ADTRAN (News - Alert)®, Inc., a provider of next-generation networking solutions, today announced that Pro-Care Home Health is using ADTRAN's NetVanta® 7100 unified communications platform across its office locations to create a centralized phone system for its five Pro-Care Home Health offices and the offices of its sister company, King Health Care, to provide better customer scheduling and “reduce interoffice communication costs by fifty percent,” according to a company press release.

The ADTRAN solution, combining multiple data and voice functions from a single platform, is being deployed across Pro-Care Home Health office locations in nine West Central Kentucky counties.

Pro-Care Home Health was looking for a vendor who could provide a new communication system that would allow them to centralize scheduling from one main call intake location, according to the press release.

The NetVanta 7100 lets Pro-Care Home Health “link remote offices together and provide direct dial access between their sites,” the press release reports. In addition, employees can now transfer their phone number to wherever they are, making it “much easier for customers to reach their health care provider, according to the press release.”

"During our evaluation process for a new phone system, we looked at several products and ADTRAN's NetVanta 7100 not only provided all the features we needed, but was also a very cost-effective solution," said Kevin Bailey, IT manager for Pro-Care Home Health, in the press release. "I have used ADTRAN products before so I know the quality and reliability is high and that my network won't go down."

"Health care businesses are constantly looking for ways to make it easier for patients to schedule their appointments and stay in touch with their health care providers. The NetVanta 7100 unified communications platform has enabled Pro-Care Home Health to do just that," said Chris Thompson (News - Alert), senior product manager for ADTRAN's Enterprise Networks Division, in the press release. "ADTRAN helps small- and medium-sized businesses simplify the migration to VoIP with a single platform that incorporates all of their communication needs and is completely customizable to best serve their customer base. Whether the need is replacing an old system or expanding to a new location, businesses will quickly see a return on their investment and lower their overall cost of ownership."

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a technology that allows users to use a broadband Internet connection to make phone calls instead of a regular (or analog) phone line.

Using VoIP, an organization places a "VoIP device" at a gateway. The gateway receives data in packaged bundles, or packetized, voice transmissions from users within the company and then distributes them to other parts of its intranet (local area or wide area network) or sends them over the public switched telephone network, according to the Web site.

The value is that customers can be served quickly and easily no matter where employees are – home, on their computers; at the work site, or even traveling between locations. No more busy signals, music to any customer’s ears! And more profits to the business using VoIP. 

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Deborah DiSesa Hirsch is an award-winning health and technology writer who has worked for newspapers, magazines and IBM (News - Alert) in her 20-year career. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.