In the coming weeks, local businesses, international corporations, individuals, government agencies, and law enforcement personnel will be scrambling to prepare for the summit and to make sure that response mechanisms are in place for anything that might go wrong that weekend. Organizations throughout Toronto will be impacted by the summit simply by having a business presence in the city.

Here are nine tips to keep in mind when preparing for the summit and any other possible security concern. Follow them to make sure that your business continuity plan is up to date, that your employees are prepared, and that your daily operations are not derailed in the face of unexpected emergencies.

Ӣ Prepare a concise business continuity plan. An articulate and well thought-out business continuity plan is a necessity in any top organization, and must include a simple and personalized set of tasks and responsibilities for each of your key responders. People work best during the first 24-48 hours of a crisis when good training and planning is supplemented with clear and streamlined assignments. Maintain a wide perspective in your planning in order to provide your responders a tight focus.

Ӣ Simplify your plans with tasks and checklists. Instead of filling large binders with overwhelming amounts of information, distill your business continuity plan into strategically organized and easy to read checklists. Create individual checklists to address specific events, such as the G20. This end of June, every employee of a Toronto-based company should be provided with a list of tips and an abridged BCP checklist to be aware of and prepared for any possible crises.

”¢ Automate your communications plan. Make sure that your organization has an emergency messaging system that is truly next-generation. Your system should provide a wide breadth of functionality, automated two-way communication, a SAS 70 Type II audited infrastructure based on a SaaS delivery model, and an integrated, lightweight IMS and BCP platform. Additionally, remember to consider cost, security and versatility when choosing your mass notification platform — the right provider should simplify your operations, not add to the confusion. Your personnel should be able to use the service on the fly, without formal training, should an emergency arise during the G20 Summit.

”¢ Embrace multimodality. The flexibility inherent in multi-modal emergency communication increases the chance that important and time-sensitive messages will reach people quickly during an emergency. If a mail server is down, or a network is overwhelmed, alternate points of contact are critical. Don’t rely on email and office phones when employees may be in the field or telecommuting during the summit. Make sure that you can reach your employees via landlines, cellular phones, email, fax and BlackBerry.