Keith Dalton, Match Operations Manager for UEFA, commented: “We have implemented Alert Cascade in the match operations unit which is responsible for centralising and coordinating any information related to match operations with the aim of taking a pro-active approach to risk management. Our aim is to identify and solve or mitigate issues that may come up regarding any UEFA competition match. The unit provides support to the all official match delegates, of which there is one at every UEFA game covering 1600 games per year.
The delegates have access to an emergency number they can call which is answered by staff from the match operations unit and they have the tools on hand and quick access to key information in order to be able to notify, advise and direct the delegates on how to proceed in the event of any situation of emergency or detriment to the match.
Our role within the unit is to co-ordinate the situation. In order to be able to provide consistent advice we keep records collated from each venue of previous case history and how it was dealt with. We are able to co-ordinate and link with other internal units who might be the decision makers e.g. the stadium unit or Director and then feed back to the delegates with how we expect them to proceed.
At each match centre, there is a room equipped with television screens with a satellite feed from Champions league and Europa league matches and this is operational on match nights. In the future this would also be operational for Euro qualifier matches. We receive reports from the delegates at the stadiums who give us an update on the situation on any matters such as, security concerns, pitch condition or any organisational aspects that may impact on the smooth running of the match. The unit then monitors the live match and if there is an incident the delegate can call the emergency number, it is at this point we would implement the use of Alert Cascade.
At present, we are developing the procedures and scenarios within the Alert Cascade system but the idea at this point is that when a problem is reported, we will activate the relevant scenario which will guide the staff through the actions they have to take in an efficient, effective manner. The attraction for UEFA in the Alert Cascade system is the ability to have quick access to the correct information and consistency in our crisis communication and we are hoping that by using the alert system we will be able to achieve that.”
About Alert Cascade Limited:
The company specialises in a suite of software communication and collaboration solutions for Business Continuity, Disaster Recovery, Crisis Communications, Operations Management and Control Room environment.
Natural disaster, emergency incident, IT systems failure, product recall, the impact of terrorist or criminal activity, damage to reputation or brand-name; a crisis means different things to different people; what is common however, is the need to react and manage your way back to normality as quickly as possible. Many leading international and UK based public and private sector organisations trust Alert Cascade to provide them with ‘high availability’ secure applications that reduce the time between knowing about a mission critical situation and doing something about it.
Alert Cascade delivers solutions that have been used successfully in the aftermath of the Asian Tsunami disaster, during the 7/7 London bombings and for response, collaboration and recovery from factory fires, power failures, severe weather, IT-disasters, supply chain issues and numerous other incidents across the globe.
