Disaster can be averted

6th February 2006

CONTACT centre champion CallNorthWest is hosting a conference to help businesses in the industry deal with disaster.

The one-day event, entitled ‘Plan for the worst and hope for the best’, will demonstrate how contact centre managers can plan for catastrophe and keep operating effectively.

Research shows that 80 per cent of companies that do not have a developed business continuity plan fail when things out of their control go wrong. Companies which rely on a contact centre function to communicate internally as well as externally are potentially in the highest risk category.

Those attending the event on Tuesday 28 February, at Haydock Park Racecourse, Newton-le-Willows, will learn the potential problems, the frameworks available to assess the threat and hear firsthand how others have successfully coped with the reality of a disaster.

Expert Clive Billenness, senior manager in information risk management at KPMG, will talk through the process of identifying the threats and provide expert advice on simple but effective solutions.

A second presentation will focus on business continuity frameworks and legislation, protecting data and using technology. The third will be hosted by companies who have faced business crises who will discuss what they have learnt.

The topics will be relevant to small and large, public and private sector, outsourced and in-house contact centres.

CallNorthWest project director Christine Pye said: “Organisations small and large, public and private sector, rely heavily on their contact centres and in the event of a problem – even something as common as a closed motorway – staff wouldn’t be able to get to work and the business could fail.

“The potential problems are obvious but amazingly many businesses have given no thought to how they would cope.”

The seminar runs from 9am-4pm and is sponsored by Your Communications. Tickets cost £79 plus VAT (£92.83) for bookings made before 7 February and £99 plus VAT (£116.33) for bookings made after this date.

For information call: 0870 7879311.