Systems integrator and professional services company Lan Communications has signed a €240,000 contract to provide an IP-based voice solution to Tullamore Hospital. Based on a Nortel platform, the system will provide 1,000 IP-based telephone extensions as well as supporting a GP out-of-hours call centre and central ambulance control for the midland region.
Using Voice over IP (VoIP) technology, calls will be transported across the data infrastructure delivering voice, email and faxes directly to the desktop. Tullamore Hospital is scheduled to open a 300-bed facility earlythis year following a capital investment programme of about €140 million.
Liam Hackett, principal clinical engineering technician at the Health Service Executive for Dublin and mid-Leinster, said original tender invitations were for a traditional PBX with an option to tender for an alternative technology solution. “The IP-based solution proposed by Lan Communications was chosen because it represents a technology which future-proofs the infrastructure and delivers the type of flexibility required by mobile consultants as they work throughout the region.”
Unlike a traditional PBX, an IP-based solution provides consultants with full mobility. Using a “soft phone” connected to a PC, PDA or laptop, voice and data services move with them. They can seamlessly retrieve voice and data by connecting to any hospital network in the midlands region. There is no back-end re-configuration or user intervention required, resulting in enhanced productivity and greatly reduced network administration overheads.
Voice is a mission-critical service and this was reflected in the solution design, as Lan Communications’ senior account manager, Michael Kinsella, explains: “We IP-enabled the existing Nortel Option 61C PBX and connected it to a newly-installed Nortel Communication Server 1000, thereby running analogue and IP ports in parallel. If one system goes down, calls are immediately routed to the other system, eliminating the possibility of service outage and maintaining voice communications within the hospital and to other sites in Portlaoise, Athlone, Mullingar and Clonminch.” This resilience is mirrored in the carrier network, with two separate incoming telecoms ducts from service provider Eircom.
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