Cisco's Healthy Outlook
Cisco's Healthy Outlook
August 14th, 2006: Cisco's announcement that it has rolled out and IP-based voice and data system to 1,200 aged-care residents and staff of the Hammond Care sees VoIP, RFID and wireless data capture and transmission maturing.
The Hammond Care Group is an independent Christian aged services provider, that runs eight residential care facilities in New South Wales and those Cisco's Unified Communications system to replace its PBX phone network.
Hammond Care has initially deployed Cisco Unified Communications IP Phone 7961G and 7970G handsets, and Cisco Catalyst 3560 switches. Bandwidth will be managed to support Voice over IP (VoIP), extending the capabilities of the organisation's legacy applications.
The deal is interesting in that it relates to a privately-held healthcare organisation, and not the large budgets that flow through the government systems. The Cisco model does not simply use VoIP to replace good old POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service). The switch to an IP-based system also enables Hammond to connect its professional caregivers for data up and download, as well as enabling ID management via RFID systems.
Cisco views healthcare as a major vertical market, having announced a deal with Brisbane's Mater Health Services for a similar networked communications refit in July of this year.