Abstract:
Methods and systems for providing a crisis management platform are described. A method includes receiving a first notification of an event, such as a crisis event. A second notification of the event is transmitted to user equipment devices of a plurality of individuals. A user selection of a crisis-related option from a plurality of crisis-related options is received after transmitting the second notification is transmitted, and an action is taken in response to receiving the user selection of the crisis-related option. An electronic document is designed and distributed as a portable tool with easily accessible information for a crisis team to use as a straightforward reference to manage the decisioning and workflow coordination related to crisis management. Interactive user interfaces with hyperlinks to various electronic resources and tools may be provided to automatically and methodologically inform various users of their roles and guide them through a crisis response procedure.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) 
       [0001]    The present application is a national phase application based on PCT Application No. PCT/US2015/040704, filed Jul. 16, 2015, which claims priority to, and the benefits of, U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/029,714, filed on Jul. 28, 2014. Each of these related applications is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    Embodiments of the invention relate generally to workflow management and, more specifically, to providing an interactive system and method for crisis and business resilience management. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Crisis management is a process in which an organization (such as a corporation, a government entity, etc.) attempts to mitigate the effects of a threatening event before, during, or after the event has occurred. Crisis management differs from risk management in the sense that, while risk management is focused on finding ways to avoid the event, crisis management is focused on the effects of the event and managing the potential or actual chaos and disorder that have resulted or are likely to result from the event. 
         [0004]    Crisis management in a corporate setting may involve events that threaten to harm the corporate infrastructure as well as stakeholders and clients. Examples of crises faced by corporations can be diverse, including, for example, financial events (e.g., economic downturns), legal issues (e.g., lawsuits, criminal allegations, etc.), as well as natural phenomena (e.g., infrastructure disabling storms or earthquakes). Accordingly, corporations have developed written policies for identifying, assessing, understanding, and coping with crises from the moment a crisis first occurs to the point that the recovery procedures start. In general, however, these approaches are often not streamlined, not universally applicable to all types of crises, and are often employed inconsistently from crisis to crisis as well as internally from corporate site to corporate site. 
         [0005]    Emergency alert or mass notification systems were also implemented to broadcast warnings or notifications about crisis situations. However, such systems are limited to one-way communications and typically rely on human operators to prepare the content of the warnings or notifications. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]    The present invention is illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, and will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters refer to like parts throughout, and in which: 
           [0007]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary computer network in which embodiments of the present invention may operate; 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary crisis management system in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  is a flow diagram illustrating a method for providing crisis management services in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; 
           [0010]      FIG. 4  is a flow diagram illustrating a method for providing a crisis management interface in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; 
           [0011]      FIG. 5  illustrates a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the exemplary form of a computer system configured to perform one or more of the operations described herein; and 
           [0012]      FIGS. 6-18  show exemplary user interface screens displaying features of an electronic tool for crisis management in accordance with embodiments of the invention. 
       
    
    
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0013]    Disclosed herein are systems and methods for providing a crisis management platform that allow for efficient and effective crisis management using live tools, templates, and guides for a consistent, globally-unified approach to crisis responses within an organization. According to embodiments of the present invention, an electronic document may be designed and distributed as an essential portable tool with easily accessible information for the a crisis team to use as a straightforward reference to manage the decisioning and workflow coordination related to crisis management. For example, interactive user interfaces with hyperlinks to various electronic resources and tools may be provided to automatically and methodologically inform various users of their roles and guide them through a crisis response procedure. 
         [0014]    According to one particular embodiment of the present invention, a number of interactive user interfaces may be provided to instruct and coordinate participants in a crisis management procedure, such as displaying a predefined framework or timeline for crisis responses, predefined roles and responsibilities of participants in the crisis management procedure, and step-by-step instructions for the participants to carry out the crisis management procedure according to their respective roles and responsibilities. 
