Improved Communications Improves Care

Improved Communications Improves Care

Improved Communications Improves Care

Phoenix Arizona Based Valley Sleep Center Upgrades Network and Saves Money Did you know that in the United States alone over 70 million people suffer from sleep disorders? That there are over 84 classifications of sleep disorders? I didn't, until I met Gerald Fougner who is the technical supervisor for Valley Sleep Center. Valley Sleep Center has five Phoenix area locations dedicated to treating patients who suffer from sleep apnea, narcolepsy and other sleep disorders. I talked with Gerald recently and he shared his experiences of network growing pains and how upgrading his network helped save his company money.

Valley Sleep Center was busy, so busy that they wanted to open new locations. As the company prepared to grow, Gerald knew they needed to upgrade their technology. With multiple facilities, they needed to be able to securely share sensitive information such as billing, medical records and general office forms. Because they are in healthcare, they needed to comply with the rigorous HIPAA regulations that govern the privacy of medical information. Initially Gerald tried working with off-the-shelf consumer solutions, but they couldn't keep up with his network. As he told me "They had so many problems they were not worth the trouble. The devices would frequently go down and the VPN [virtual private network] would stop working. They also had an aging phone system based on analog lines. Frequently all lines would be busy meaning patients couldn't get through to schedule appointments or ask questions about treatment. It also meant staff couldn't make outbound calls. Gerald says "The previous [phone] system was a nightmare! We were constantly calling IT people to add a user or move a phone to another area in the office. It was expensive, and we had to wait all day for them to show up." Clearly a small business phone system that wasn't able to meet their current needs was going to hamper instead of facilitate growth. Gerald turned to a local Cisco Select Certified Channel Partner, InVision Technology Solutions, for help. InVision is focused on small businesses and had seen other companies face the same issues Valley Sleep Center was facing. It was important to Gerald to work with a company he trusted and InVision Technology fit that bill, the more they worked together, his confidence in the relationship continued to grow. He knows he can rely on them to help him day or night. They recommended a Cisco Smart Business Communications System which replaced five networking devices with a single device that's about the size of a pizza box. The solution allows all of their locations to securely share information using a VPN, no need to email files through the Internet. Now, they are getting more capabilities while saving money. "The savings are significant," Gerald told me. "We were paying about US$50 a month for each and every business analog phone line at our offices. The Cisco solution lets us consolidate all our voice and data onto one system, so now we pay for a dedicated data line and a backup phone line at each location, while sharing a secure Primary Rate Interface (PRI) connection for all phones at all our offices. I'm saving a lot of money on phone charges, yet I have more lines available due to the advantages of DID Technology." Do you have a story about how a technology upgrade is helping your company? Tell me! I'd love to write about you in our blog.

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