Healthcare Technology Featured Article

February 27, 2014

Biamp Incorporates Nurse Call Integration in Vocia 1.6


Healthcare facilities have to integrate many different solutions to make the environment safe, comfortable and efficient for the patients and the staff that work there round the clock. The introduction of information and communications technology has gone a long way in introducing a level of efficiency that has made the industry as a whole better than ever. Communication platforms that have improved the use of PA systems provide a more peaceful environment not only for the patients but once again for staff that have to deal with the noise for hours every day. Biamp, a provider of innovative networked media systems, has introduced Nurse Call Integration (NCI) to its Vocial 1.6 platform.

The move by healthcare facilities to provide a peaceful environment is part of a holistic approach the industry is adopting to improve patient care. The Biamp solution provides a networked public address and voice evacuation system with zone paging and prioritization with messaging for critical delivery.

The option of delivering a message only to specific departments means the rest of the facility doesn't have to hear hundreds of messages that are irrelevant from all-call messages. This means staff only receive messages that are pertinent, which translates to a more peaceful environment.

"With Nurse Call Integration as a key capability in Vocia, Biamp is enabling hospitals to create a more peaceful healing environment by controlling where and when messages are heard, and at what volume level. This is done while integrating with the nurse call system for increased system interoperability said Graeme Harrison, Executive Vice President of Marketing, Biamp Systems.

The NCI package is composed of the Text-to-Speech Nurse Call Server (TTS-1nc), Message Server (MS-1), and Vocia Output (VO-4e) device.

The TTS-1nc provides direct connection to nurse call systems servers that are supported through RS-232 and TAP protocol. When the system converts text message to audio, it can be assigned its own level of priority before it is sent to the MS-1 for global playback functions. The audio playback is then streamed through over standard Ethernet to the VO-4e, which can be tied to the existing PA system, speakers, and amplifiers. The system has a decentralized architecture, which eliminates a single point of system failure, an important feature for healthcare facilities.




Edited by Cassandra Tucker
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