Building processes to handle volume spikes and crises

1. Building processes to handle volume spikes and crises Cyrus A. Howells Support Center Manager Allegheny Energy June 6, 2002

2. Step 1Identify Major Causes of Spikes and classifications Lack of communications to clients and/or the Support Center

3. Step 1Identify Major Causes of Spikes and classifications Time of year, i.e. spring may be higher because you are between the holidays and vacation

4. Step 2 & 3 How to Handle Planned Events How to Handle Unplanned Events

5. Step 2How to Handle Planned Events Increase Staff, possibly temporary resources for project rollouts Develop Contact lists / call out lists for resources you need to pull in or within the Support Center itself Don�t deploy on Monday Communications to help desk of upcoming events Communications to clients of upcoming events Training for the help desk for new products or upgrades Training for clients for new products or upgrades Use the Phone system to redirect calls to responsible groups during rollouts Have someone from second level in the Support Center as a resource during rollouts or other significant events Develop checklists and FAQs about new products going out

6. Step 2How to Handle Planned Events Change Management to communicate and seek approvals from all technology areas Spread out rollouts. This helps spread the volume as well as gives you a chance if something blows up, to pull the plug, fix the problem and continue on Broadcast notes Develop history of planned events to prepare for next time ACD Reports to develop data on event Develop an Outage Page for clients in technology groups

7. Step 3How to Handle Unplanned Events Develop a history of similar events Be able to place an emergency greeting to minimize calls Instant Messages (IMs ) to communicate to team Email to team and to clients Outage page for clients Post-mortem meetings to decide what happened, what the affect was, and what could be done differently to avoid in the future Redirect calls to other groups who may be responsible Communicate up so management is aware of the event, based on severity ACD, some systems will allow agents to be brought into the queues automatically as volume increases Keep Current Virus Software to avoid an unplanned event

8. Step 3How to Handle Unplanned Events Root cause of the issue to avoid in future Utilize Third parties for additional resources or assistance Develop Procedures for handling an event Co-source � third party comes in as volume increases Other Resources to help supplement staff Callout lists for resources Crisis manager for the issue Weather channel Regular Updates on situation

9. Step 4Action Plan Establish a crisis manager whose role would be to take the lead on the event, carry out an event plan, communications, and any follow up actions Establish procedures for placing an emergency greeting Put in place procedures for using tools to communicate ( I.M., email, fax ) SLA with second level to include their roles in event resolution List of resources available during an event Get the Support Center into the project process, at a minimum to approve of projects before they become production Develop Callout schedules for necessary teams SLA with third parties if they will be used during a crisis

10. Step 4Action Plan Establish a Command Center, crisis plan, and procedures for kicking it off Education plans and Training for clients and Support Center for new rollouts or upgrades Establish procedures with 2nd level for how rollouts take place Fire Drills. Don�t wait until the crisis to test your processes and procedures Team Conditioning � make sure your team knows what and how to handle crises Create an Outage Page to communicate planned and unplanned outages Identify a Communications person or team Establish Business liaisons, someone within the business to communicate with these issues with, they in turn communicate to their areas

11. Step 4Action Plan Establish a crisis team / SWAT team

12. Pittsburgh Chapter of HDI Thank you!!!!