usually unaffected by heavy traffic or adverse conditions that jam wireless networks.

Mediaburst’s BC text tool sits on its highly secure, fully SSL-enabled servers giving RPC a remote communications site. As preparation for an emergency, RPC has uploaded mobile contact details of all staff to the online phonebook facility, which can be accessed and used from any location. Using the contact management feature, RPC has created special distribution groups to receive specific group messages, as well as template messages. It also plans to use the “merge name” feature of the tool to personalise messages for added effectiveness.

Using the instant response feature, RPC management will be able to interact with staff and send response messages and content to individuals seeking information. This will be particularly useful when distributing a series of instructions or questions.

Conforming with government guidelines for businesses during emergencies, RPC will use Mediaburst’s tool to record all messages sent to employees as well as delivery receipts.