An offline contact pack is a small IT artefact with a clear owner, revision date and retrieval test. It is not an evacuation plan; it helps the right people coordinate the technical work around an interruption.
Keep the scope narrow
This guide covers technical contacts, ownership and recovery coordination for a forestry operation with offices, camps or remote field sites. Keep emergency services, worker safety, evacuation routes and operational command in the operator's approved emergency materials. British Columbia's economic preparedness guidance distinguishes broader business continuity planning from a single IT contact artefact.
1. Put one owner on the front page
Record who owns the pack, who may update it, the revision date, the next review date and where the approved digital copy lives. Add the physical or offline locations where the current copy is held. Never let multiple uncontrolled versions circulate without a way to identify the approved one.
2. List contacts by decision, not just department
Include the business owner for the site, technical escalation owner, internet or satellite supplier, mobile carrier, device-management administrator, domain registrar, Microsoft or Google tenant owner, backup/recovery contact, key software vendor and the person authorised to approve a change. Record the account or service identifier without placing passwords in the pack.
| Contact or path | Owner | Offline detail | Review evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Site and business owner | Operations | Name, role, alternate channel | Owner confirms accuracy |
| Connectivity supplier | Network owner | Account ID and support route | Route tested without portal |
| Tenant/domain recovery | Identity owner | Recovery path, no secret | Owner confirms access path |
| Backup and restoration | Recovery owner | System, priority and escalation | Last test and next test date |
3. Add the recovery path, not a password
Write down where ownership is held, which account can approve a recovery action, what evidence the supplier will request and who can authorise a service change. Keep secrets in the approved password-management system. The contact pack should help a person find the recovery route without becoming a second uncontrolled credential store.
4. Include a short retrieval drill
- Open the latest approved pack with the normal network unavailable.
- Find the contact for the affected site and the technical owner.
- Confirm the alternate channel and supplier account identifier.
- Confirm who can approve a change and where the recovery evidence is kept.
- Record stale contacts, missing owners and the date the corrected version is redistributed.
Run the drill with synthetic or non-sensitive examples where possible. Do not expose real credentials or send confidential operational details through an unapproved channel.
5. Review after changes
Update the pack when a supplier, domain, tenant owner, connectivity method, backup system, site contact or recovery path changes. Put the review trigger in the same place as the pack owner. A printed copy that cannot be dated or retired is an operational risk, not a continuity control.
Need help with remote forestry IT?
North Star can scope an IT-only contact pack, ownership review and retrieval drill for forestry operations. Work is delivered remotely across Canada, with physical work scoped honestly from Prince George and Grande Prairie when required. See forestry IT services, remote forestry-site guidance or request a scoped assessment.