1. IP telephony solution for hospitals
Rumana Taher
ID : 071506556
Section-1 , ETE- 605

2. IP Telephony is the technology for transmitting voice communications over a network
using open-standards-based IP. IP telephony the implementation of voice over an IP-
based network—is fast becoming an attractive and viable opportunity for businesses.
Today the market for IP telephony is rapidly maturing. These IP telephony solutions will
provide secure and reliable networks that will help both Trusts to drive reduced operating
costs by converging voice and data traffic onto a single network and by simplifying
network maintenance and support. The combination of voice and data onto a single
network also enables a wide range of advanced new communications and networking
services.
IP telephony allows organizations to simplify and streamline their communication
systems. It is commonly used to support business environments where employees and
customers are demanding access to advanced applications and new ways of collaborating
across their business. IP telephony presents exciting opportunities for adding more value-
added services and applications throughout the organization. There has been widespread
deployment and acceptance of IP telephony solutions in a broad range of market sectors,
such as government, education, healthcare, finance, and manufacturing where
competitive advantages depend on the ability to enhance productivity and increase
mobility. Even companies that had not been favorably disposed toward IP telephony now
realize the advantages of introducing this technology into their own enterprises.
IP telephony solution can be more update by IVR. IVR means interactive voice
response, a telephony technology in which someone uses a touch-tone telephone to
interact with a database to acquire information from or enter data into the database. IVR
technology does not require human interaction over the telephone as the user's interaction
with the database is predetermined by what the IVR system will allow the user access to.
IVR technology is also used to gather information, as in the case of telephone surveys in
which the user is prompted to answer questions by pushing the numbers on a touch-tone
telephone.

3. The healthcare industry depends on innovation to provide the best possible service to its
ultimate customer, the patient. Many different IP telephony service provider ( for
example- HP ProCurve IP Telephony solutions) has helped create tools that give doctors,
nurses, pharmacists, and medical staff access to scheduling, medical records, and lab
results through IP phones or other mobile devices, such as PDAs or tablet PCs.
A converged data and voice network allows healthcare providers to access, manipulate,
and archive voice, text, and displayed information in ways that help cut costs and
enhance productivity. For example, after a patient visit, doctors can link verbal dictation
to patient records for immediate updates. Invoices can be submitted using voice
technology, saving doctors and other hospital staff time and reducing administration
expenses.
The benefits of IP Telephony in Hospitals:
Obviously there are many benefits and facilities if a Hospital set up IP Telephony
services. Day by day the Hospitals of development country are much more relying on IP
telephony services and after seeing them other Hospitals also willing to promote IP
services. The benefits of IP Telephony services, which should be notable, are -
Far-reaching flexibility:
In the healthcare environment, where analog is still preferred in applications such
as patient rooms and emergency rooms, business agility and being able to choose the
right solution are critical. Many hospitals have protected its investment by using IP
phones and avoided retraining of busy doctors and nurses. IP system created all analog
and digital requirement on one architecture and a single dialing plan, which creates a
huge advantage to Hospitals.
Faster disaster recovery:

4. It is very easy to give home care services to the patients by using IP phones at the
time of disaster. For example - When Hurricane Charley hit Florida Hospital were able to
quickly relocate home care service nurses to a dry facility eight miles away by simply put
in 60 Nortel IP Phones off the main switch.
Higher productivity and lower costs:
It is easy to lowering its Total Cost of Ownership, with improved employee
productivity and cost savings in many areas by using IP phones. For example - at one
small location, IP Telephony eliminated the need to expand the fiber remote to add
phones. Now the callers are finding shorter wait times and faster resolution of calls, while
center managers are monitoring agent activity remotely using a IP based phone. IP
telephony makes it possible to reduce administrative and management complexity and
expense, lower overall network infrastructure costs, and cut the price of application
integration. Intelligence is no longer tied into the PBX but to the client-server architecture
— an end-user phone becomes plug-and-play.
Future proofing:
By exploiting the flexibility of an IP network it is easy to growth or expansion
and to meet the needs of a distributed workforce well into the future. IP telephony serves
as a strategic enabler for cost savings and other factors that allow businesses to gain a
competitive edge. One area in which IP telephony offers significant savings is network
management and maintenance.
Some Hospitals and IP service provider:
By upgrading its main site to a Nortel Communication Server 1000, extending
IPfunctionality to branches with the Nortel Survivable Remote Gateway and deploying
Nortel IP Phones at its own pace, Florida Hospital can meet business needs quickly and
effectively as they arise. Florida Hospital, USA has a 100-year history of excellence and

