Here are a few examples of Nortel customers and how they are using UC. Future blogs will feature other vendors' customers.
Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas uses UC to securely send medical orders directly to radiology technicians wirelessly, enabling staff members to receive medical orders anywhere on the hospital's 120-acre campus on a handheld device, improving business processes associated with time-to-diagnosis, workflow and patient care. By expressing physician orders via instant messaging to radiology technicians equipped with UC-enabled Blackberry devices, the technicians can more rapidly receive order requests, including patient location and severity of need, leading to better patient care and even saving lives.
Another health care example is a hospital with 1,000 intravenous (IV) pumps and several nurses who monitor the pumps and battery power flowing to the pumps. This hospital uses UC (or what Nortel calls Communication Enabled Applications) to ensure that the pumps have continuous power. When the batteries get low and reach a specified threshold, the nurses and supply department responsible for replacing the batteries are automatically notified, allowing the nurse on duty to have the new battery sent to his or her station (based on presence capabilities) in order to expeditiously replace the batteries and keep the IV pumps working. When the battery supply begins to run low, the purchasing managers can be notified via IM regardless of their location, and the supplies can ordered quickly and easily.
Jyske Bank in Denmark integrated the Nortel Communication Server 1000 platform with Microsoft LCS 2005 to unify communications for 4,000 employees. Customers entering a branch are greeted by a "host" at an "AskBar," who transfers the customer to an appropriate staff member simply by looking at their presence information on a screen. the host contacts them in real time by sending them an instant message or clicking their name on a Microsoft Office Communicator interface. The host does not have to spend time trying to find people in the bank, and the customer receives faster service.
Fred Weber Contractors uses UC for communication management to route or re-route trucks loaded with concrete and other high cost material/high cost labor, eliminating wasted time, materials and ultimately not just saving money but also optimizing revenue with alternative job opportunities replacing delayed construction scenarios.
Geisinger Health System uses the presence capabilities of its UC solution to help physicians and administrators to find doctors regardless of where they are located and enables them to better communicate. Web collaboration capabilities make it possible for doctors to provide consultations remotely, wireless IP phones let doctors and administrators be mobile yet accessible.
Geisinger's use of UC solutions are improving patient interactions - connecting patients quickly with the right resource, reducing the time patients are on the phone, scheduling and confirming appointments easily, and delivering important healthcare information and instructions quickly and efficiently.
These are just a few of the many examples of how companies are using UC to increase productivity, reduce costs, increase revenues, and most important, transform their businesses. Do you or your customers have a UC story to tell? I'd love to hear it - send me a note at [email protected]
