Medical institution SCM - Maison de Santé du Val de Touvre

The multidisciplinary medical institution in Val de Touvre in southwestern France, SCM, has modernized its communication system by implementing the IP telephony and Unified Communications solution by the European specialist, innovaphone. Thanks to the innovaphone Unified Communications client “myPBX”, the health centre has been able to improve its call management, the reachability of its staff and the accessibility of many medical services. The innovaphone PBX Unified Communications system was set up by the company VIDEOCOM 2000.

Medical services that also depend on the call management

One very important fact for the region Poitou-Charentes is the fact that the medical institution provides a comprehensive response to local health needs and provides access to a consolidated, coordinated and central health service employing more than 24 health professionals including practitioners, several interns, nurses, a psychologist, speech therapists, physiotherapists, midwives and medical secretaries. The institution has to ensure the quality of the reception, respond to emergencies and ensure continued care. The care centre facilitates comprehensive support and follow-up of patients by sharing the medical records via a high performant and easily accessible system.

The medical institution previously used a simple computer network architecture with telephony located on the same network: a system that was no longer modern and unable to cope with real needs and was no longer able to deal with the enormous amount of daily calls, which resulted in a significant loss of calls. Satisfactory service was no longer possible, patients complained constantly that the lines were busy and that their calls were not successful. It was urgently necessary to restructure the system. Benjamin Rollet, Networks & Telecoms project manager at VIDEOCOM 2000, explains: "innovaphone offers a unified telephony solution and many configuration options are also available such as interactive voice response (IVR), managing Booleans (action to automatically perform according to time) that simplify the work of medical assistants. SCM has a T2, for answering and issuing calls. It is a care centre, thus all doctors and the switchboard must be reachable at all times.”

Improving call management

To meet the real needs of flexible and reliable communication, a new call management solution was needed. A new architecture was implemented with a dedicated virtual network (VLAN) for telephony and the innovaphone PBX system was used as a DHCP server. A voicemail with waiting music allows customised announcements and messages to be recorded and managed on the phone. An interactive voice response system (IVR) allows incoming calls to be sorted, the caller is directed to the relevant extension and incoming emergency calls can always get through. Seven practitioners, several interns, one nurse for prevention and four medical secretaries now benefit from the IP telephony and Unified Communications solution by innovaphone.

With the Unified Communications client, myPBX, developed by innovaphone, incoming calls are directed via the switchboard and transferred efficiently to the respective practitioner. All incoming and outgoing telephone calls are listed in the call history. The date, time, duration and destination of each telephone call is stored. You can see at a glance whether a contact is available or not, and the Presence information displayed shows when and how the contact can be reached. Simple, clear and intuitive: myPBX brings together various elements of UC in its user-friendly interface: traditional telephony, video telephony, audio conferencing, shared directories, the call journals, Presence information, instant messaging and collaborative sessions.

Reliable solution and fast implementation

The workstations were equipped with innovaphone IP61 DECT phones and an innovaphone IP1202 DECT gateway. Benjamin Rollet continues: "Following a lab test, the solution was installed in one day. „It is an understatement when I say the innovaphone system is quick to install. The speed at which the installation can take place is one of the merits of the system.” He adds with a smile, “Equipment startup time is extremely fast (a few seconds), each change is immediate. There is no weakness.” VIDEOCOM 2000 has developed its own ’provisioning’ server, allowing users to be managed, equipment to be updated and backups to take place via UPDATE innovaphone commands. Moreover, remote access via HTTP was implemented for increased responsiveness and simplicity of maintenance.

Élodie, medical secretary at the health institute assures: "it is very enjoyable and easy to use the system. The management of calls is much more reliable thanks to myPBX, it facilitates the secretaries’ daily work and allows incoming calls to be better managed according to the urgency. There are practically no lost calls. Patients are also satisfied, which is reflected in the decline in daily complaints.” The reliability of the equipment has convinced all of the users and those in charge, who are now planning to equip the entire health institution and all practitioners with the IP telephony and unified communications