Chatter is an internal social media tool within Sales Force and O’Neil said it had been available in the company for a couple of years “but no one really used it extensively”.

He himself only used to log in once a day but when the Japanese triple disaster struck on March 11, Chatter came into its own as O’Neil himself started posting updates – up to 20-25 times a day – and the entire BCD global network gathered round the site to find out what was happening, to share news and updates and to bond with each other.

“As the situation was very fluid in the first few days, we had to stay on top of things and people were asking questions like, where can we send large groups, what flights were available out of Tokyo, etc.

“We also shared facts as we heard them through the media, we posted bus schedules, railway timetables,” he said.

More importantly, it allowed colleagues to send their support to the BCD Japan team. BCD South Africa for instance posted a video, expressing their sympathies and support. 

“For me, what was most satisfying was the sense of community it forged – it really made us feel like one family, united in crisis,” said O’Neil, who said it also “made me feel young again, sharing energy with my team and tapping into theirs”.

According to O’Neil, there are 1,409 active users on the Disaster Crisis Management Chat page – this includes Global executives, Operations and Client Services staff.

“This was used as the central site for internal staff to communicate issues, concerns, documents, updated news and potential support needed for staff or customers. We also communicated evacuation procedures, airport conditions, traffic updates, and after shock status.”

He noted, “Nobody was really using Chatter before – we used it to broadcast messages previously – but now we see what a powerful tool it can be for a corporation especially during a crisis.”

O’Neil is also particularly proud of the fact that it was the Asia team that led in its usage and adoption. “Asia really led the way in this,” he said.

O’Neil said, “There were fears before on protocol and sensitivity – by and large, I think people are generally responsible about what they post.”

Having said that, BCD Travel bans Facebook in the workplace. “It’s something we are reviewing,” admits O’Neil. “I think there has to be a protocol on that – what we found was that it was affecting things on the production line and transactions have been higher since social media was taken away.

“So we had to take it away for everyone, otherwise it wouldn’t be fair.”

Lessons learnt? “Social media requires innovators to drive it, to become the engine for it. If you just put static information, it lacks credibility.

“This was a situation that was developing and changing by the hour – earthquake, aftershocks, tsunami, nuclear – everything was so unclear. We were talking about customers, evacuations, airports, conditions, etc.

“Now I realize the value proposition – you can post everything in one place. It improved productivity and efficiency. We cover 90 countries so there’s a lot of information to share. Also people don’t read their emails because they are busy, but they check their social networks.”

O’Neil now sees Chatter sticking around. In fact, when he goes round the office these days, his first question is, “Who’s on Chatter?”