When Storms Prevail, Mobile Command Center Minimizes the Disruption to Your Business

By Mark McCartin, President and Robert Miller, Principal Dowling & O’Neil Insurance Agency

Whatever business you’re in, if you operate on Cape Cod you’ve thought about how to prepare for weather so extreme it shuts your business down.

So have we. Immediately after a devastating storm is when our customers need us the most. As soon as the clouds lift, customers will contact Dowling & O’Neil to review their policies and initiate claims. Regardless of what the storm may have done to our own offices, we must be ready to help.

Recently, Dowling & O’Neil upgraded our disaster recovery plan to offer customers the shortest possible break in service, in the event of a catastrophic storm or other disaster. We instituted new, internal procedures for data backup and emergency staffing to help us prepare to run continuously, regardless of the weather. But we still confronted one, overwhelming and harsh reality: Any storm strong enough to knock down power lines and flood basements will instantly spark our customers’ need to contact us while, at the same time, potentially reducing our accessibility.

Thus, we began looking for an outside vendor with the expertise to make our recovery plan complete. We soon discovered that today’s communication technologies and services allow quick relocation and replication of business operating systems, should a disaster render a company’s offices unusable. “We found that it’s possible for a mid-size firm like ours to engage disaster recovery services that are comprehensive, reliable, and flexible enough to suit both our business needs and our budget,” said Robert Miller, principal, Dowling & O’Neil. “Even a small business can contract a recovery solutions vendor to quickly get business systems back up and running in the event of a disaster.”

After exploring several vendors, we engaged Agility Recovery Solutions, Inc., a national company that specializes in providing mobile, turnkey, back-up systems for mid-sized firms. Now, we’re assured that Dowling & O’Neil will be operational within 48 hours after a disaster of any magnitude.

Recovery solutions vendors deploy the necessary replacement components, which may include a fully functional mobile office for more than a dozen workers, diesel generators, and temporary computer and office equipment. A national company – such as Agility, which maintains 100,000 mobile offices for fast deployment – can provide mobile work centers to any location in the U.S. that is stricken by disaster. Standard equipment for an Agility mobile unit includes PCs and servers, desks and chairs, Internet access, telephone capability, a fax machine, and air conditioning.

Hurricane Katrina proved how effective it is for businesses to prepare by engaging the support of a recovery solutions vendor. “When Dowling & O’Neil undertook to update our own disaster recovery plan, we were comforted to learn how recovery solutions had helped the New Orleans insurance industry get back to work,” said Mark McCartin, president of Dowling & O’Neil. One insurance firm was assisting clients and processing claims just days after Katrina subsided, from a fully equipped mobile unit in Baton Rouge. The firm reported that besides enabling the agency to serve its New Orleans customers, the quick installation of the mobile command center contributed to a much-needed feeling of hope and recovery among customers and business associates.

“It should reassure our customers to know that Dowling & O’Neil will have a mobile office functioning as our ‘command center’ within 48 hours of a devastating storm,” said McCartin. “Our employees will be able to do their work from there. They’ll have computer network access to customer policy information, Internet connections to our carriers, telephone, fax, and everything else they need to respond to customers’ inquiries and needs.”

Federal experts estimate that after a big disaster like Hurricane Katrina, 40 percent of small business shut down permanently. “Dowling & O’Neil has a long-term investment in Cape Cod, its residents and its business community. As an insurance agency, we cannot afford the risk of landing among that 40 percent,” said Miller.

“Part of what we offer our customers is the security that, if a disaster occurs, they’ll be able to reach us. They will find us ready to do business on their behalf. The disaster plan that Dowling & O’Neil has built with Agility helps us promise customers that they’ll receive the service they deserve, even after a disaster of great magnitude, which is when they need us the most.”