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

2. Our Presenters William Caraher Shawna Janssen Arun Mathew
Chief Information Officer
von Briesen & Roper, S.C.
Shawna Janssen
Global Project Manager
Dentons Canada LLP
Arun Mathew
Enterprise Applications Manager
Dentons US LLP

3. 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

4. Dentons Crisis Communications Solution
Everbridge
Dentons Crisis Communications Solution

5. 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 s 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.

6. Solution Requirements
A service that would cover all Dentons offices and geographies.
Flexibility to communicate to users using multiple contact paths including , 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.

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

8. Dentons Solution

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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 s to register for the solution.
Follow up training to dispatchers.
Assist dispatchers with notifications

12. Design Considerations for Alerts
Whitelist the Everbridge domains to prevent crisis notifications s 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 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.

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. Everbridge Solution Dashboard

16. 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.

17. Everbridge - Sending Notifications

18. Everbridge - Test Notification

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

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

21. 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”

22. 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
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.

23. Technology involved

24. Vendors involved

25. Web Based Dashboard

26. 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

27. 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

28. 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

29. 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).

30. 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.

31. Audience Q & A