VoIP Providers - Wave of the Future

In essence, VoIP (voice over internet protocol) gives you the access to make or receive calls through your internet connection. This is different from the traditional use of regular phone carriers in sending or receiving phone calls. These days, the big phone companies are also acting as VoIP providers for the new technology.

Most businesses usually use this type of phone service to supplement or augment the present phone systems they are using. One of their main reasons is that providers using VoIP technology don’t have emergency calls and directory listings.

Some advantages

With the use of VoIP, the offered voice services attached to advance applications have improved most company productivity (which redounds to reduced costs for the company). In other areas, business VoIP services have integrated the emerging technologies (cloud computing, unified communications, etc) to cut costs.  

At present, VoIP supports corporate, private, public, cable and some wireless networks. It enhanced voice communications and united many locations into one single converged communications network with built-in features.

Pre- and post-VoIP

Before the coming of VoIP, consumers use POTD (plain old telephone service). Cell phones and other smart phones have expanded the old use of phones, where business is plain talking. Absent were the shared data, calling features, video conferencing, caller IDs and others.

With the new network, voice and data were combined and enjoyed several pathways set up according to the needs of the user. Information can now travel in the network through so many viable routes.

It can also handle data much faster than the old system coupled with more flexibility. With the improvements, they also help reduce the costs associated with the old telephone service.

Quality

Voice quality (clarity, texture, modulation) is thoroughly dependent on the provider you are subscribed to. In turn, they are also dependent on the quality of your internet connection. The better and faster the connection is the better and faster the VoIP experience.

Also, the use of VoIP providers does not necessarily mean you need your computer to be connected to the Internet to be able to use the system. With your VoIP phone, you can be in business right away after plugging it in.

Services

Basically, a VoIP service needs the use of a VoIP phone. These phones are reliant on Internet technology in making and receiving calls. With the phones, voice calls can be converted into data. These data can be transmitted much in the same way as an email.

VoIP phones are useful because of their versatility. They can be used to call regular landlines, mobile phones, and can make a computer-to-computer call. The wider coverage of the devices and the speed with which it does in operating your business constitute some of its advantages.

One last note: if you are going to need IP phones because of its many features that VoIP provides, you need to check out some rental options if you want to avoid up-front purchase fees. Also, it would not hurt to compare prices of the many other VoIP providers these days.

Nurse Call Systems - Continued Innovations

Most modern hospitals and medical facilities all over the world, Australia included, are now all equipped with the latest nurse call systems Australia. These are the generally updated models of the alert systems employed by hospitals for their service staff, particularly the nurse and some caregivers.

The systems are spawned by the fast technological advances in the requirement of communications between patients and nurses. Needless to say, the technological upgrades had given huge improvements of the medical service both in quality and quantity and for both parties (nurses and patients) as well.

Systems upgrade

To this date, there are several brands in use by the alert system where patients call their nurses.  Each of these brands has their own different models used depending on the hospital’s requirements and usage. Some models are used because of the number of patients that need immediate attention from their nurses.

Other models and other brands are selected by some because they have with them the many features needed by the hospital’s medical staff. The rest also have features that benefits both the patients and the nurses.

New feature benefits

These new electronic devices in their systems also carry other features for hospital managers and staff aside from their main work of giving alerts to nurses when their patients would need something. These extra features are the new systems innovations which were not available before.

One of the better features is that patients can directly call/alert the nurses assigned to them.  The main benefit is the speed in completing the communications.  Sometimes, in a hospital, time is of the essence and a lost few minutes can sometimes be critical to the life or something bad for the patient. 

An added benefit is the accuracy of the system with the patient-nurse communication and not involving a third party.

Integration

In many medical establishments, the system had been integrated with other electronic records of the patient, patient monitoring, patient flow, a real-time location system (RTLS) and patient wandering, interactive patient engagement, security and emergency communications.

With their self-explanatory names, these devices are all servicing the patients better, smoother and faster. The accuracy factor is also integral to the system and plays an important part especially in critical data reading and implementation.

The system does not need to distinguish which alarm is opened or alerted. Each of the devices are personnel-specific (Each nurse is assigned particular alarms during their duty shifts.) Specific alerts are directly sent to the on-duty nurse concerned.

Other notes

Most of the alert systems in place these days are employing wireless technology. Like the hardwired systems, the types have several ways of alerting the nurses. They do it by sound, lights or displaying messages at strategically-placed terminals. The wireless system reduces costs compared to older wired systems.

Still newer systems models are using computer-assisted automation. They utilize an Ethernet and a full systems network with distributed architecture all throughout the facility. This supports a centralized call answering, centralized code displays and the ability to transfer calls between units 24/7. Today’s nurse call systems Australia are still open to additional innovations.

