Kansas City Selected for AT&T Network Disaster Recovery Exercise
Posted on: Tuesday, 12 July 2005, 09:00 CDT
KANSAS CITY, July 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Although Tornado Alley experienced a mild spring this year, Kansas City area residents and businesses should remain on alert. The Midwest weather extremes ranging from tornadoes to ice storms can result in widespread power and communications failures, which is why AT&T selected Kansas City to host its Network Disaster Recovery (NDR) exercise.
The exercise will be held July 14-19 at the Doubletree Hotel Overland Park at Corporate Woods. The initiative is designed to test and evaluate how well the company can respond to a natural or man-made disaster.
The NDR exercise, conducted several times each year, is part of AT&T's comprehensive business continuity plan to ensure communications can be restored quickly to its government, business and consumer customers if a disaster damages or destroys parts of its network. Experience gained from the exercise is used to strengthen business continuity services for AT&T's customers and to refine the company's disaster response systems.
During the past 10 years, AT&T has invested more than $300 million in its NDR program. It is the industry's only mobile, full-readiness NDR team, allowing AT&T to monitor, manage and proactively protect the networks of its customers around the world.
AT&T and the International Association of Emergency Management Services (IAEM) have just completed a survey of 100 Kansas and Missouri area businesses to gauge their level of disaster preparedness. The survey, "Disaster Planning in the Private Sector: A Post 9/11 Look at the State of Business Continuity in the U.S.," has been conducted in more than a dozen other states around the nation. The results of the local survey will be discussed on Tuesday, July 19, at the Networking Leaders' Forum held in conjunction with the NDR exercise.
"Any disruption in business operations due to a natural or man-made disaster can be a costly experience," said Christine Pierson, AT&T's Sales Center Vice President in Kansas City. "The key to rapid recovery is to have a disaster plan in place and test it regularly, which is what AT&T's NDR exercise is all about."
AT&T's NDR team includes specially trained managers, engineers and technicians from across the United States, as well as a fleet of more than 150 self-contained equipment-trailers and support vehicles that house the same equipment and components as an AT&T data-routing or voice-switching center.
In addition to supporting AT&T's network, the NDR team also uses its mobile satellite capabilities to provide communications support for humanitarian relief efforts. This is accomplished by establishing satellite links to the AT&T Network for use by relief organizations and government agencies. AT&T Emergency Communications Vehicles (ECVs) may also be deployed to provide calling capability for people isolated from their normal communications channels due to widespread disasters and/or evacuations.
Since 1990, the NDR team has been activated 12 times in response to disasters, including restoring service after south Florida's devastating Hurricane Andrew in 1992; the Northridge, California earthquake in 1994; tornadoes in Oklahoma in 1999; the September 11 attacks on New York City's World Trade Center; and the wildfires in San Diego in 2003.
As part of the overall NDR exercise, AT&T is hosting a Networking Leaders' Forum on Tuesday, July 19. The event will bring together AT&T executives, business customers and outside experts to discuss the latest trends in business continuity and disaster recovery. AT&T will also recognize the special efforts of the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (NDSDF) in finding people lost or trapped due to a disaster. AT&T will present a $12,500 grant from the AT&T Foundation to the NDSDF and two search-and-rescue teams will demonstrate their life-saving techniques as part of the NDR exercise.
More information on AT&T's NDR program is available at http://www.att.com/ndr .
About AT&T
For more than 125 years, AT&T has been known for unparalleled quality and reliability in communications. Backed by the research and development capabilities of AT&T Labs, the company is a global leader in local, long distance, Internet and transaction-based voice and data services.
AT&T
CONTACT: Kerry Hibbs of AT&T, +1-972-778-2081, or khibbs@att.com
Web site: http://www.att.com/ndr
Source: PRNewswire
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