Originally published on Squadcast.com.

The interconnectedness of today's business environment has significantly heightened the complexity of incident response (IR). The need for immediate action, precise communication, and real-time collaboration is more critical than ever. However, beyond the technical precision required in solving problems, there lies an often overlooked aspect of effective IR management: the etiquette of incident response calls. As companies become more global and teams more dispersed, mastering this facet of communication becomes paramount. Technology plays a pivotal role in transforming these calls from chaotic discussions into efficient, clear, and courteous exchanges that enable swift resolution of issues.

This blog delves into how technology enhances incident response call etiquette, from enabling clarity to ensuring respect and maintaining focus. It goes beyond the common guidelines for on-call management, exploring the nuances of modern tools and platforms that facilitate the kind of professionalism and efficiency critical to effective incident response.

The Evolution of Incident Response Calls: From Crisis Rooms to Virtual Spaces

Traditionally, incident response was managed in physical "war rooms," where key stakeholders gathered to assess, diagnose, and resolve issues. With the rise of distributed workforces and global teams, these crisis rooms have shifted to virtual spaces. Now, most incident response calls happen over platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or dedicated incident response tools like Squadcast or PagerDuty.

This shift brings both benefits and challenges. On one hand, technology allows for immediate connection between individuals regardless of geographical barriers. On the other, it increases the complexity of managing communication etiquette when teams may be separated by time zones, cultural differences, and varying levels of familiarity with communication tools.

Technology, however, can be used to address these challenges, providing structures that support both effective communication and appropriate behavior during incident response calls.

Read more about: Traditional vs Modern Incident Response

Clarity: Enabling Clear and Purposeful Communication

One of the most important aspects of on-call etiquette is clarity—both in terms of understanding the problem at hand and in communicating the steps required to resolve it. Technology plays a vital role in enhancing this clarity, offering tools that ensure everyone on the call is aligned on the objectives and next steps.

1. Structured Communication Tools: Incident response platforms like Slack and Microsoft Teams enable threaded conversations, helping responders keep track of key points without getting lost in a sea of chatter. Tools like these also allow for the categorization of conversations, making it easier to reference previous discussions.
2. Real-Time Document Collaboration: Platforms like Squadcast, Notion, or Confluence provide real-time collaboration for incident notes, timelines, and action items. This ensures that call participants can reference live updates and avoid confusion caused by miscommunication or outdated information.
3. Automated Meeting Summaries and Postmortem Templates: AI-driven tools can transcribe incident response calls and generate automated summaries, capturing key decisions for easy reference. This streamlines post-call follow-ups and minimizes the chance of overlooking critical details during discussions. Platforms like Squadcast further enhance this process with their postmortem templates, offering structured formats to document incidents, root causes, and action items, ensuring comprehensive analysis and continuous improvement.

When clarity is supported by these technologies, it becomes easier for teams to maintain focus and avoid the frustration that often comes with ambiguous instructions or unclear problem definitions.

Focus and Efficiency: Maintaining Discipline in Incident Response Calls

Incident response calls are inherently high-stakes, with time being one of the most critical factors. As such, maintaining focus is vital, and technology can help reduce the distractions that often derail effective communication.

1. Pre-defined Call Protocols: Incident management platforms can establish predefined protocols that guide the flow of the conversation. For instance, the platform can prompt participants to give status updates at specific intervals or set up on-call reminders which aids responders in following escalation procedures. This prevents unnecessary digressions and ensures that the call remains focused on resolution.
2. Alert Deduplication Rules: Managing alert noise is crucial to staying focused during incident response. Alert deduplication helps by grouping similar alerts together, reducing unnecessary distractions. Squadcast, for instance, allows teams to define Deduplication Rules for each service, ensuring that related alerts are consolidated and easy to access when needed. This keeps the focus on resolving the core issue without being overwhelmed by redundant notifications.
3. Time Management Tools: Technologies that track and manage time during the call can be instrumental in maintaining focus. For instance, platforms like When2Meet or World Time Buddy can help schedule calls across multiple time zones, ensuring participants are on the call when they are at their most alert and focused. Additionally, tools like Google Timer can be used to remind participants to keep their updates concise.
4. Role-Based Access Control: Many incident response platforms allow for role-based permissions, which can be instrumental in preventing confusion during calls. With only the right people having access to sensitive data or the ability to control specific tools, these permissions prevent unnecessary interruptions or missteps that may occur if the wrong person takes action.

