Crisis Notification - Alert Your Firm in Real-Time ILTA Webinar January 18, 2017

Our Presenters William Caraher Shawna Janssen Arun Mathew Chief Information Officer von Briesen & Roper, S.C. bcaraher@vonbriesen.com Shawna Janssen Global Project Manager Dentons Canada LLP shawna.janssen@dentons.com Arun Mathew Enterprise Applications Manager Dentons US LLP arun.mathew@dentons.com

Welcome & Introduction Crisis Notification – Why Now? Before we begin – There is an “Instant Poll” What is Crisis Notification? Why is it Needed / Why Now? Custom vs. Vendor Solution Dentons Multi-National vs. von Briesen Domestic Regional What Technology & Vendors are In this Space

Dentons Crisis Communications Solution Everbridge Dentons Crisis Communications Solution

Background: The Dentons Story Dentons is the largest law firm in the world with over 140 offices in 57 countries and more than 7300 lawyers. It was founded in March 2013 by the combination of SNR Denton, Fraser Milner Casgrain and Salans. Dentons consists of multiple legal entities including the 4 founding regions; Dentons Canada LLP, Dentons Europe LLP, Dentons UKMEA LLP, Dentons US LLP. Following the combination in 2013, the firm recognized the gap in the ability to communicate to its human capital in a effective way during emergencies. Dentons regions with the exception of Dentons UK, did not have a crisis management solution in place and relied on emails and crisis hotline numbers to notify their users regarding emergencies. Dentons UK was the only region that had fully implemented a crisis management solution using iModus by Vocal ltd.

Solution Requirements A service that would cover all Dentons offices and geographies. Flexibility to communicate to users using multiple contact paths including email, phone, and SMS/text. Flexibility to customize service to each region. Mobile application that can support iPhone, Android, and Blackberry Devices. Compliment restrictions on data residency. Cloud/Web hosted service that could adapt to the needs of the growing firm.

Solutions Considered Everbridge MIR3 Vocal iModus (acquired by Everbridge) Bill to ask about Costs.

Dentons Solution

Project - Review and Pilot Solutions Reviewed Demos of each solution. Review of usability across all Dentons Regions. Develop PRO's and CON's list. Follow up with customer references regarding usability of solution. Review solutions and select top 2 potential vendors. Pilot Conduct Pilot with Vendor ranked as #1 during solutions Review. Conduct full solution pilot across all Dentons Regions. Review Pilot results and address issues identified during Pilot. Signoff for Production implementation.

Project - Setup and Training Production Setup Identify key project resources in all Dentons Regions. Set up Production environment for selected solution. Identify global and regional configurations. Develop Integrations for People Data. Identify dispatchers and Administrators for each region. Training Administrator Training. Develop Dispatcher Training materials. Develop End user training materials. Dispatcher Training.

Project - Communications & Rollout Communications to firm leadership regarding deployment of solution. Communications to dispatchers regarding deployment/rollout dates Communications to end users regarding solution, mobile application and training materials for registration. Rollout Feed people data to solution. Train service desk to assist users with registration. End users receive welcome emails to register for the solution. Follow up training to dispatchers. Assist dispatchers with notifications

Design Considerations for Alerts Whitelist the Everbridge email domains to prevent crisis notifications emails from being marked as SPAM. Customized user portal for each region. Customized Sender Caller ID. Greeting Messages – “This is a message from the Dentons emergency notification system”. Custom Voice greeting /recording spoken by someone in the region. Sender email display – “Dentons Emergency Alert”. Optional Member Portal for the inclusion of personal contact details. Allow users to define order in which they want to receive messages.

Lessons Learned Ensure you have the appropriate business unit supporting the solution. User adoption is tricky. Project Management is critical. Key decisions can take longer than anticipated to make.

Post Implementation Offer retraining to dispatchers two to three times a year. Integrated into the Business Continuity process. Follow up initiative in the US to ensure that the HRIS system contains the most up to date information on employees. Follow up initiative in the US to ensure dispatchers are sending tests quarterly. The Canada region uses fire drills in each office as an opportunity for sending test notifications.

Everbridge Solution Dashboard

Everbridge Features Flexibility to send to individuals and groups. Flexibility to schedule the delivery of messages. Allows delivery of messages using multiple contact paths. Feature rich mobility application for Administrators. Allows for response tracking. Text to speech or voice recording for messages being delivered via phone. Ability to run reports on incidents and overall usage and effectiveness of the notification platform.

Everbridge - Sending Notifications

Everbridge - Test Notification

Everbridge - Test notification Track Delivery Track Responses Track Delivery Methods Send follow ups

Emergency Alert & Response System “vb-EARS” Custom developed System

Quick Firm Facts von Briesen & Roper, s.c. Founded 1904, 160+ Attorneys, Milwaukee HQ, +9 Regional Offices - 100% Wisconsin Not “Big Law” or “Small Firm” – “Big Enough Law”

Project Scope – Custom Alert System Employee Safety is Paramount in an emergency situation Communicating with Employees is key, yet it is often a challenge Staff are often not provided firm smartphones nor do they have remote access via cell to firm email von Briesen created a system for two-way communications and alerts in the event of a disaster. The system allows employees to receive an alert via SMS text on a firm or personal cellular phone. The alert is followed by a call to action to report your status: OK, Need Help, Trapped, Can’t Move, etc. Firm management would have the web based dashboard to alert emergency personnel to employees in need of assistance Firm computers & communication systems are usually inaccessible or down in a regional or major disaster situation.

Technology involved

Vendors involved

Web Based Dashboard

Custom SMS Blast Tool Easily Send a Blast Alert to One Person, Many People, AD Groups or Entire Offices Clean interface Easy to use Tool AD Integrated – no user management

All impacted employees with firm and personal devices (pre-registered) will receive the emergency alerts Clear text message Instruct users to reply to text with status Status is then relayed automatically back to the management dashboard to report status and “check-in”. Easy to use Tool that everyone knows how to use

Successful Test Results Yielded over 60% Firm Participation in a Building Evacuation Drill – Not optimal, but a great start. “Lessons Learned” SMS Bursting and Non-Guarantee of Delivery from Original Provider Recently switched to new Delivery Partner for 100% Delivery Guarantee Dashboard had Real-Time Delays which Have been Corrected. Keeping numbers up to date is a constant challenge (onboarding & existing employee number changes) Enriched the Dashboard Interface

The goal is to have other firms utilize custom systems to help communicate to their employees in a time of crisis or emergency. Technology is easy to implement Can be implemented regionally or firm-wide Alerts & Events can be regional or firm-wide Costs are very minor No ongoing user fees $0.03/per text message Development effort is minimal Opportunity to expand to other uses (client notifications, billing alerts perhaps).

Crisis Notification Best Practices Send notifications using any available contact path, including SMS, to all employees (or clients where applicable) of an emergency situation affecting the firm or a regional office; including fire, theft, shooter, weather, etc. where staff or the business are impacted. Some systems have an alert and allows for a response from the field. Respond when it is safe for you to do so. Monitor responses in real-time on a management dashboard to confirm who has “checked-in”, who is missing and who needs assistance. Emergency response can come even from thousands of miles away…sometimes 911 may not work. Quicker response can save lives. Use SMS as a contact path as it generally works in a disaster when voice technologies fail/saturated/bandwidth. Ensure your staff provide personal contact details so that they receive notifications even if they do not have a firm provided mobile device since almost everyone has a mobile device. Firm infrastructure may not be reliable or able to reach all staff in the event of an emergency. Use an emergency notification tool.

Audience Q & A