         [0015]    According to another particular embodiment of the present invention, a user interface may be provided to display an interactive event timeline comprising prompts and options for user actions at a predefined pace. The event timeline or related crisis response protocols and instructions may be modified or updated during or after a crisis event. 
         [0016]    According to yet another embodiment, communications may be automatically initiated to provide alerts, notifications, and/or instructions to some or all of the participants in the crisis management procedure upon occurrence of a crisis event. For example, a method may include receiving a first notification of an event, such as a crisis event. A second notification of the event is transmitted to user equipment devices of a plurality of individuals (e.g., personnel who may have been designated as “first-responders” to the crisis). A user selection of a crisis-related option from a plurality of crisis-related options is received after transmitting the second notification. For example, the crisis-related options may include, but are not limited to, an “activate” option which may serve as an activation command for triggering a cascade of relevant protocols to handle the event, a “hold and monitor” option to allow time to assess the situation, and a “stand down” option when no further action is to be taken. 
         [0017]    The systems and methods described herein may serve as a central point of control for the organization and provide facilitation and coordination during crisis situations. Moreover, the disclosed embodiments can be leveraged across all lines of business for their adaptation, saving time, reducing risk, and streamlining communication. 
         [0018]    In the following description, numerous details are set forth. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form, rather than in detail, in order to avoid obscuring the present invention. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0019]    Some portions of the detailed descriptions may be presented in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bits within a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions and representations correspond to the terminology used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps leading to a desired result. The steps are those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like. 
         [0020]    It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise, as apparent from the description that follows, it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizing terms such as “receiving”, “detecting”, “monitoring”, “generating”, “calculating”, “transmitting”, “enrolling”, “identifying”, “measuring”, “recommending”, “designating”, “increasing”, “issuing”, “processing”, or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system&#39;s registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices. 
         [0021]    The present invention also relate to an apparatus for performing the operations herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purposes or it may include a general purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, such as, but not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs and magnetic-optical disks, read-only memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, flash memory devices including universal serial bus (USB) storage devices (e.g., USB key devices) or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions, each of which may be coupled to a computer system bus. 
         [0022]    The algorithms and displays presented herein are not inherently related to any particular computer or other apparatus. Various general purpose systems may be used with programs in accordance with the teachings herein or it may prove convenient to construct more specialized apparatus to perform the relevant method steps. The structure for a variety of these systems will be apparent from the description that follows. In addition, the present invention is not described with reference to any particular programming language. It will be appreciated that a variety of programming languages may be used to implement the teachings of the invention as described herein. 
         [0023]    The present invention may be provided as a computer program product, or software, that may include a machine-readable medium having stored thereon instructions, which may be used to program a computer system (or other electronic devices) to perform a process according to the present invention. A machine-readable medium includes any mechanism for storing or transmitting information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). For example, a machine-readable (e.g., computer-readable) medium includes a machine (e.g., a computer) readable storage medium (e.g., read only memory (“ROM”), random access memory (“RAM”), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash memory devices, etc.), a machine (e.g., computer) readable transmission medium (non-propagating electrical, optical, or acoustical signals), etc. 
         [0024]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary computer network  100  in which embodiments of the present invention may operate. Referring to  FIG. 1 , computer network  100  may include a crisis management server  110 , a plurality of data source computing devices  120 A- 120 Z, which are associated with and collectively referred to herein as data sources  120 . Computer network  100  may also include a plurality of client computing devices  130 A- 130 Z, which are associated with and may be collectively referred to herein as clients  130 . Crisis management server  110  may be communicatively coupled directly or via a communications network  140 . Although crisis management server  110  is depicted as a single server, crisis management server  110  may be one or more computing devices (such as a rackmount server, a router computer, a server computer, a personal computer, a mainframe computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a desktop computer, etc.), and include one or more data stores (e.g., hard disks, memories, databases), networks, software components, and/or hardware components. Data source computing devices  120 A- 120 Z associated with data sources  120  may be communicatively coupled to communications network  140  via any one of a plurality of communication channels (e.g., e-mail, SMS service, automated voice message, etc.). Similarly, client computing devices  130 A- 130 Z associated with clients  130  may also be communicatively coupled to communications network  140  via any one of the plurality of communication channels. Communications network  140  may be a private network (e.g., a local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), intranet, etc.), a public network (e.g., the Internet), a cellular network or any combination thereof. 
