Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery
Emergency Response Capability and Preparedness
Tom Serio
Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery
2011
© 2010 Verizon Wireless
CONTENTS
– Approach and Focus
– BC/DR Program Overview
– Network Operations
– Reliable Customer Support
– Public Safety Outreach Strategy
– Disaster Tested, Disaster Proven
– Summary
APPROACH AND FOCUS
• Introduction
Verizon Wireless owns and operates the nation’s most reliable
wireless network:
– More than $60 billion invested
– Serving over 91 million voice and data customers across the United States.
Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone
• Verizon Wireless Qualities:
– Honesty and integrity
– Responsiveness
– First-call resolution
• Focus on fundamentals and results:
– Coverage
– Capacity
– Resilience
®
BC/DR PROGRAM OVERVIEW
The Verizon Wireless Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery
(BC/DR) initiatives are an example of how we strive to provide highquality services for our customers.
BC/DR initiatives help the company minimize the impact of a disaster by:
– Identifying critical business functions, systems, and risks.
– Implementing strategies to minimize the risk of a disruption.
– Developing plans to recover operations in the event of a disruption.
– Testing our plans to validate our response capabilities.
BC/DR PROGRAM OVERVIEW –
CRISIS MANAGEMENT
VERIZON WIRELESS HAS IMPLEMENTED CRISIS MANAGEMENT
TEAMS (CMTs) ACROSS THE COUNTRY TO:
– Enhance communication during crisis events.
– Provide a robust command-and-control structure.
– Escalate decision making as needed.
– Facilitate resource allocation.
BC/DR PROGRAM OVERVIEW –
CRISIS MANAGEMENT
THE CRISIS MANAGEMENT TEAMS (CMT’s):
– Are led by senior management.
– Are cross-functional, including experienced personnel from each
department.
– Allow local response management by teams most familiar with local
operations and customer needs.
– Support each other based on severity or duration of the event.
– Meet in Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs) to facilitate
communication and event management.
– Conduct exercises each year to increase their response capabilities.
– Are “Battle Tested”.
NETWORK OPERATIONS
OUR WIRELESS NETWORK IS RESILIENT BY DESIGN:
The Verizon Wireless network operations philosophy is driven by the
desire to provide our customers with an extremely high level of service.
Our wireless services are provided through a large and sophisticated national
network:
– More than 175 Mobile Switching Centers (MSCs),
– Numerous Data Centers that support the network and applications,
– Thousands of cellular sites throughout our service areas.
The Verizon Wireless resilient design incorporates both our technology
infrastructure and our operating procedures, which include:
– Preventive maintenance.
– Real-time monitoring of key system components.
– 24/7 availability of trained maintenance personnel.
– Wide deployment of personnel and spare parts to
permit rapid response.
NETWORK OPERATIONS
MONITORING, MAINTENANCE,
AND RESTORATION:
Service protection and restoration strategies are an
integral part of Verizon Wireless network
management and operations.
We have Network Operations Centers (NOCs):
– Located in New Jersey and Texas
– Staffed 24x7x365, with experienced personnel
– Monitor all facilities, cell sites, and switches across the nationwide network
– Work closely with regional field operations teams and vendors to coordinate and
expedite the restoration of service in the event of outages
Spare parts and repair equipment are available to technicians in all of our central
network locations. Have standing agreements with critical vendors to get 24x7
support from their engineering personnel and obtain replacement equipment if
required.
NETWORK OPERATIONS
STRATEGY FOR CONTINUED SERVICE TO MOBILE
SWITCHING CENTERS:
Mobile switching centers (MSCs) are an important part of our wireless network, and
we continue to add them to our network as we grow.
The MSCs are spread across the country, all have redundant equipment and circuitry,
and are protected by:
– Automatic power back-up systems (generators and batteries).
– Automatic fire detection and suppression systems.
– Physical and logical security systems and alarms.
– Restricted access to help prevent entry by unauthorized personnel.
– Security guards and/or camera systems.
– Disaster recovery plans.
– Routine backups of system configurations and data.
NETWORK OPERATIONS
STRATEGY FOR CONTINUED SERVICE TO CELL SITES:
Verizon Wireless has thousands of cell sites across our network to
provide the desired level of wireless services. We take precautions to
protect and to keep these sites operational, including:
– Equipment redundancy.
– Automatic power back-up systems (generators and/or batteries).
– Automatic fire detection systems.
– Physical and logical security systems and alarms.
– Sophisticated diagnostic capabilities that instantly identify a problem.
NETWORK OPERATIONS
PORTABLE CELL SITES:
– Cell on Wheels (COW)
– Cell on Light Truck (COLT)
NETWORK OPERATIONS
BACK-UP POWER STRATEGY FOR THE WIRELESS NETWORK
– Permanent battery and generator systems
– Generator on a Trailer (GOAT)
– Tested regularly
– Rigorous load tests
NETWORK OPERATIONS
THE MOST CRITICAL RECOVERY ASSET:
Verizon Wireless has thousands of highly-trained and experienced network
technicians who have repeatedly proven their ability to respond to emergency
situations, troubleshoot problems, and restore service to our customers.