RFID Patient Tracking - Safety, Security and Privacy

The technology of RFID (radio frequency identification) has been making progress by leaps and bounds especially now that it is used in several industries. Business had been using them for sometime in keeping track of merchandise and cargoes. Medicine is having the best of it through its use in RFID patient tracking Queensland. 

Basically, the tracking of patients using the RFID had developed through the years in the medical profession. The main function is tracking the whereabouts of patients within the facility.

The side function, an equally important one, is the recording of the patient’s data (medical history, address, insurance, etc.). This feature is pivotal in the success of the patient’s treatment.  

Benefits

With the device, the continuous tracking of a patient inside a hospital is important both for management (Is the patient endangering himself or the others?) and practical purposes (Is the patient in danger and needs to be confined to his bed? Is he suffering from Alzheimer’s? etc.)

Tracking devices in patients can notify hospital authorities whether or not he is located in restricted areas (danger zones) or in those places (drugs, pediatrics) whose access are strictly restricted. There are monitors that are tracking unauthorized persons loitering in high-treat areas, especially in places where he has no business (operating rooms, staff lounges).

With the RFID patient tracking, hospital authorities can facilitate triage processes that restrict access to places during medical emergencies, epidemics, terrorist threats, and other dangerous times which threaten the hospital’s capability of delivering its vital services to its patients.

Main usage

The RFID tracking is actually to maximize the safety, security and privacy of the patient at all times. The reason is that the patient’s records (medical history, personal information, current medical condition, etc.) are embedded in his RFID.

This data on his identification bracelet is stored for use in his entire medical business (medical treatments, payments, medical history, current medical condition, etc.) during his time of confinement and treatment.

A case in point would be a heart attack victim in an ambulance. The patient’s current condition and his medical history will help the hospital’s doctor prepare the right treatment and medical attention once he arrives. The speed of the process is critical and can greatly help the patient surmount his emergency situation.  

The process

When the patient is taken in by the hospital, he is assigned to an RFID bracelet tag. The patient’s personal information is written on the tag, including his present condition and his entire medical history. Included too are other pertinent data (insurance, payments, allergies, etc.)

On entering the hospital’s premises, RFID tag readers and field generators interrogate his tag and deliver the pertinent data to his waiting team of physician who will do the right treatment on him. This is after being armed with information on his present condition and guided by all the other data.

Aside from his location, the other main feature of the RFID patient tracking is the speed of treating his condition after his doctors have been prepped up with pertinent data on his condition.

Nurse Call - Benefits Nurses and the Medical Facility

 A nurse call is a system that had been set in hospitals and mandated by law wherein hospital patients are allowed to alert a nurse (or some other assigned health care personnel) of their need for assistance. The earliest devices in those early days were nurse buttons all the way to wireless alert systems at present.

Through the years, there had been various improvements and innovations integrated into the system, but always with the main aim of direct communication between patients and their nurses regarding the patients’ needs. Wired buttons gave way to wireless technologies all the way to today’s computer-assisted systems, and more.

Systems developments

In earlier days, there used to be a nurse button where patients can press and call the attention of the nurses who usually are at their nurse’s station. The assigned nurse comes over to the patient to inquire what the patient needs. These days, nurses can talk directly to the patient (through various means) on what he needs. 

With the advent of new technologies and the recent advances in communications, the call for assistance from nurses had developed alongside with them.  The first pioneering technology was the simple nurse button pressed by the patient for a nurse to come over.

Later advances in technology made it possible for patients to talk directly (if his present condition makes it possible) to the nursing staff. This eliminates the process where the nurses have to go over to the patient to inquire on his needs and to carry out the request in another trip.  

Benefits

The benefits in a nurse call Queensland had been found to point two ways: it directly benefits the patient in real time and it also benefits the medical facility or hospital in an indirect manner which can be evident only later.

First, the patient gets the practical benefit when nurses come to their aid to assist them in getting up from their bed, turning up or down the room temperature, and various other physical assists.  Hospitals, on the other hand, benefit by way of improving their services to their patients.

Goodwill and efficient management

First, the goodwill generated with their efficient health services (including those given by the nurses) is immensely valuable to their reputation and standing in the hospital and health businesses. Word of mouth is one of the best advertising medium there can be in any industry.

Secondly, the efficiency quotient derived by the alert system for their nurses accrues over time. This becomes substantial enough in terms of its transforming into operational savings for the facility. (Smooth management of manpower in a hospital complex avoids duplication of duties and redundant actions, which reduces expenses, and eventually translates into savings.)

Within the nursing staff, the workflow is enhanced not just for patient satisfaction but also for the organization itself. Nurse badging tracks nurses and there are options in automating rounding of nurses and staff assists in emergencies. Increased mobility also reduces systems costs.

The modern touches on the traditional system of nurse call Queensland create a win-win situation both for patients and the medical facility.