         [0025]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary crisis management system  200  in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Crisis management system  200  may be the same or similar to, and have the same functionality and connectivity as, computer network  100  described with respect to  FIG. 1 . Crisis management system  200  may include a computer-implemented crisis management platform  210 , which may be implemented by a server (e.g., crisis management server  110 ), one or more client computing devices  260  (which may correspond to one or more of client computing devices  130 A- 130 Z), and one or more data source computing devices  270  (which may correspond to one or more of data source computing devices  120 A- 120 Z). In some implementations, some or all of the functionality of crisis management platform  210  is implemented on one or more of client computing device  260 , data source computing device  270 , or another device. Each of client computing device  260  and data source computing device  270  may be communicatively coupled to each other and to crisis management platform  210  via a communications network (e.g., communications network  140 ). 
         [0026]    Crisis management platform  210  may include one or more modules configured to provide crisis management services. Crisis management platform  210  includes crisis management interface  215 , crisis management module  220 , and data store  250 . The crisis management module  220  includes a task assignment component  225 , a messaging component  230 , a resource management component  235 , and a conferencing component  240 . More or less modules and components may be included in crisis management platform  210  without loss of generality. For example, two or more of the modules may be combined into a single module, or one of the modules may be divided into two or more modules. In one implementation, one or more of the modules may reside on different computing devices (e.g., different server computers, on a single client device, distributed among multiple client devices, etc.). 
         [0027]    In one embodiment, crisis management interface  215  may be communicatively coupled to client computing device  260 . Client computing device  260  may be referred to as a “user device”. An individual user may be associated with (e.g., own and/or operate) client computing device  260 , and may also be associated with additional client computing devices (e.g., one or more of client computing devices  130 A- 130 Z). Client computing device  260  may be owned and utilized by different users at different locations. Client computing device  260  includes a user interface (UI)  265 , which allows the user to send and receive information to crisis management platform  210  via crisis management interface  215 . For example, UI  265  may be a web browser interface that can access, retrieve, present, and/or navigate content (e.g., web pages such as Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) pages) provided by crisis management platform  210 . In one embodiment, UI  265  may be a standalone application (e.g., a mobile app), which may have been provided to the user by crisis management interface  215 , and allows the user to send and receive information to crisis management interface  215 . In one embodiment, UI  265  may be implemented as an interactive slide show presentation document, as illustrated in  FIGS. 6-18 . 
         [0028]    In one embodiment, crisis management platform  210  may include crisis-related resources, which may be stored and maintained in data store  250 . In one embodiment, the data store  250  may be a memory (e.g., random access memory), a cache, a drive (e.g., a hard drive), a flash drive, a database system, or another type of component or device capable of storing data. The data store  250  may also include multiple storage components (e.g., multiple drives or multiple databases) that may also span multiple computing devices (e.g., multiple server computers), and may be cloud-based. In some embodiments, the data store  250  may be separate from crisis management platform  210 , and may be, for example, distributed among and accessible to client computing device  260 , data source computing device  270 , and other devices. 
         [0029]    The crisis-related resources may include, for example, an identity database (for keeping track relevant personnel), resource data (such as external resources to aid in crisis management), a document database (for keeping track of crisis-related documents such as reports, meeting minutes, etc.), messaging templates (for transmitting messages and indications to relevant personnel), and protocol data (which may summarize actions to be taken in response to notifications). 