5. innovation in healthcare. Already the healthcare provider is planning to expand with an
additional 500 beds over the next two years. Being able to choose the Nortel
communications solutions that best meet its needs and financial requirements at any
given time will continue to support that growth in a flexible, reliable fashion. With IP
Telephony, Florida Hospital has the ability to deliver a solution cost-effectively to
internal users.
At The Indiana Heart Hospital, part of the Community Health Network, physicians and
clinical staff use wireless networking from Cisco and laptops to enter and retrieve patient
information, often at the point of care, giving everyone access to completely legible data
in an instant. A Cisco IP telephony and wireless networking solution has enabled the
facility to go completely film-less, promoting delivery of the highest possible level of
cardiovascular care. Cisco IP Solution Center is a family of intelligent network
management applications that help reduce administration, management, and network
operational costs by: Providing automated resource management and rapid profile-based
provisioning capabilities that speed deployment and time to market of Multiprotocol
Label Switching (MPLS) and Metro Ethernet technologies
Leicester Hospitals, UK , one of the top teaching hospitals look to Avaya IP Telephony to
Help Deliver High Quality Health Care to Patients. More than 3.6 Million People
Worldwide Connect on Avaya IP Telephony Solution Designed for Small and Mid-Sized
Businesses. The move to IP will enable the 11,500 hospitals staff to have much greater
mobility and enhanced access to patient information regardless of their location. Once the
system has been installed, more clinicians will use wireless handsets, making it possible
to locate and contact them within minutes.
With the Avaya communication system, hospital staff will be able to 'hot desk', moving
their personal phone capabilities around the buildings and between sites. Upon logging
in, the phone will upload the user's profile and speed dial contacts as if they are at their
usual desk. When responding to a page, a doctor will be able to refer to the IP phone
directory, instead of having to call the switchboard to check the caller's identity. Avaya's

6. Communication Manager Software will automatically log how long calls take to be
connected and performance will be monitored regularly.
Mitel, a leading provider of IP communications solutions, announced that Banfield, The
Pet Hospital, with over 450 locations in the U.S., one in Mexico and two in the U.K., has
selected Mitel as its strategic communications partner. The Mitel networked solution will
be deployed in the United States, Mexico and Europe over the next five years, enabling
Banfield to improve customer service. It has admitted by authority of the Pet Hospital
with Mitel IP solution the Hospital authority can improve their responsiveness to pet
owner inquiries by routing them directly to the most qualified professional at any time or
location. The hospitals are focused on constantly improving our services and this solution
complements their goals of caring for pets with the same level of care that people expect
for themselves.
Some Proposals:
Though IP telephony solutions improve the medical technology still some better idea can
be identified. Basically there are no limitations of IP telephony solutions in Hospitals.
These solutions can touch every area where it is necessary for the better service of the
clients by the Hospitals. For example-
• By using IP telephony service it will have immediate access to information
regarding the whereabouts of a doctor and can put calls through to them more
quickly and easily, improving response times and efficiency.
• This technology can use for giving alarm to the each nurse of the hospitals when
it is time to give medicines to patients.
• Doctors can also become aware by this IP telephony service when it is time to
visit patient or where there is a serious patient in emergency Unit.
• Children and newborn babies who did not take the fundamental vaccinations this
IP telephony system can alert their parents.

7. • Well-organized sit reservation service for the patients in the hospitals will be
available by using this IP telephony solution.
• This solution will remind the pregnant woman of their each month’s
appointments.
Conclusion:
By reducing complexity, improving security, ensuring reliability, and providing future
flexibility, IP telephonic solution offers a superior infrastructure with a maximum return
on your IT investment. The past few years have seen only modest investment in
telecommunications infrastructure, but companies have shown an increasing desire to
invest in IP telephony solutions. It’s been estimated that seven million voice over Internet
protocol (VoIP) phones will be in circulation by 2007. Even today, more than 10 percent
of all voice traffic is transmitted with VoIP technology. IP telephony solutions nearly
eliminate the cost of additions/moves/changes. With IP telephony, it’s no longer
necessary to support separate data (IP) and voice PBX environments. This can
significantly reduce staffing and management costs.
It should be pointed that a high-quality IP telephony solution must be properly designed,
configured, and managed with QoS (Quality of service) as a critical building block.
Hospital authority should review the reliability of local area network (LAN)-based
solutions versus traditional telephony systems while making the transition to IP telephony
and ensure that there is adequate network redundancy, with no single point of failure.

8. Web-site references:
01. http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/netmgtsw/ps4748/
02. http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2004/ts_012704.html
03. http://www.avaya.co.uk/emea/en-us/newsletter/article/2007-01-09_article6.html
04. http://www.nortel.com/corporate/success/ss_stories/collateral/nn118140.pdf
05. http://www.hp.com/rnd/pdf_html/IP_telephony_whitepaper.htm
06. http://www.mitel.com/DocController?documentId=15987
07. http://www.rad.com/Article/0,6583,36046-
IP_Telephony_Service_Solution,00.html?WT.srch=1&gclid=CMCzx5TT3JICFQ
UMuwodmh-36Q
08. http://search.techrepublic.com.com/search/ip+telephony.html
09. http://www.avaya.com/gcm/master-usa/en-
us/corporate/pressroom/pressreleases/2007/pr-070604.htm
10. http://www.ntltelewestbusiness.co.uk/news__events/press_releases-
1/2005/ip_telephony.aspx
11. http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/I/IVR.html