Sonexis ConferenceManager Plays Key Role in Baptist Health South Florida's Hurricane Plan
Posted on: Tuesday, 30 January 2007, 09:04 CST
Baptist Health South Florida has selected Sonexis ConferenceManager, an in-house audio and Web conferencing solution, to manage its mission-critical communications. The healthcare system, which is comprised of six hospitals, affiliated outpatient clients, and a cardiovascular institute, originally chose Sonexis as a general communication and collaboration tool for its geographically dispersed staff. The organization quickly realized Sonexis ConferenceManager was invaluable for crucial, organization-wide communication during hurricane season. For the 2006 season, Baptist Health's managers used Sonexis ConferenceManager as the cornerstone of its command center.
Baptist Health uses Sonexis ConferenceManager for an average of 285 conferences a month, but saw a peak in usage last August during Hurricane Ernesto when the organization held 436 conferences. With the high demand for Sonexis ConferenceManager during hurricane season, the organization is currently developing an official policy for Sonexis ConferenceManager usage for the 2007 season.
"A solid communications plan is imperative for any organization in southern Florida. We are currently developing our hurricane communication plan for the 2007 season around Sonexis ConferenceManager," said Gilberto Albornoz, corporate director of network and telecommunication for Baptist Health. "As part of our 2007 policy, we will establish a 24/7 emergency-only conferencing line for Baptist Health executives to ensure adequate communication at all times between facilities. Sonexis' easy-to-use and cost-effective product makes this possible. Through better preparation and better communication, our patients and their families can have greater peace of mind during the hurricane season."
Prior to installing Sonexis ConferenceManager, Baptist Health was using a hosted solution and incurring surging conferencing costs of up to $100,000 a year. In addition to being cost prohibitive, another deterrent was the difficult-to-use system and multi-step administration process. According to Mr. Albornoz, usage of conferencing has increased organization-wide since switching to ConferenceManager in spite of the fact that no official launch of the product was done. Solely through word of mouth, employees have begun using Sonexis ConferenceManager. The healthcare system has held 7,498 conferences for a total of 357,798 minutes since installing it just two years ago. With its previous service provider, conferencing at this rate would have cost the organization more than $9,000 a month. With ConferenceManager, Baptist Health saw a return on investment in only six months and put an end to escalating monthly charges.
In addition to keeping the leadership team on the same page during hurricane season, the organization's 300-employee IT department uses Sonexis ConferenceManager to communicate internally. Many IT endeavors for Baptist Health -- which was named one of the nation's 100 Most Wired healthcare organizations for 2006 by Hospitals & Health Networks magazine -- require involvement and input from various divisions of the IT team. Conferencing is the primary mode of communication among cross-divisional IT teams to carry out complex projects from start to finish.
"Cost and usability cannot be a barrier to communication during hurricane season," stated Brian Giuffrida, vice president of marketing and business development for Sonexis. "Sonexis ConferenceManager has made a true impact on how Baptist Health is connecting when communication is most critical. Sonexis' cost-effective and easy-to-use, in-house solution enables Baptist Health's leadership team to focus on the real task at hand, which is ensuring the safety of its staff and patients, rain or shine."
About Baptist Health South Florida
Baptist Health South Florida is the largest not-for-profit healthcare organization in the region. It includes Baptist Hospital (a Magnet hospital), Baptist Children's Hospital, South Miami Hospital (also a Magnet hospital), Doctors Hospital, Homestead Hospital, Mariners Hospital, Baptist Cardiac & Vascular Institute and Baptist Outpatient Services.
About Sonexis, Inc.
Sonexis offers an in-house audio conferencing bridge that has set new standards for ease of use and security, while eliminating the costly pay-as-you-go fees of subscription-based services. Designed to work within existing voice and data networks, hundreds of leading organizations have deployed Sonexis ConferenceManager with minimal cost, effort, or administration. Sonexis ConferenceManager also offers a fully integrated Web conferencing option. Headquartered in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, Sonexis can be reached at 888-4SONEXIS (888-476-6394) or www.sonexis.com.
Sonexis Press Contact: Elizabeth Rizzo SHIFT Communications T: 617-681-1245 E: Contact via http://www.marketwire.com/mw/emailprcntct?id=CCD1B7A181AB1E9C
SOURCE: Sonexis
Source: MARKET WIRE
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