         [0030]    In one embodiment, task assignment component  225  may assign crisis-specific tasks to relevant personnel (e.g., personnel corresponding to identities stored in the identity database). The personnel may be assigned specific tasks automatically by the crisis management module  220 , by a user of the client computing device  260 , or both. In one embodiment, messages and event indications are transmitted to personnel based on an assigned task. 
         [0031]    In one embodiment, messaging component  230  allows for the user to generate messages (e.g., from pre-defined message templates) and have these message transmitted to relevant personnel. 
         [0032]    In one embodiment, resource management component  235  may provide the user with several crisis-related resources. Illustrative crisis-related resources are shown in  FIGS. 6-18 . 
         [0033]    In one embodiment, conferencing component  240  allows for the audio/video conferencing between client computing devices (e.g., one or more of client computing devices  130 A- 130 Z). The user of client computing device  260  may, for example, initiate a conference with other users/personnel at any time by transmitting a conference request to the crisis management interface  215 , in which the request includes a list of identities of personnel. In some embodiments, the messaging component  230  automatically determines identities of personnel with whom the user is to have a conference with. For example, the messaging component  230 , in response to the user selecting a crisis-related option, may identify within stored protocol data that, at a particular time, particular personnel are to be contacted. The conference is then automatically initiated and the relevant personnel are identified from the identity database and invited to or scheduled to participate in the conference. 
         [0034]    As illustrated in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , each of methods  300  and  400 , respectively, may be performed by processing logic that may include hardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicated logic, programmable logic, microcode, etc.), software (such as instructions run on a processing device), or a combination thereof. In one embodiment, methods  300  and  400  may be performed by one or more processing components associated, respectively, with crisis management interface  215  and crisis management module  220  (which includes task assignment component  225 , messaging component  230 , resource management component  235 , and conferencing component  240 ) of crisis management platform  210 . 
         [0035]      FIG. 3  is a flow diagram illustrating a method  300  for providing crisis management services in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Method  300  begins at block  310 , in which a notification of an event is received. The event may correspond to a crisis event. In one embodiment, the notification of the event may be received by a crisis management server (e.g., crisis management server  110  implementing crisis management platform  210 ). In one embodiment, the notification of the event may have been received from one a client computing device (e.g., client computing device  260 ), a data source computing device (e.g., data source computing device  270 ), or from another source. 
         [0036]    At block  320 , a first subset of identities is identified from a plurality of identities. For example, the plurality of identities may be stored in an identity database (e.g., in data store  250 ). Each of the plurality of identities may correspond to an individual. The subset of identities may identify particular individuals that have crisis management roles assigned. In one embodiment, the first subset of identities may be identified based on receiving a designation of the identities from a user of the client computing device (e.g., client computing device  260 ). For example, the user of the client computing device may designate roles for one or more individuals to define the subset of identities. In one embodiment, the subset of identities may have been previously identified. For example, specific individuals may have previously had their roles assigned (e.g., assigned roles stored in data store  250 ), in which the assigned roles associated with identifies of the individuals defines the subset of identities. 
         [0037]    At block  330 , a second notification of the event is transmitted to user equipment devices of each of a first plurality of individuals corresponding to the first subset of identities (e.g., using messaging component  230 ). In one embodiment, the user may specify a messaging template. The second notification may be automatically generated from the messaging template (e.g., using messaging component  230 ). 
         [0038]    At block  340 , a user selection of a crisis-related option from a plurality of crisis-related options is received after transmitting the second notification. In one embodiment, the user may use conferencing services to discuss the event with one or more individuals (e.g., using conferencing component  240 ) prior to the selection of the crisis-related option. 
         [0039]    At block  350 , an action is performed in response to the user selection of the crisis-related option. The action is described in detail with respect to  FIG. 4 . 
         [0040]      FIG. 4  is a flow diagram illustrating a method  400  for providing a crisis management interface in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Method  400  begins at block  410 , in which a user interface is provided, which includes a plurality of crisis-related options. In one implementation, notification of a crisis may have already been received (e.g., in a similar manner as described with respect to block  310  of  FIG. 3 ). 
