The Incident Comms Tempo Customers Expect

Updates every 15-30 minutes during active incidents. The tempo and the words to use.

The cadence

First update: within 15 minutes of detection. Even if you only know 'investigating.'

Subsequent updates: every 30 minutes during active investigation.

Resolution update: within 1 hour of resolution.

Words

Specific is better. 'Latency for the search endpoint is elevated' beats 'system is degraded.'

Honest is better. 'We don't know yet' is better than 'minor issue.'

Trust

Customers trust honest, frequent updates. They distrust silence and corporate-speak.

Build the trust during good incidents; spend it during bad ones.