January 28, 2005

 

Memo for:   Business Continuity Plan Management Committee

 

Subject:  Minutes of the January 28, 2005 Meeting

 

1.       A meeting of the Business Continuity Plan Management Committee was held on Friday, January 28, 2005, in Room 208 Cone Center.

 

2.       Attendance:

a.       Present:  Randy Duncan, Diana Gann, Tony Hoppa, Dane Hughes, Phil Jones, Debra Joyce, Marlon Lynch, John Mack, Mark Reynolds, Morgan Roseborough, Wally Seigler, Laura Simic, Darin Spease, Doug Thomas

 

b.        Absent:  Dixie Airey, Kathi Baucom, Susan Brooks, Rick Conboy, Barbara Edwards, Ted Elling, Ray Galleno, Barry Godlewski, Lee Gray, Jon Hawn, Carter Heath, Bill Hill, Michelle Howard, Tom Lamb, Charlie Puckett, Gary Stinnett

 

3.        Main topics / issues:

 

a.       Extended Notification System (ENS):   After purchasing 25 “full user seats” in the MissionMode Automated Notification System, we added a number of Extended Notification System members in the Business Affairs Division.  These people are only able to receive and reply to alert messages.  The vast majority of these (approximately 150) are in Facilities Management.  This service is also open to other divisions of the University to join.  The cost is $.75 per person per month.  Alert messages cost $1.25 per person per alert and must be purchased in blocks of 1000 alerts ($1250).  These alerts may be shared between departments or divisions.  Contact Morgan Roseborough if you want your division/college/department to participate in the ENS.

 

b.       Issues from EOC Exercise, 1/13/05:  Morgan reported on the January Emergency Operations Center Exercise.  In this exercise the MissionMode ANS was used to alert members of the Crisis Management Team and was displayed as the “status board” throughout the exercise.

 

(1)  The MissionMode ANS raised several observations and recommendations.

§         The phone message was difficult to understand, particularly as it announced numbers.  Room 208, came through as “…two, hundred,….ehh”.  Morgan has addressed this with MissionMode to see if each digit could be enunciated separately (e.g., “two, zero, eight”). 

§         Response choices do not work on voicemail or answering machines.  The only means to reply to a voice mail is to call the MissionMode toll-free number, or via the web site.  Participants will have to know their userid and PIN or their web login information.  This is a matter of training, rather than a system fault.

§         Not all CMT members received the alert message on all their phones or email.  This probably resulted from the call being answered by voice mail.  After this happens, the system ceases trying to contact other devices.  The recommendation is to list first the phone that most likely to be answered in-person.  After that, list those that may be more likely to be answered by voice mail.  The same is true of email.  Users should list both home and office email.

§         There should be a conference call bridge, to allow for convening  a conference call.  Doug Thomas explained that we can establish a bridge between two campus phones.  Other users can dial into that bridge.  MissionMode also offers a conference bridge. However, the phone number is not the same for every situation.

§         MissionMode users should have a wallet card with web login and dial in instructions.  Morgan is working on this with MissionMode.

 

(2)    Emergency Operations Center (EOC).

§         There needs to be one (or two) people assigned to act as scribes to maintain the operations log and keep the situation board posted.

§         CMT members and other Essential Personnel need an ID card to identify them as being authorized to be on campus (or in the EOC) during an emergency.  Morgan is working with Keith Wassum on this.

§         We should use the Miltimore-Wallace Athletic Center for the next EOC exercise, since that is our first choice facility for the EOC.

§         The next exercise should be scheduled in May of 2005.

 

c.  Resource Tracker Contact and Recovery Item Update and Status:  Morgan presented the current status of individual emergency contact information – a noticeable increase in updated information since October 2004.  This is due to the update campaign that began in December 2004.  The situation on recovery items was not as good, with almost 50% of the recovery documents past due for update (more than 180 days since last update).  Plans that are overdue for update should be reviewed by “owners” and brought up to date as soon as possible.  This is particularly true of colleges/departments/units that have moved to new locations.

 

d.  Hurricane Ivan Lessons Learned – University of West Florida:  There were several lessons that came out of this disaster that corroborate our planning efforts (click here).   That experience validates the planning efforts (and the resources) that we are expending on disaster preparedness and business continuity planning.

 

e.  Disaster Scenario.  The scenario for this meeting involved a situation where Facilities Management had planned a disruption of power to the main computer facility in Atkins.  Although it was scheduled for a Saturday, the installation of a transformer was not successful and resulted in power being disrupted through Monday afternoon.  An analysis of the impacts of loss of the computer systems, network, email, etc that support operations of the University revealed that most of the University could continue to function, but would not have access to critical data during that period.  Means to communicate (internally and externally) were reviewed and discussed, as well as use of the media to inform students, faculty and staff of the situation.

 

f.  Proposed Date for next Meeting:  The proposed date for the next meeting is March 25, 2005, at 10 AM in Room 208 Cone Center.

 

4.       The meeting adjourned at 11:05 AM.

 

 

 

Morgan Roseborough

Director, Business Continuity Planning

UNC Charlotte