NEWS

Brussels Hospital Hosts Cisco-Ascom IP Telephony Pilot-site for Nurse Call Solution

HIMSS, Geneva. Wednesday 11th October 2006 - Ascom Wireless Solutions and Cisco announced today that they are starting a joint pilot site in the University Hospital UCL-Saint Luc in Brussels. The pilot site is focused on the synergy between Cisco's Medical-Grade Network framework and Ascom’s competence in offering hospital communication systems. UCL-Saint Luc provides an extensive range of health services in the region of Brussels and to the southern part of Belgium. Also being a university hospital, world-class research is combined with high-level health care, which is not restricted to patients from Belgium.

"The proof of concept enables us to get a better view on the importance of the mobility of our staff and allows us to evaluate modern techniques for notifying staff combined with an efficient registration of all events" said Dr Benoît Debande, CIO at UCL-Saint Luc.

“UCL is a dynamic hospital taking the lead in introducing new technology to enable operational efficiency and better patient care” says Trine Stroemsnes, business development manager for Cisco Europe. "The hospital’s wide deployment of a Cisco Wireless local-area network, enables the integration of a variety of applications and the latest technologies."

The first phase of the pilot project will involve the rollout of the Ascom teleCARE M nurse call system with Cisco Internet Protocol (IP) phones. For this pilot, both Cisco's 7920 and the VoWiFi handset Ascom i75 Medic, will be used. "By integrating the nurse call system with wireless communication devices, we provide higher patient comfort and increase the staff’s efficiency accompanied with reduced stress" comments Jan Van Havenbergh, segment manager hospital at Ascom.

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About Ascom
Ascom is North Americas’ market leading provider of on-site wireless communication solutions, bringing smart integration to existing systems which enables greater freedom of movement, better service and increased safety in the workplace. Ascom on-site wireless solutions make existing systems work smarter through the integration of complementing, not competing, technologies. Because Ascom is not limited to one particular technology, they can customize unique solutions to meet an organization’s needs, helping to create a road map for the long-term goal of an all-digital, wireless facility. Based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, Ascom North America is a part of the Swiss Ascom Group, an international solution provider with comprehensive technological know-how specializing in Wireless Solutions (high-value on-site communications solutions) and Security Solutions (applications for security, communication, automation and control systems for infrastructure operators, public security institutions and the army). For more information, please visit ascomwireless.com.

Press Contact
Tom McKearney
tom.mckearney@ascomwireless.com
919-234-2507