North Texas served as a training hub this week as AT&T brought employees from 14 other states to prepare for network restoration efforts following disasters.
The company conducted hands-on sessions focused on tasks such as moving and setting up generators or mobile cell sites. Network Disaster Recovery support teams include employees who typically work in AT&T offices or as technicians.
“It is a lot of complexity, a lot of equipment out there. We could not do it without those other AT&T employees who come out to help,” Kelly Morrison with AT&T said. “This basic training is about their safety and so they know our processes.”
Shannon Browning, with AT&T, described how participants often come from regular roles but volunteer for the disaster response mission.
“They have decided they want to be part of a team whose mission is bigger than just a cell phone,” Browning said. “As such, they come and join the team. Tomorrow, you might see that person in an AT&T store helping you with your bill. Today, they are out here training.”Juli Whitehead, an employee working on a support team, outlined the week’s focus.
“This week is all about getting more employees across AT&T into the pool of responders so we can have a greater presence across the organization,” Whitehead said. “This week, I am learning about technology, I am learning how to communicate during a disaster. We are learning about being on-call, learning how to tow generators and how to turn on a generator, bring power in, how do you set up satellite technology?”
Whitehead noted that teams train together to handle varying conditions, from snow and ice to tornadoes or flooding.
“This is the ‘why.’ Connectivity really does change everything,” she said. “Going in and seeing our first responder teams being unable to communicate with search and rescue until we get there, giving them the connectivity they need in order to do their job and give families answers.”
“Browning said AT&T maintains five hubs spread across the country that can respond quickly to events such as floods, wildfires, tornadoes, hurricanes or other disasters.
“No matter where we are in the United States, we have crews, we have assets that can marry up to meet those parameters,” Browning said.
The company keeps equipment tailored to regional risks in those hubs, he added. AT&T maintains $1 billion worth of trucks, generators and other equipment.
“No disaster is the same. No community is the same,” Browning said. “You do not have the same disaster in Iowa that you do in Florida or California. Because we want to be agile and adapt as quick as possible for the customer, that is why you will see such a variety of equipment in our warehouses.
“Temporary assets like mobile towers and generators support first responders and help reconnect families, according to Browning.
“If you have family or friends being impacted, your whole world might be impacted. How do you give them the ability to connect back in?” he said. “A phone call is two-way, right? If they do not have connectivity to pick up, that gives the same level of anxiety, so we try to focus on the public safety perspective but also from a humanitarian perspective as well.”
“Training spanned two days and covered equipment setup, operating forklifts and trucks, and other field tasks. Morrison said responders also learn self-sufficiency skills.
“When we go into an area that has been heavily impacted by a disaster, we do not assume we will be able to go to restaurants or get hotel rooms,” Morrison said. “We want our responders to be able to focus on the mission, which is out there recovering our network. We have a logistics section that takes care of the physical needs of the site, so food, water, sanitation, security. So as a responder, I know I will be able to get breakfast and a hot meal when I come back.”
AT&T often sets up in parking lots with bunk trailers, kitchens, showers and bathrooms to support teams.
Morrison recalled early program conditions and stressed the importance of rest.
“I remember at the inception of this program, we had gallons of water. We were pouring it over our heads. Clean is not clean if you do not sleep as well without a shower, so having that ability for our team members during an event allows them to get the proper amount of sleep, so they are the best version of themselves,” he said. “At the end of the day, all this is in vain if we are not helping customers, and we cannot truly help our customers if we are not the best version of ourselves.
“Training allows employees to practice with changing equipment and technology for faster responses, Morrison added.
“Our charge for our customers is to use those emerging technologies to serve them as quickly as we can and lets us do a much more rapid response,” he said, pointing to a mobile tower. “Probably an hour, hour-15 minutes to set up one of these. For an experienced crew, probably less than 30 minutes on this guy.”
More information about AT&T‘s Network Disaster Recovery program is available on the company’s website.