Telephone Excellence by Mike Mitchell

Do You Know What You Don't Know?
By Mike Mitchell

I'm sure we've all heard the old saying "What you don't know won't hurt you." We've also heard "What you don't know could kill you." The truth lies somewhere between. Robert E. Kelly, in his book, How to be a Star at Work, puts it this way: "You need to be adept at knowing what you don't know." In light of the recent tragedy on the Gulf Coast, I began thinking about our fellow telecom managers in the hospitals in those areas. Were they prepared for such a disaster? Do they have the necessary documentation and backups to rebuild their networks?

What preparations have you made for crises large and small? Most of us will never experience a disaster of Katrina's magnitude. However, are we adequately prepared for those infrequent, but more common, occurrences like power failures, leaking roofs, burst water pipes or a "fried" hard drive? Listed below are a few areas in which we should be vigilant. The items listed apply to both disaster planning and routine emergencies.

System Back-up: Do you have database backups for your PBX, Voice Mail, Automated Attendant, Call Accounting, IVR and ACD systems? For instance, are all the VM and AA scripts written down or backed up on a computer? Is your ACD call routing stored somewhere?

All of your backups should be current and stored offsite or in a fireproof room or cabinet. They should also be easily accessible and portable if evacuation is needed.

Rectifiers and Batteries: When was the last time you had preventative maintenance (PM), inspections for your PBX rectifiers and batteries? Rectifiers should have a PM inspection at least once a year. Your batteries need to be checked every year and replaced about every five years. A few years ago one of my hospital's medical office buildings had a three-hour power shutdown on a Saturday morning. The tenants appreciated the fact that our PBX and their telephones continued to work even though nothing else did (at least they could order pizza for lunch!).

Circuit Numbers (PRIs, T-1, 1FBs, etc): If you needed to reroute or cancel digital circuits or trunks, would you have the circuit information available to you? If your hospital administrators decide to abandon a stand-alone clinic after a disaster, you should be able to terminate those voice/data services with your LEC from a remote location.

Hospital Emergency Numbers: Which emergency telephone numbers do you have at your fingertips? You should have the emergency numbers for your LEC, and all of your equipment vendors including PBX, IVR, ACD, VM, AA, pager, cellular, and wireless. A PDA or smartphone is just perfect for this job. At the very least, you should have a traditional organizer or notebook with your vendor's current information.

Although not as critical as the items listed above, other useful routine information we should know includes:

• Unassigned PBX extension numbers for quick reference
• VM/AA message storage capacity and amount actually being used
• Variance in your operating budget on a monthly basis

As telecom managers, we can't control the weather or catastrophic events, but we can control how well prepared we are. From first hand experience, I can tell you that an overflowing toilet on the first floor of a hospital can wreak havoc on telephone equipment on the ground floor! Make sure that you're prepared for those infrequent, but not unheard of, occurrences.