What does the crisis communication report say?

The Business Continuity Institute (BCI), in collaboration with F24, has published the fifth edition of the "Emergency Communications Reports." Published. This year's report found an increase in organizations using alerting and/or crisis management tools - 67% compared to 59.3% in 2019. The increasing use of these tools indicates that many organizations have decided to switch to specialized tools rather than relying on the free offerings, according to the media release. The companies that would use such a tool are significantly faster in communication than those without such help, it said.

More SaaS solutions

The report also showed that an increasing number of organizations would prefer software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions over on-premise software applications. According to the study, nearly two-thirds of organizations (65.9%) opted for a SaaS solution, while less than one-fifth (19.5%) had locally installed software in place. A SaaS solution could help ensure seamless emergency communications across multiple devices, he said. Furthermore, such a tool could help circumvent the often problematic adaptation of new solutions to existing systems. A fact cited by more than half (51.2%) of respondents in the BCI 2019 "Disruptive Technologies Report" as a barrier to adoption, according to the report.

A lack of budget was the most frequently cited reason why companies would forego an emergency communications tool. Accordingly, more than a third (36.4%) said they did not have the budget for appropriate solutions. Just under one-fifth of respondents (19.1%) also felt that their organization was too small to implement such software.

Looking at the activation time of communication plans, the report shows that the response time required by companies has decreased compared to last year: Nearly one-third of respondents said they could activate their plan within five minutes (2019: 20%). In addition, a small but significant group (1.6%) noted that activation takes no time at all for them because IT systems or rules trigger an alert automatically. Only 1% of organizations reported that it takes more than 12 hours to activate their emergency communications plan (2019: 2.4%).

Human factor is decisive

The report also analyzed some of the key communication challenges and found that people, not technology, are the biggest hurdle to effective execution of an emergency plan. Gathering, validating and sharing detailed information is the most important task for organizations during an emergency, with communication with employees a close second.

Human error is the main cause of plan failure. The reasons are insufficient information to employees and a lack of understanding of the most common sources of error. More than half of companies (54.2%) cite communication with employees as one of the biggest challenges during an emergency. At the same time, however, less than two-thirds of companies (61.7%) keep employee contact information up to date.

E-mail remains a preferred means of communication in crisis situations

In terms of channels, the study found that email remains the preferred means of communication in all situations, whether internal or external. However, in the event of a network or system failure, an alternative means of communication should be considered, especially since cyber attacks are a common cause of emergency situations.

Other results at a glance:

• Increased investment in technology and training results in 73.1% of organizations achieving the target response time.
• Nearly half of organizations (41.4%) now have a secure messaging application integrated into their emergency communications plan.
• The number of organizations that needed to activate their emergency communications plan last year increased slightly to 71.6% (2019: 71%).
• Organizations are also increasingly using this tool to optimize processes and workflows.
• Severe weather/natural disasters and IT/telecommunications outages were the most common reasons for activating emergency communications plans last year.
• The status of corporate communications and PR departments in companies is crucial to the effectiveness of an emergency communications plan. This is especially true for larger organizations, which face negative repercussions for their customer reputation or share prices if false information is disseminated.
• Less than a quarter of organizations are currently using IoT devices, and more than half have no plans to adopt them. However, the number of organizations using IoT technology, or at least planning to do so, has increased by 5% this year to 38.3% (2018: 33.0%).
• Despite the increase in international business travel, preparation for traveling employees is surprisingly low: just over one-third (39.7%) of companies have a comprehensive travel management risk plan in place, and less than half (48.2%) ensure that reliable contact information is collected for employees traveling abroad.