In November 2009, Brockville General Hospital installed an Ascom wireless phone system. The Ascom wireless IP-DECT solution integrated seamlessly with our current Nortel PBX and in the future will allow us to easily integrate with a nurse-call system of almost any make.
The db62 Protector phones are water and disinfectant proof with a large color display, programmable soft keys and are easy to use. The comment from all staff has been extremely positive.
We choose this solution over 802.11 for a number of reasons, primarily because of its ease in integrating with the Nortel PBX as there was no need for a costly upgrade, and for added convenience. It readily supports a wide number of PBX supplementary services, including call transfer, voicemail support, call forwarding and caller ID, giving complete telephony functionality on the mobile set. Future plans for BGH is to replace the Nortel PBX with the Mitel 3300 ICP system as we move to a VoIP solution and a converged network. IP-DECT supports all of the essential protocols such as SIP and H.323 to facilitate this. .
Overall cost is cheaper and maintenance is greatly simplified through its centralized management. The Ascom VoIP gateway is real time and has a unique instant dynamic channel selection processed with seamless handover. With 802.11 we had concerns with handover and signal strength in certain areas of the hospital. The Ascom DECT solution had exceeded all expectations in coverage and the quality of voice throughout the hospital and even outside the building. There was also concern over the voice services over our wireless LAN with the possibility of delays and having jitter. With all of our mobile devices utilizing this service it was thought to separate this traffic to ensure high quality voice and to minimize any risk with our clinical systems data flow as well. The strength of DECT data services is a secure protected spectrum that ensures reliable alarm and streaming applications and that data services received in the handset like Paging, Group call, SMS, MMS, Automatic alarm, Supervision and Telemetry services are implemented at no or very marginal extra cost.
The installation and support from PiiComm has been exceptional. The project was managed by the PiiComm Project Manager, who kept the project on track and in time with very little interruption of existing services. PiiComm's involvement minimized the impact on our internal resources and completed the project within expectations on time and on budget. PiiComm is the type of vendor who we prefer to deal with and has demonstrated a good understanding of our Hospital requirements.
Rene Melchers
Manager IM/IT
Brockville General Hospital
Toronto - Kingston - Ottawa - Montreal
888-844-2007 www.piicomm.ca