         [0041]    At block  420 , a user selection of one of the plurality of crisis-related options is received. Block  420  may be performed in a manner similar to that described with respect to block  340  of  FIG. 3 . 
         [0042]    At block  430 , a determination is made as to which option was selected (e.g., using crisis management interface  215 ). 
         [0043]    If it is determined, at block  430 , that an “activate” option (which indicates that a crisis protocol is to take effect) was selected, method  400  proceeds to block  440 , in which a notification of the crisis is transmitted to one or more designated individuals (e.g., which may correspond to a subset of identifiers from a plurality of identifiers). Method  400  is then ended, and may be repeated continuously. 
         [0044]    If it is determined, at block  430 , that a “stand down” option was selected, method  400  proceeds to block  450 , in which a notification is transmitted to one or more designated individuals indicating that no action is to be taken. Method  400  is then ended, and may be repeated continuously. 
         [0045]    If it is determined, at block  430 , that a “hold” option was selected, method  400  proceeds to block  460 , in which user input is awaited (e.g., until a new crisis-related option is selected). Method  400  then proceeds to block  420  in which a user selection of one of the crisis-related options is received. 
         [0046]    It should be noted that the sequence of operations described in conjunction with methods  300  and  400  may be different from that illustrated, respectively, in corresponding  FIGS. 3 and 4 , while some operations may be omitted without departing from the nature of the embodiments described herein. It should be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art that the blocks illustrated in methods  300  and  400  are provided for purposes of illustrating embodiments of the invention and are in no way intended to be limiting in scope. 
         [0047]    In some embodiments, user input may be received by a client computing device (e.g., client computing device  260  implementing UI  265 ), which may be transmitted to a crisis management server (e.g., crisis management platform  210  implemented on crisis management server  110 ). In some embodiments, the client computing device implements the functionality of the crisis management server (e.g., some or all of crisis management platform  210  is implemented on client computing device  260 ). A user interface (e.g, UI  265 ) may be implemented on the client computing device, which receives the user inputs. 
         [0048]    Exemplary user interfaces are shown in  FIGS. 6-18  which illustrate some of the functionality described herein from the perspective of the user interface of the client computing device. 
         [0049]      FIG. 6  shows an exemplary “Crisis Command Structure (CCS)” screen which outlines a predefined framework for a crisis management procedure according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0050]    In this interactive display, a number of potential participants (e.g., individuals, teams, or entities) are shown in rectangular boxes, such as a Global Resiliency and Crisis Management (GRCM) team, a Global Security (GS) team, a Corporate Communications (“Corp Comms”) team, Organization Senior Management (“Org Sr. Mgmt”), Regional Crisis Management Team (RCMT), Site Incident Management Team (SIMT), Business Unit Crisis Teams, Production Assurance Center (PAC) teams, and a Crisis Team. The Crisis Team may further include various members such as Oversight Lead, Information Manager, Crisis Manager, Resource Manager, and so on. The business representatives may include Business Resiliency Coordinators (BRCs), alternative BRCs, and a Business Manager. The Support Representatives, which are determined for each incident, may include personnel from Human Resources, Communications, Real Estate, Technology, Risk Management/OCM (Operations Control Management), and Legal/Compliance teams. Each of these teams and team members may have predefined roles and responsibilities in the crisis management procedure. 
         [0051]    By clicking, or hovering a pointer over, a rectangular box displayed in  FIG. 6 , the role and responsibilities of a corresponding participant in the crisis management procedure may be displayed.  FIG. 14  shows an exemplary screen displaying a set of predefined roles and responsibilities of the Crisis Management Team (shown as “Crisis Team” in  FIG. 6 ) according to one embodiment of the present invention. This “Roles and Responsibilities Definitions” screen in  FIG. 14  may be reached via hyperlinking from the  FIG. 6  screen upon clicking the “Crisis Team” name or box. 
