What is an incident response system?
Incident response systems are systematic notification processes an organization establishes for handling adverse events (e.g. crisis incidents, manufacturing process events, injuries, environmental EHS&S events, etc.). Although similar, incident response processes are typically controlled documents that outline incident mitigation and governance. Within an incident response process will often contain directions/protocols for internal/external notification (i.e. incident response system).
Incident Response Systems & Crisis Communication
Many B2B businesses, especially manufacturing-based companies, utilize an external call-service for managing adverse events based on a matrix that determines who receives a notification/call. These systems are highly reliable and oftentimes affordable making them excellent options for mass notification, especially to external parties (e.g. fire department).
Unfortunately, external call-services are not ideal for on-going internal notifications/discussions about a single event. In other words, they are simply a one-way communication method. Therefore, alternative methodologies are essential to maintain an internal dialog, especially between management and local affected colleagues (i.e. where the event is taking place). Too often, though, organizations overestimate external call-service abilities and underestimate incident communication complexities. This results in ill-prepared crisis teams / management and ultimately chaotic communications.
Ultimately, organizations must realize that initial alert notifications are one-half the problem. The other half is on-going internal communications with key individuals for information gathering and knowledge support.
A Complete Incident Response System
The first step of any incident response process is always alerting others – and key external officials - of the safety concern (e.g. fire alarm). Based on your industry the second communication step will be alerting relevant organizations/agencies (e.g. chemical spill agencies) and key internal stakeholders (e.g. executive teams). At this point, if applicable, crisis communication steps will come into major play. Open dialog between key affected personnel and the crisis team will commence and information gathering and dissemination will begin.
At CrisisDriver we provide one service for managing incident notification (e.g. key internal stakeholders) plus on-going discussion via messaging service with key affected personnel and crisis team members. All internal and external parties contact information is held within the mobile application for easy retrieval and contact. Even better, mass notification features are available to update internal and external parties with a single tap of a button. With CrisisDriver you have a one-stop-shop for your communication needs during an incident!