March 25, 2013 •Brian Watson
Be prepared. That’s been the motto of the Boy Scouts of America for 116 years.
And although it seems like it’s been nearly that long since I wrapped up my scouting days, that’s one lesson that’s still plenty applicable to my day-to-day routine. I don’t have much use for whittling animal sculptures out of soap bars. And making candles – although a valuable skill – isn’t too pertinent either.
But “be prepared”? That’s relevant advice. I have a working spare tire to be prepared for random, sharp road debris. I’m up-to-date on all my insurance premiums for the same reason.
And while I’m sure you’re happy for my diligence, you might be asking yourself: what’s the connection to statement processing?
Well, issues happen every day that can disrupt your billing and payment process. It could be as small as a power or network outage that takes a few days to fix. Or a larger-scale disaster that leaves you scrambling for weeks. Big or small - because you rely on statement printing and mailing for the cash collections that run your daily business activities, any disruption in service can have big-time balance sheet ramifications.
Sure, there’s a good chance your preparations are always going to be “just in case”. But peace-of-mind is a very valuable commodity when it comes to your bottom line. And achieving that kind of calm takes preparedness.
So what goes into a bulletproof disaster recovery billing and payment plan? Let’s take a closer look at three of the most critical components.
Establish a Business Continuity Program
It can often take a crisis to get everyone committed to something as critical, but unexciting as network and data backup procedures. Don’t fall into that trap. Gartner reports that 40% of all companies that experience a major disaster will go out of business if they don’t have access to critical data within the first 24 hours after an event.
So when it comes to business continuity, it pays to remember the Scouts’ motto: be prepared.
Having a robust continuity plan in place will save a ton of headaches in the case of an issue (large or small) that disrupts power, causes network failure or wipes out legacy data. It ensures you can continue to do business and collect revenue even if access to your Internet, email and voice networks is compromised.
If you already have a plan in place, test it. Make sure that it’s up-to-date, that your employees understand their roles and that the backup technology and procedures work as planned.
If you haven’t established a continuity program, you might want to consider implementing a process that:
• Provides offsite or cloud-based data backup, retention and replication.
• Enables application and server recovery that quickly puts you back in business post-disaster.
• Includes a back-up router solution and secure network hotspots to provide Internet access if your network goes down.
Verify Your Statement Processing Partner’s Disaster Recovery Plan
It’s vitally important that you’ve got a solid, iterative business continuity program in place in case of trouble.
And - when it comes to statement printing and mailing - it’s every bit as critical that your statement processing company has a detailed, tested disaster recovery plan in place that ensure your statements go out on time if there’s an event at their production facility.
A serious problem could push delivery of your statements back by weeks. So it’s important to put the onus on your statement processing partner to prove their disaster recovery bona fides.
They should have a detailed, up-to-date action plan on hand. So be sure to request a copy, ask plenty of questions and check in periodically to ensure that the plan is being regularly tested and revised.
A solid disaster recovery plan should provide answers to the following key statement print and mail questions:
• Business Continuity Tools: How is data backed-up and retrieved? How is application and server recovery handled? Are there multiple Internet access points in the case of network failure? Your internal business continuity plan is really important. And so is the plan of your statement processing vendor.
• Backup Production: How will production be completed in an emergency scenario? A plan isn’t complete without one or more backup “hot sites” with the equipment needed to quickly resume regular printing, processing and mailing of your files.
• Backup Production Lead-time: How long will it take to production up and running at the designated hot site? Best-class plans generally provide backup processes that enable production to be resumed within one business day.
• Emergency Communication: Is there a multifaceted system that can be used in case traditional options – like voice or email - are inaccessible? Given the chance that an emergency knocks-out a primary data or voice network, this is something your partner should consider.
• Emergency Stock: How much paper or statement stock is set aside for emergency situations? And where is it stored? Many statement processing solutions now create forms on-the-fly from blank paper rather than using a pre-printed statement stock. So this is less of a concern now than it was five years ago. Still it’s worth noting - especially if your stock is still pre-printed.
Disaster-Proof Your Billing and Payment Channels
Network protection and disaster recovery helps ensure smooth data processing and mail production when serious problems arise.
But what happens when mail delivery is compromised? Despite the USPS credo of “not rain nor heat nor gloom of night” disrupting appointed routes, large storms can make delivery routes dangerous – if not downright impossible – to complete.
The massive “Nor’easter” storm that plagued the East coast in February, for example, caused the Postal Service to suspend mail delivery for several days earlier this year. And smaller storms all over the country each winter cause similar disruptions.
And when the USPS is forced to delay or suspend delivery routes, it slows your revenue cycle. Worse yet, it’s completely out of your hands. No policy or procedure you implement can change the delivery schedule if a disastrous storm hits.
So does that mean you’re completely without recourse? Not exactly. This is just the kind of situation where alternative billing and payment channels can help. Not only can online billing and payment, mobile billing and IVR solutions help streamline billing practices, reduce collection costs and speed payment, they’re also relatively disaster-proof.
Offering your customers plenty of billing and payment options ensures that mail delivery delays don’t disrupt cash flow or increase bad debt. The weather outside might be frightful, but as long as they have Internet access, your customers can easily view and pay their bills online. Or receive a billing notification via their mobile phone that they can pay online or via and IVR. And even without Internet or mobile network access, they can still use an IVR pay channel to make a simple, call-in payment to your business office - no matter if it's open or closed.
Diversifying your payment channels is a smart way to ensure harsh weather has little impact on bill delivery and payment remittance.
What tools and strategies are in your statement processing disaster recovery plan?