[ISN] Telework Exchange urges workers to phone it in on Jan. 20

http://gcn.com/articles/2009/01/06/telework-exchange-tells-workers-to-phone-it-in-on-jan.-20.aspx

By William Jackson
GCN.com
Jan 06, 2009

An influx of up to 2 million people into nation.s capitol for the 
inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president is expected to 
overwhelm the Washington area.s transportation systems , as well as its 
communications infrastructure.

"This will be a great test [for continuity-of-operations planning]," 
said Cindy Auten, general manager of the Telework Exchange. "It will 
take us almost to the limits of being able to handle the bandwidth."

The exchange, a public-private partnership that promotes and provides 
resources for telecommuting, is urging employers in the national capital 
area to let employees work from home or other remote locations that day. 
It not only would help ease the congestion expected in downtown 
Washington, but would also be good opportunity for organization's to 
test the continuity-of-operations (COOP) plans that they should have in 
place.

"This will be the ultimate COOP experience, to be able to Telework with 
an extra 2 million people in the area," Auten said.

Continuity-of-operations plans are supposed to provide a blueprint for 
keeping an organization.s mission-critical processes functioning during 
natural or manmade emergencies, when workers might not be able to make 
it to their normal place of work or infrastructure or resources might 
not be available. The plans usually look good on paper, but they often 
get little real-world testing in advance of a crisis. The planned crisis 
presented by the inaugural crowds could be an opportunity for a dry run.

[...]


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