The survey, carried out by Datamonitor on behalf of communications specialist Mitel, reveals that 48% of UK financial companies use mobile phones compared to a global average of 33% in the event of a site being unavailable due to a disaster.
The figures show the UK is lagging behind the US, Switzerland, Benelux and Germany in using other communication methods when the unexpected arises. Germany emerged as a leader in using flexible working packages to ensure business continuity. All German firms surveyed said they use this method of communicating when employees are unable to get into the office. In comparison, the number of UK financial companies utilising mobile working packages comes in eight per cent below the global average of 55%.
In terms of overall business continuity, more than a third (36%) of companies felt it would take between 24 and 48 hours for normal service to be resumed. A total of 35% of financial services companies worldwide believe they could be operational again within half a working day after experiencing a major disruption to their businesses. A further nine per cent claim they could be up and running in a full working day.
Ian Bevington, Mitel’s marketing specialist for the financial services sector, says: “With the threat of terrorism and pandemics often dominating the headlines it is imperative for financial companies have a comprehensive business continuity plan to deal with these threats.
“In the UK it seems there is an over reliance on using mobile phones as a primary source of emergency communications. A company that relies too heavily on mobile phones is clearly putting its business at risk as their reliability has been seriously been called into question during previous major incidents. IP communications provides a flexible solution that allows employees to work from an alternative office or at home when a disaster strikes and to continue working through minor disruptions such as travel disruption.”