It is 6:40 on a Saturday morning and the internet is down. The night nurse cannot reach the electronic record. The administrator is on the way in. Someone asks who the internet provider is, and nobody knows. The account number is in a binder somewhere, or in an email from three years ago, or in the head of an employee who has since left.
A vendor contact directory solves this. It is one of the least glamorous and most useful IT documents you can create.
List every outside company whose failure would affect your operations. For each one, record:
Account number or customer ID. Providers often will not talk to you without it.
Service or circuit ID, where applicable, such as an internet line identifier.
Support phone number, with hours of operation, and a separate after-hours or emergency line.
Escalation contacts. The next person up when the first-line support is not helping, ideally a named account manager.
Authorized contacts. Who at your organization is allowed to open tickets or make changes.
Contract end date and renewal terms.
Support portal address and where the login is stored, though not the password itself.
Notes, such as typical issues or the right phrase to get a quick escalation.
Think about everything you would panic about losing.
Internet service providers, including backups.
Phone and voicemail systems.
Your managed IT provider.
Electronic health record vendor and support.
eFax and communication services.
Nurse call and door access vendors.
Security camera and alarm companies.
Printer and copier service.
Cloud, email and software providers.
Website and domain registrar.
Pharmacy and lab system vendors, where there is technical integration.
Cyber insurance carrier and your breach response contacts.
Utility and power providers.
Most outages drag on because the first support call goes nowhere. Record the escalation ladder: first-line support, then supervisor, then account manager. Note how long to wait before escalating, for example, if there is no progress in an hour during a total outage. Also record the business contact for contracts and billing, since a suspended account may be a billing problem.
The directory needs to be available when your systems are not.
Keep a printed copy at each facility, in the administrator's office and the nurses' station or a designated binder.
Keep a digital copy in a shared location with restricted access.
Share it with the people who need it, including on-call staff.
Do not store passwords in the document. Use a password manager.
Since account numbers and contact details are sensitive, treat the document accordingly and limit who sees it.
Directories go stale quickly. Assign an owner, usually the IT lead or office manager, and set a review twice a year. Update it whenever you change a vendor, sign a new contract or learn that a contact left.
Once a year, call a few vendors using the directory to confirm the numbers and account details still work. You will usually find at least one error.
Confirm the scope of the problem.
Check the directory for the responsible vendor.
Open a ticket and write down the ticket number and time.
Escalate if the vendor misses the timeframe you set.
Communicate status to staff.
Record the outcome for future review.
UnityCare IT can help you build and maintain the directory, and when you are a managed client, we can contact your carriers and vendors on your behalf using the information in it. Having the right number and the right account details at the start of an outage often saves hours.
An outsourced IT department with proactive maintenance and one number to call.
Call or text: 405-285-3845
New customers: start@unitycareit.com
Existing customers: support@unitycareit.com
Address: UnityCare Technologies, 2524 N Broadway Ste 554, PMB 947974, Edmond, Oklahoma 73034-4172