Around the world, in emerging and advanced countries alike, local authorities are seeking to ensure that their towns, cities and rural areas form a thriving community of satisfied citizens who enjoy a robust economy. Information technology can significantly contribute to achieving these goals.
In this context, Alcatel-Lucent's solutions are helping local authorities enhance services for citizens in schools and libraries, municipal offices and medical centers, bringing the government and the general public closer together. For example, many authorities now offer contact center access 24 hours a day. Some offer a "single-number" service that provides easy access to a broad range of government services.
At Alcatel-Lucent , we understand the communications and networking needs of government agencies. Indeed, we've built voice and data networks for authorities of every type, from local and national governments to public sector services such as police forces and fire departments.
Alcatel-Lucent's enterprise communications solutions for government authorities are based on the company's award-winning IP networking, IP telephony and contact center products, which provide a powerful infrastructure that operates continuously and securely.
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Cost reduction
• Local authorities manage scare resources and therefore are under great pressure to do more with less. Cost reduction for voice and data communications has therefore become a real priority. IP telephony and IP networking offer a proven path for cost reduction. Likewise, simplified network manageability offers costs savings without increased staff.
• Contact centers provide a prime means for simultaneously cutting costs while improving service levels for the general public. For example, advanced technologies such as IVR (interactive voice response) can sharply increase the number of calls handled without operator assistance, while satisfying callers' needs. This increases productivity while reducing costs.
Availability
• Government communication networks need to serve employees and the general public across large distances - cross-town or cross-country - providing "always on" connectivity to a high-speed network. A network capable of continuous operation is one that has easily managed, self-healing components.
• Electronic health records or images stored in picture archive communications systems (PACS) must be protected, in compliance with government legislation, yet must be available for consultation by the medical community, including physicians, administrators, healthcare insurers and patients.
Mobility
• Both wired and wireless mobility are crucial for healthcare networks. Healthcare professionals and administrators roam throughout buildings and across medical sites. Access to computing resources (such as printers, shared drives, and application servers) - anywhere, at any time, on any device- is crucial for delivering quality healthcare services. Sharing the same infrastructure to also deliver wireless voice services, with a high quality of service, helps contain costs and improves quality of care at the same time. Finally, intelligent management of radio frequencies within the hospital is essential to avoid interference with highly sensitive medical devices.
• Patient monitoring at home is also on the rise, a vital service for the fragile elderly, the handicapped and convalescent patients. Telemedicine and managed care services, supported by classic and video contact centers, are increasingly being used by nurses and doctors to keep in touch with patients and to monitor vital signs.
Access to advanced features
• The working environment for health professionals is becoming increasingly complex. Healthcare institutions rely on a range of advanced voice applications, such as directory services, voicemail, and conferencing. Seamless access to information, through a combination of these tools, is crucial to helping health professionals improve productivity.
• Many healthcare providers worldwide have set up contact centers for patients. Skilled nurse practitioners offer callers assistance with medical decision-making. The service both reassures patients and reduces the overload to hospital emergency services.
• Medical images play a vital role in modern patient care. Many institutions are therefore installing picture archive communication systems to manage, archive and distribute medical images within their radiology department and across the healthcare community.
Risk-free migration
• Many healthcare institutions have a variety of existing voice and data networks. New IP-based systems must offer risk-free migration, while providing support for a mixed-media environment.
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A hospital network with multiple phone systems connected over a variety of WAN connections might want to retain its WAN connections in a hybrid arrangement, while migrating to the benefits of IP connectivity.
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A medical research center might need analog connections for its residential facilities, digital connections in staff offices, soft phone capabilities for traveling faculty, IP connections for satellite campuses, and wireless connections for IT staff. |
Cost reduction
• Healthcare institutions manage scarce resources, making cost reduction for voice and data communications a real priority. IP telephony and IP networking offer a proven path for cost reduction. Likewise, simplified network manageability offers costs savings without increased staff. |
