Disaster recovery virtual roll call and recovery management system

#The technical field of the present invention is communications, particularly, a disaster recovery virtual roll call and recovery management system.

#Disasters, such as earthquakes, floods, fires, or terrorist events pose a threat to company personnel. With global business, company personnel may be located anywhere in the world. When disaster strikes, the company must determine which employees require assistance and where to focus the assistance. If company records are in a central location, the disaster may destroy the records, preventing the company from knowing where its employees are. In addition, the disaster may disable the communications systems that would allow the employees to check in and notify the company of their status. The company needs to establish the status of their employees, but also needs to provide user status information to concerned third parties, such as families and loved ones. The company also needs a way to provide instructions and general information to the employees.

#U.S. Pat. No. 6,262,666 to Lodichand, dated Jul. 17, 2001, Method Of And Apparatus For Individuals To Maintain A Trail Of Their Well Being And Whereabouts discloses a system in which location and/or well-being information is periodically entered by the individual and is transmitted to one or more central sites. When further location and/or well-being information is not received within a predetermined interval after the most recently reported location and/or well-being information is received, an automated voice response system attempts to contact the individual. If the automated contact fails to connect with the individual, a customer service representative pursues the attempt. After both failed attempts, an emergency message is then supplied to a prearranged emergency contact and the recorded location and/or well-being information, which has been kept strictly confidential up to this point, is released to the emergency contact.

#FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a network for a disaster recovery virtual roll call and recovery management system made in accordance with the present invention.

#FIGS. 2A-2B show a flow chart for preparation and use of a disaster recovery virtual roll call and recovery management system made in accordance with the present invention.

#FIGS. 3A-3O show examples of computer screens for an administrator interface for a disaster recovery virtual roll call and recovery management system made in accordance with the present invention.

#A disaster recovery virtual roll call and recovery management system and method of the present invention allows an organization to locate their staff and allocate resources to their staff in the event of a disaster. User information can be stored on remote, distributed computer networks to assure that the information is available during a disaster. The computer networks can be web networks and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) networks, to provide different methods of user interaction with the system. In case of disaster, the system can contact the users over one or more communications networks, such as by email or IVR telephone message, and request the user provide their status. The users can send user status updates to the web network using internet enabled devices, such as personal computers, telephones, or handheld portable computers, or to the IVR network using standard or wireless telephones. The system can compile the information, and generate reports on group and individual status. In addition, the system can send information messages with vital disaster information and can request further user status updates as events unfold.

#FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a disaster recovery system network for a disaster recovery virtual roll call and recovery management system made in accordance with the present invention. A disaster recovery system (DRS) network 100 comprises an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) network 120, a telephone network 130, a web network 140, an internet connection 160, and a telephone connection 170.

#The Interactive Voice Response (IVR) network 120 can be one or more computer networks that manage the IVR functions of the DRS network 100, including receipt, storage, and transmission of user information and DRS messages, and report generation. The Interactive Voice Response (IVR) network 120 comprises one or more IVR servers 122 connected to an IVR database storage 124. The IVR network 120 can include an IVR server switch 126 if more than one IVR server 122 is used, an IVR server firewall 127 to provide security for the IVR servers 122, and an IVR server router 128 if more than one internet connection is used. The IVR server 122 can be a conventional automatic call distribution (ACD) server as is well known to those skilled in the art, running an operating system such as Windows NT or UNIX, or the like. The IVR database storage 124 can be conventional storage, such as magnetic or optical storage. The IVR database storage 124 can use a structured query language (SQL) relational database structure, such as Microsoft SQL 7.0, in querying, updating, and managing database, although other structures such as Oracle could also be used. In one embodiment, the IVR application can be written in Visual Basic and run on an automatic call distribution (ACD) system.