BP has put in place a multi-level communications
strategy, which includes using Skype internet telephony, to keep in
touch with staff in the event of a major disaster.
Following an explosion at its Texas refinery in 2005, in which
15 workers were killed, BP revamped its disaster planning, covering
major events such as hurricanes, explosions and avian flu.
The plan combines a worldwide network of crisis response
centres. It uses consumer-oriented technology, public and mobile
telephone systems, local internet access and satellite
communications to ensure staff can be found and to re-establish
contact across BP's supply chain.
Presenting at the Burton Group conference in Barcelona earlier
this month, Ted Davis, group telecom director at BP, said, "During
the hurricane season we lost telephony, but the internet was
OK."
This meant staff were able to use BP's e-mail and applications.
To cope with a failure that takes out a datacentre, the company is
deploying a "road warrior" kit comprising Skype and eFax,
internet-based faxing software. It has also doubled the capacity of
its virtual private network to provide remote access in the event
of a disaster. Davis said, "We like Skype because it does not rely
on infrastructure."
Three hundred satellite phones based on the Iridium service are
also being used in BP's global crisis centres.
BP has moved from a hub-and-spoke wide area network to two
global providers of MPLS network services. Across 60 sites, users
connect to the corporate network via the internet. Davis said this
improves resilience, because in the event of a disaster, end-users
would be able to connect via any available internet service
provider.
To maintain communications if a datacentre is taken out,
end-users must provide details of a non-corporate e-mail account,
such as Hotmail, which is stored in BP's Outlook Global address
book. To ensure it can be accessed, even when an online connection
is unavailable, the address book is downloaded locally onto
end-users' laptops.
Staff have been issued with phone cards to enable them to
request help or register that they are safe. They can also register
via a public website. This service is operated both by telecom
provider Dialogic and BP in order to double up on resilience.
➔ www.skype.com
➔ www.iridium.com