         [0052]      FIG. 6  also shows bi-directional arrows connecting the Crisis Team with the various potential participants in the crisis management procedure. Each of these arrows may be clickable to reveal a corresponding set of engagement and communication protocols and/or communication models and templates for interactions between the connected teams or entities during a crisis response. 
         [0053]    According to some embodiments of the present invention, the exemplary user interface shown in  FIG. 6  may be automatically activated or initiated upon receipt of a notification about a crisis event. For example, triggered by an event alert (e.g., a sudden crash of a relevant stock or other financial instrument, or filing of a legal action), a computer-based crisis management tool may automatically launch this interactive screen as the starting point of the predefined crisis management procedure. 
         [0054]    According to one embodiment, a click in the  FIG. 6  screen on the “Timeline” arrow may cause an interactive event timeline to be displayed.  FIG. 7  shows one such predefined event timeline which sets forth a number of prompts and options for user actions at a predefined pace. Starting from occurrence of a crisis event, an immediate first step is “Initial Assessment” of the crisis event where a core team is made aware of potential crisis and the oversight team member(s) may be notified. A “Click Here” button (next to “Initial Assessment”) may take the user to another user interface (e.g.,  FIG. 8 ) which shows more detailed instructions for the initial assessment stage as well as buttons (in the lower left corner) for navigation back to the CCS framework screen of  FIG. 6  or the event timeline screen of  FIG. 7 . 
         [0055]    As shown in  FIG. 7 , about fifteen minutes after occurrence of the crisis event, a triage determination on next steps is made. Similarly, a second “Click Here” button (next to “Triage”) may take the user to another user interface (e.g.,  FIGS. 9-10 ) which shows more detailed instructions for the triage stage and related decision criteria (“Activation Triggers”). Within an hour of the crisis event, the triage decision may cause the crisis management team to either activate a Crisis Command Center to actively deal with the crisis event or hold and monitor the crisis situation (or simply stand down with respect to the crisis event). Detailed instructions or guidance for each of these subsequent steps may be shown on the “Event Timeline” screen in  FIG. 7  or other hyperlinked pages such as those illustrated in  FIGS. 11-13 . 
         [0056]      FIG. 6  further shows a “Tool Box” icon which could be clicked by a user to access electronic resources such as a suite of crisis response tools shown in  FIG. 15 . These tools may be categorized according to their functions or purposes, such as Assessment, Initiation, Meetings, Communication, and References, which represent electronic resources internal to the computer system or electronic document displaying the Tool Box screen of  FIG. 15 . According to a preferred embodiment, not all the crisis response tools are available to all participants; instead, the tools are made accessible selectively to the various teams and team members based on their predefined or assigned roles and responsibilities in the crisis management procedure. It should be noted the small rectangular buttons in  FIGS. 9 and 11-13  which are marked “C-1,” “C-2” and so on represent hyperlinks to crisis response tools such as meeting and communication model templates. 
         [0057]      FIG. 16  shows the exemplary user interface for one of those crisis response tools—External Communication Protocol—according to an embodiment of the present invention. A step-by-step process flow is specified for the drafting, review, approval, and distribution of a communication in connection with a crisis event. By requiring the Crisis Management Team as well as various other teams to follow this procedure, the organization may issue consistent messages to the target audience in a coordinated fashion. 
         [0058]      FIG. 17  shows the exemplary user interface for another of those crisis response tools—Communication Model—according to an embodiment of the present invention. Apart from hyperlinks to the External Communication Protocol towards the top of the screen, a number of communication models, including their respective purpose, tool or mailbox, template, distribution lists (i.e., target audience), and required approval, are listed for the Triage and Activate stages of the exemplary crisis management procedure. The various communication model templates may be hyperlinked via rectangular clickable buttons. 
