Technology is advancing - more quickly than many crisis communicators can track and adapt in their practices.
However, we are all getting increasingly comfortable with the speed and effectiveness of getting tasks completed with one press of an icon on our smartphones.
So, with increasing frequency, organizations are finally ditching the 3-ring binder, in favor of publishing, accessing and activating their crisis plans on digital platforms such as our own award winning, In Case of Crisis.
We looked at the wider implications of technology in making your crisis response more effective in a September blog.
Here are the top three benefits of crisis technology that emerged in 2018.
#1: You Save Money When You Ditch the 3-Ring Binder
The 3-ring binder as a source for your crisis management response is dead, no longer logistically or financially effective.
To be stuck in an analog world of the paper-based plan is to be left highly vulnerable when threats originate in, and are driven by, digital media.
However, should you need any more persuasion - the switch to a digital mobile crisis management platform also saves you money!
When resource management consultancy Silverstone Group moved from a paper system to the In Case of Crisis app for one of its big box retail clients, the retailer was able to increase effectiveness in managing the influx of incident reports from the many stores in the network.
In doing so, the retailer was able to reduce expenses and increase the effectiveness of the entire risk management program.
Listen to Ryan Gebauer from SilverStone Group talk about this successful transition here.
#2: Knowing you can contact everyone – no matter what day of the week, time of the day or the location of team members.
There may be psychological downfalls to the deep attachments to our smartphones, but as a crisis manager it has major benefits.
No one can carry a massive 3-ring binder in their pocket, but we all have our smartphones with us wherever we go.
The In Case of Crisis app gives an agency and their clients instant access to every single person needed in a crisis, wherever they are at the time, regardless of the geography or time zone.
This has been a huge benefit for clients with global operations, including one of the world’s largest cruise lines, a client of leading Dallas communications agency, LDWW.
Learn more about LDWW’s success in disseminating instant up-to-date crisis management materials for team members situated around the world here.
#3: Speed is Everything
Long-time and highly respected crisis expert Gerard Braud, a contributor of a must-read chapter in our e-book, ‘The New Rules of Crisis Management’, has a golden rule for any crisis communications plans that he authors - every plan directs that a statement MUST be issued in one hour or less of a crisis going public.
How can this golden rule be followed?
The reality is only technology, such as the In Case of Crisis app, offers guarantees that you can disseminate and deliver a speedy and effective crisis response in the same lightning speed that a crisis escalates in the digital era.
Read more about the need for speed in the digital age of crisis management here.