We provide these technicians with the necessary training and tools to
effectively respond, including:
– Communications and laptops with secure remote network access
– Test equipment and tools
– Required credentials and company vehicles
– Access to required documentation (drawings, procedures, etc)
– Training including emergency response exercises
– Clear direction and priorities
RELIABLE CUSTOMER SUPPORT
ANSWERING THE CALL FOR OPERATIONAL RESILIENCE:
Our customer service team operates multiple call centers across the country to
maximize service quality and efficiency:
– Call rerouting via automated and manual procedures
– Goal is to minimize customer impact due to event
– Support also from on-line store site, or automated voice response system.
CRITICAL SYSTEMS FOR SUPPORTING OUR CUSTOMERS:
Systems that support wireless phone activations and customer service calls, and
automate high-volume activities are critical to our business operations and our
support of customer requests.
These systems are protected in Tier-1 data centers, where we invest a significant
amount of resources in our data backup and disaster recovery capabilities.
PUBLIC SAFETY OUTREACH
STRATEGY
Verizon Wireless displays its commitment
to the public safety community across the
United States through our efforts to:
– Enhance relationships with federal, state and local
public safety/law enforcement communities before
a crisis occurs to expedite our ability to provide
critical services during a disaster.
– Leverage the relationships of our security personnel across the country, many
of whom are former local, state, or federal law enforcement officers.
– Seek opportunities to increase awareness of Verizon Wireless emergency
response capabilities within the public safety community.
– Assist law enforcement with investigations, crime prevention and legal
requests.
– Implement and maintain state-of-the-art E911 systems.
DISASTER TESTED, DISASTER
PROVEN
WILDFIRES:
Firefighters turn to Verizon Wireless to help communicate over longer
distances than many two-way radios and coordinate efforts in remote areas.
DISASTER TESTED, DISASTER
PROVEN
WILDFIRES – Station Fire 2009:
Outreach at CALFIRE
Command Center:
providing free phone
calls, charging, and
Internet access
DISASTER TESTED, DISASTER
PROVEN
TORNADOS & FLOODING:
With customers nationwide, Verizon Wireless is constantly aware of and responding
to natural events such as tornados and floods, to support our communities.
DISASTER TESTED, DISASTER
PROVEN
TORNADOS & FLOODING:
DISASTER TESTED, DISASTER
PROVEN
HURRICANES:
Today, most of our cell sites in hurricane-prone areas have on-site back-up
generators. These and hundreds of portable generators were leveraged to
provide emergency power to our network over the past few years.
DISASTER TESTED, DISASTER
PROVEN
HURRICANE TESTIMONIALS:
“I wanted to tell you that my Verizon cell phone
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER went down. Even during
the brunt of the storm! It was amazing. My
neighbors … all had their services interrupted,
many of which are just now being restored. My
phone was the only one working!”
- Janine, Verizon Wireless, customer in Punta
Gorda, FL
“At no time before, during, or after the storm did I
lose service with my Verizon Wireless phone.
During a 28-hour period I was without all basic
utilities; however, I was able to communicate with
friends and loved ones 1,000 miles away as they
watched the events live on the national news. I
believe that a Verizon Wireless phone is essential
during a natural disaster or other crisis.”
- Verizon Wireless customer in Orlando, FL
WILDFIRE TESTIMONIAL:
“Having the Verizon Wireless COW is amazing. It
gives us a reach and a network we can tie into.
Being able to come into an area where there is no
cell coverage and within a short time, establish
that is critical.”
- Public Official of Georgia Forest Commission
DISASTER TESTED, DISASTER
PROVEN
COAL MINE EXPLOSION
Deployment of a COW and use of cell phones and data devices allowed
emergency responders to communicate in hard-to-reach areas.
DISASTER TESTED, DISASTER
PROVEN
NORTHEAST
BLACKOUT
PROACTIVE SUPPORT
PRESIDENTIAL
INAUGURATION
WIRELESS SOLUTIONS
Document
Storage
Mini
Netbook
Mobile
Broadband
MiFi
VCRT
Verizon Wireless Crisis
Response Team
Wireless Priority Service for Government
Wireless
Router
Network
Extender
http://wps.ncs.gov
Tools for Crisis Management and Response Teams
SUMMARY
 Verizon Wireless and our resources are focused on
consistently providing high-quality wireless services to our
customers.
 We invest considerable time and money to prepare for, and
test our ability to respond to, emergency situations – not only
those that affect us, but also those that affect our customers.
 Our response capabilities and our teams have been tested
and proven under many difficult, disastrous circumstances.
It’s The Network
THANK YOU
Tom Serio
tom.serio@verizonwireless.com
561-995-5677