         [0059]      FIG. 18  shows yet another exemplary crisis response tool—Crisis Escalation Protocol—according to an embodiment of the present invention. Based on the scale of impact by a crisis event, the Crisis Escalation Protocol specifies different levels of event classification and escalation criteria and corresponding communication processes. 
         [0060]    According to one embodiment of the present invention, some or all of the above-described user interfaces or interactive displays are preferably configured for rendering on each of a number of user computing devices including desktop computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, and mobile computing devices including smart phones. The electronic document or tool for crisis management may be configured as a mobile and/or desktop application compatible with a variety of computing platforms. 
         [0061]      FIG. 5  illustrates a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the exemplary form of a computer system  600  within which a set of instructions, for causing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, may be executed. In alternative embodiments, the machine may be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines in a local area network (LAN), an intranet, an extranet, or the Internet. The machine may operate in the capacity of a server or a client machine in a client-server network environment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. The machine may be a personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, a web appliance, a server, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. Further, while only a single machine is illustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken to include any collection of machines that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. 
         [0062]    The exemplary computer system  600  may include a processor  602 , a main memory  604  (e.g., read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, dynamic random access memory (DRAM) (such as synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) or Rambus DRAM (RDRAM), etc.), a static memory  606  (e.g., flash memory, static random access memory (SRAM), etc.), and a data storage device  618 , which communicate with each other via a bus  630 . 
         [0063]    Processor  602  represents one or more general-purpose processing devices such as a microprocessor, central processing unit, or the like. More particularly, the processing device may be complex instruction set computing (CISC) microprocessor, reduced instruction set computer (RISC) microprocessor, very long instruction word (VLIW) microprocessor, or processor implementing other instruction sets, or processors implementing a combination of instruction sets. Processor  602  may also be one or more special-purpose processing devices such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a digital signal processor (DSP), network processor, or the like. Processor  602  is configured to execute processing logic  426  for performing the operations and steps discussed herein. 
         [0064]    Computer system  600  may further include a network interface device  608 . Computer system  600  also may include a video display unit  610  (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a cathode ray tube (CRT)), an alphanumeric input device  612  (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor control device  614  (e.g., a mouse), and a signal generation device  616  (e.g., a speaker). 
         [0065]    Data storage device  618  may include a machine-readable storage medium  628  (or more specifically a computer-readable storage medium) having one or more sets of instructions (e.g., software  622 ) embodying any one or more of the methodologies of functions described herein. For example, software  622  may store instructions to implement a crisis management platform. Software  622  may also reside, completely or at least partially, within main memory  604  and/or within processor  602  during execution thereof by computer system  600 ; main memory  604  and processor  602  also constituting machine-readable storage media. Software  622  may further be transmitted or received over a network  620  via network interface device  608 . 
         [0066]    Machine-readable storage medium  628  may also be used to store instructions to implement a crisis management platform. While machine-readable storage medium  628  is shown in an exemplary embodiment to be a single medium, the term “machine-readable storage medium” should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The term “machine-readable storage medium” shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable of storing or encoding a set of instruction for execution by the machine and that causes the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies of the present invention. The term “machine-readable storage medium” shall also be taken to include, but not be limited to, transitory computer-readable storage media, including, but not limited to, propagating electrical or electromagnetic signals. The term “machine-readable storage medium” shall also be taken to include non-transitory computer-readable storage media including, but not limited to, volatile and non-volatile computer memory or storage devices such as a hard disk, solid-state memory, optical media, magnetic media, floppy disk, USB drive, DVD, CD, media cards, register memory, processor caches, random access memory (RAM), etc. 
         [0067]    Whereas many alterations and modifications of the present invention will no doubt become apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art after having read the foregoing description, it is to be understood that any particular embodiment described and shown by way of illustration is in no way intended to be considered limiting. Therefore, references to details of various embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the claims, which in themselves recite those features regarded as the invention.