By leveraging these technologies, teams can maintain the level of discipline required in an incident response call, ensuring that every minute is spent driving toward resolution.

Respect and Inclusion: Navigating Cultural and Hierarchical Differences

Incident response teams often consist of individuals from different regions, backgrounds, and seniority levels. Effective etiquette involves respecting these differences and ensuring that everyone’s voice is heard, particularly in high-pressure situations. Here’s how technology can foster respect and inclusion:

1. Inclusive Communication Features: Platforms like Zoom and Teams now offer live captioning, making calls more accessible to participants who may have hearing impairments or language barriers. These features not only promote inclusivity but also encourage clear and respectful communication by ensuring that everyone can follow the conversation.
2. Automated Action Item Assignments: Incident response platforms often include task management features that assign action items automatically based on roles or input during the call. This reduces ambiguity and the need for individuals to advocate for their involvement, ensuring that responsibilities are fairly distributed.
3. Cultural Sensitivity Tools: With global teams, cross-cultural etiquette is important. Some platforms offer features like time zone indicators, which highlight when participants may be working outside of normal hours, encouraging empathy during calls. AI-driven tools are also beginning to offer real-time language translation, breaking down linguistic barriers that can lead to miscommunication or accidental disrespect.

By using these tools, organizations can create an environment where every participant feels valued and respected, regardless of their background or location.

Psychological Safety: Managing Stress and Emotions in High-Stakes Calls

Incident response calls often happen in moments of high stress, where tensions run high, and emotions can flare. Technology can aid in creating an atmosphere of psychological safety, where participants feel supported and able to contribute without fear of negative repercussions.

1. Blameless Postmortems: Incidents are inevitable, and blameless postmortems are key to fostering a culture of learning. Instead of focusing on individuals, they emphasize understanding the conditions that led to the incident. This approach encourages open communication and transparency. Tools like Squadcast’s customizable postmortem templates guide teams through structured, blameless reviews, driving actionable improvements without assigning blame.
2. AI-Driven Sentiment Analysis: Some platforms now offer sentiment analysis tools, which monitor the tone of the conversation and provide insights into the emotional state of participants. This can alert leaders to potential tension or frustration, allowing them to intervene before the situation escalates.
3. Virtual Breakout Rooms: In lengthy incident response calls, attention and tempers can wane. Virtual breakout rooms enable smaller groups to tackle specific problems without overwhelming the larger call. This can help ease pressure and allow for more focused, calm problem-solving.
4. Wellness and Stress Monitoring: Some tools, particularly those integrated with wearables, offer wellness tracking for incident responders. These tools monitor stress levels and suggest breaks or mindfulness exercises to prevent burnout during prolonged incident response activities.

By implementing these technologies, organizations can foster a culture of psychological safety, where team members can engage in incident response calls without the fear of judgment or burnout.

The Future of Incident Response Call Etiquette: The Role of AI and Automation

As technology continues to evolve, the role of AI and automation in enhancing incident response call etiquette will only grow. AI has the potential to revolutionize how incident response calls are conducted, reducing human error and improving communication flow.

1. AI-Moderated Calls: In the future, we may see AI moderators that guide incident response calls, prompting participants to follow procedures, reminding individuals to stay on task, and even managing time and speaking order.
2. Predictive Analytics for Incident Response: AI tools could analyze past incidents to predict potential bottlenecks in communication or decision-making during calls, allowing teams to address these issues proactively.
3. Natural Language Processing (NLP) for Incident Resolution: NLP could be used to analyze real-time conversations, identifying technical jargon or unclear language that could cause confusion. AI could then suggest clearer language or provide immediate definitions for unfamiliar terms.
4. Virtual Assistants for Incident Coordination: AI-powered virtual assistants may eventually coordinate incident response efforts by automatically scheduling calls, notifying stakeholders, and providing real-time updates during calls. These assistants can ensure that the right people are on the call at the right time, with all necessary information at their fingertips.

Conclusion

In the world of incident response, technology is a powerful enabler not only of technical solutions but also of the etiquette required to manage high-pressure, complex communication effectively. From fostering clarity and focus to ensuring respect and psychological safety, modern tools and platforms provide the foundation for successful incident response calls. As AI and automation continue to evolve, we can expect incident response call etiquette to become even more structured, efficient, and respectful—ensuring that teams can resolve issues quickly and collaboratively.