–Why Your Company Needs A BCP Plan in Japan-
Typhoons, earthquakes, and tsunamis can wreak havoc on public transport and even the power grid.
If you’re working in a major Japan city (Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya) or even a smaller city such as Hakata or Kobe, your company needs to have a business continuity plan (BCP) in place. Just because trains and buses stop doesn’t mean your business should stop also. Having a BCP means your company is prepared for emergencies. As employees are a company’s most valuable resource, its up to management to make sure they are ready to expect the unexpected. Should your employees be unable to reach the workplace, they can still be productive and work from home if given the proper tools and training.
People tend to think a BCP plan is just for the next disaster, but its more than that. The main benefit of a BCP strategy is your team is comfortable and knows how to keep “Taking care of business” in the event of an emergency.
Recently, Tokyo was hit by a powerful typhoon. It completely stopped train lines for hours, left 5000 stranded at Narita Airport, and cut off power in Chiba and Kanagawa. Our staff were checking the twitter feeds of the train companies and stations and sure enough the train stations were extremely crowded. Quite a fiasco.
How We Handled It
For AINEO, our Tokyo team was in constant communication from the am. Everyone understood the situation and all were in contact with management. Via chat we were able to direct the people that were on the train lines most adversely affected by the storms to work from home. Meanwhile other staff were able to trickle into the Tokyo office by late morning / early afternoon.
What’s more, this platform is secure and fully integrated with our VoIP phone service which is used by thousands across Japan. There are of course no ads and our app does not spy on you or collect personal information.
Many businesses are trying to work off mobile phones and social media applications, but the problem with social media comes the danger of mishandling company information. Not to mention FB and twitter can be distracting. With iPBX Circle, AINEO was able to communicate with all our team at once, as well as between individuals with no disruption to our business.
Why Do You Need A Business Continuity Plan (BCP)?
Benefits of a BCP
Your team knows what to do in the event of poor weather, a terrorist attack, or even the Olympics.
You avoid being smashed on public transport and work from anywhere with the proper systems.
No more lost time or inability to service your clients as you have a plan that allows you to work from anywhere or even a specified place.
We encourage you to encourage your organization’s leadership team to think about BCP. It’s more than just webmail and a mobile.
Looking for a way to build a BCP component into your business? Start with your communications systems, contact us at Circle to keep you connected to your clients and loved ones, no matter what happens.
You can catch us via telephone in
Tokyo 03-4550-6800
Osaka 06-4560-2600.
Contact us via email here