Industry Case Studies : Business continuity & disaster recovery

TELUS International Disaster Readiness and the Contact Center

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Recovery from the storm – maintaining customer service during Typhoon Ketsana

In September 2009, Typhoon Ketsana swept through the Philippines affecting more than 1,000 TELUS International Philippines team members. In just 24 hours, Manila was saturated by more than 18 inches of rain, the most rainfall in a single day since 1965. Flood waters wiped out the homes of almost 400,000 Filipinos, displaced some 2,000,000 residents, and left more than 200 dead. The government declared a state of emergency and requested international aid as heavy flooding submerged the densely populated area and a subsequent storm, Typhoon Parma, threatened the northern regions of the country.

TELUS International was one of the first organizations in Manila to broadcast using text messages and local media, requesting that team members call in to confirm they were safe and if they needed assistance. Manned 24x7, the TELUS hotline volunteers also reached out to government agencies, including the National Disaster Coordinating Council and the Philippine National Red Cross, to seek help locating team members who had not yet reported to work or whose conditions were unknown.

Updates and important messages where also sent via text and email to check the condition of every team member. Radio plugs were used to reach out to team members in areas seriously damaged by the storm. Through these open lines of communication, management was able to determine that more than 300 team members had been left homeless and an additional 500 had suffered some level of material or property loss. To further assist employees, TELUS International provided cash advances to those in need. Hotel accommodations were provided for those whose homes were greatly affected or lost in the storm and relief goods were distributed.

TELUS International’s parent company, Canadian-based TELUS Corporation, also went into immediate action to support its overseas team members, contributing $100,000 to relief efforts and working with the Red Cross. The company also set up an employee donation program with each donation matched by the company. As a further show of compassion, a message board was established so that TELUS team members in Canada could contribute to a special blog entitled: “Messages for Manila.” The support and concern from Canadian team members was deeply touching.

Despite having lost their homes and all of their worldly possessions, and with family members staying in Red Cross shelters, hundreds of TELUS International employees waded through chest high water wearing all they had left in the world, to make their way to work and to take their place answering calls for our customers.

Our business continuity and disaster recovery planning (BCP / DRP) efforts successfully ensured that none of our 4 Manila-based facilities experienced any power or connectivity outages whatsoever. We were able to seamlessly re-route call volumes to our Canadian, Nevada and Guatemala-based facilities to address agent shortages caused by their inability to access our facilities during the storm and its aftermath. Less than 1 week after the calamity was announced, our operations were back to normal.

Open for business after the Taiwan Earthquake

Telecommunications around Asia were severely disrupted on December 27, 2006 after magnitude 7.1 earthquakes occurred off Taiwan. The resulting damage to undersea cables slowed Internet services and hindered financial transactions, particularly in the currency market. International telephone traffic was restricted for some countries and Internet access was severely impaired. In India, Manila and elsewhere in the region, back-offices and contact centers experienced varying degrees of difficulty.

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) reported intermittent Internet service and impact to international phone calls. Rival Globe Telecom stated that the entire country’s telecom services to the United States were disrupted. Sources working with Asian telecom providers estimated that it could take several weeks before all the cables were repaired.

This geological event interrupted Internet connectivity for millions in Asia and vividly illustrated the vulnerability of this vital network. Without a comprehensive backup system in the infrastructure, industry specialists warned that total paralysis would be inevitable.

In stark contrast to other contact centers in Manila which experienced difficulties in connectivity and operational disruptions, even closing and sending agents home, TELUS International succeeded in preventing major interruption in its contact center operations. This was attributed to several factors:

The number of independent connections available to TELUS International
A 3-year strategy of implementing international circuits on diverse undersea cable routings
Retention of backup outbound carriers

These factors created an exceptionally robust network capable of immediate recovery in these types of circumstances. All programs supported by TELUS International on its own backbone network survived at full capacity and performance. Some programs experienced limited outages of one to two hours. Recovery on redundant paths via alternate physical cable routes was either automatic or manually completed.

Several programs operated by TELUS International but hosted on our customers’ own international networks experienced multi-day failures of the primary and secondary circuits due to the cable cut. To assist, TELUS network services quickly identified available unused circuits and implemented alternative capacity sufficient to enable 100% operations for these programs.

Programs which had no voice dependencies were relocated to unaffected sites and experienced only partial-day outages before regaining full capacity. Using our internal network, Internet connectivity was restored within 48 hours for these affected sites. This connectivity allowed all non-voice services to return to normal operations prior to the centers re-establishing voice connectivity.

One of our clients, a leading computer manufacturer, experienced 100% failure at its Philippine-based captive site. During this time, they requested seating space for their representatives in order to remain functional. We were prepared to host 30 to 40 seats for this purpose.

The Impact of Typhoon Milenyo on Contact Center Operations

In September 2006, Manila was struck by the worst typhoon in 12 years, resulting in widespread damage and loss of life. Many trees were uprooted throughout the city and surrounding area, over 30 full-size billboards were destroyed and there was major disruption to power distribution. Parts of Manila remained without power for over 10 days after the event.

TELUS International was able to continue servicing its customers throughout the typhoon. Several measures were implemented including an enhanced transportation program (“Noah's Ark” – where we picked up our agents at designated points in Manila for safe transport to work), a performance incentive program, and a communication bridge to share information with customers and employees. Employees already at work were asked to remain at office locations for their safety and comfort.

One of the local telecommunication carriers lost a major fiber connection that affected one of our facilities but we were able to re-route the traffic and provide acceptable service after only a short outage. Several customers cooperated to allow allocation of the available bandwidth and everyone continued with their programs.

Power remained unstable in the city for over 48 hours. While fuel shortages forced several centers to shut down, TELUS International did not lose power and even resorted to private transport to assure an adequate supply. TELUS International received glowing commendations from several clients for staying online throughout the storm while several competitors where shutting down due to lack of contingency planning.

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