As I travel from hospital to hospital as a User Experience Manager for Voalte, caregivers I train frequently ask me, how Voalte will be useful in their particular unit?  Depending on the type of communication device the caregivers have previously been using or the lack thereof, many caregivers just cannot visualize how Voalte could benefit their unit. 

I often respond with a question… "With whom do you communicate on a regular basis?"  The responses from the caregivers vary depending on their unit workflow from Pharmacy to Respiratory to Physicians, Care Techs, etc.  Then I ask, "How have you been communicating with them?"  Their responses are amazing!  Some have been using pagers, which have been obsolete for individuals outside the hospital setting for quite some time.  Others say they have phones that they can use to call the intended party on.  The trouble with this is that both parties must stop what they are doing to speak to one another by phone.  In this scenario, both caregivers must be available at the same moment and caregivers don’t consistently have the same phone number, resulting in the caregiver dialing 4 or 5 extensions before they find someone to answer.  Lastly, many caregivers respond to my question by saying, "We just yell down the hall or go find the person."

When I explain how the Voalte One solution will allow them to text and call other caregivers by tapping on the desired individuals name or unit, they are thrilled!  Being able to text caregivers and other units throughout the hospital excites them, realizing how this form of communication will help them to better manage their requests from other individuals more effectively.  They are relieved when they learn that they will now be able to see which caregivers are at work on a particular shift, thus eliminating the dialing of multiple extensions to find someone to answer their call. 

I am excited to report that it does not take much convincing for Voalte’s caregivers to agree that we have transformed how they do business!

As a young rep starting off in technology and healthcare, I was thrown into a whole new world that I never expected. Immediately, I was given an overwhelming amount of knowledge, talking to some of the best individuals in healthcare. Eight months later and I love every minute of it. I get to develop relationships with the people that make a difference everyday…. Nurses!!!

Tradeshows are nothing new. Almost every b2b company attends a conference of some sort. For me however, the ANCC National Magnet Conference that took place in Los Angeles, California this past month was my very first tradeshow.

The 2012 ANCC National Magnet Conference is where clinicians go to celebrate nursing, let their hair down, and have a good time!! This is the nursing conference to top all nursing conferences. Hospital organizations send their nurses to ANCC to celebrate being designated (or re-designated) as a Magnet Hospital, the highest clinical honor to be had.

What made ANCC so special was that it was a conference dedicated solely to nurses. As a vendor, we were there to show our Voalte solution but we were also there to celebrate clinical excellence. This conference was all about showing nurses a different way to manage the craziness of their daily work lives through our solution, putting a smile on their faces, and making relationships with those that matter most.

The amount of sweat and stress that goes into making this conference happen becomes worth it when you get the chance to speak face-to-face with the nurses. These nurses come from all different backgrounds and environments; each one having a different perspective, but all having the same caring heart that makes them so special. Seeing the a-ha moment after demoing our solution was just icing on the cake.

The take away… The solutions you sell are one thing, but the people you meet and the relationships you make are what really count. ANCC opened my eyes as to why we work hard at doing what we do. It’s a shout out to nurses because they are the ones that matter most!

I eat, sleep, and breathe customer service, and lately I’ve been thinking a lot about how difficult great service is to find anymore.  The wheels started turning while I was reading a Peteac Communications book that examined their personalized customer service model.  Then Voalte participated in a few Fall trade shows and, lo and behold, the theme for one was “Because it’s Personal.”  It seems ironic that everywhere I turn, people are talking about stellar, “above-and-beyond” customer service, yet it’s tough to find companies actually doing anything about it.  But not impossible… 

I was at the grocery store the other day and as I made my way through the checkout, the cashier pleasantly inquired whether I had found everything I needed.  We both chuckled at my usual response: “Yes, as well as several things that I don’t need!”  As she scanned my items, she noticed a bag of lettuce was open.  Before I could blink or ask, the gentleman bagging my groceries was off and running to fetch me an unopened one.  Now, if that’s not stellar customer service, going the extra mile, and making it “personal,” I don’t know what is.

So, how do we at Voalte make personal connections with all of our customers?  We start by providing them with their very own Voalte Care Specialist (VCS).   Each Voalte-integrated hospital has a VCS (our larger sites have two!), who not only knows and practices our Voalte values, but is also a member of the hospital’s local community and is familiar with regional nuances.  Each VCS familiarizes him/herself with the hospital’s unique policies and procedures surrounding Voalte, and gets to know staff on the units.  They make weekly site visits to orientate new Voalters, touch base with veterans, troubleshoot, and above all – listen.   The VCS takes seriously Voalte’s recognition that our users were fundamental in building the app, and are just as critical now as we continue to update and improve it.   VCSs strive to know their hospitals well enough to anticipate (and head off) problems and issues, but they also listen - to users’ suggestions, compliments, comments, and frustrations.  Then they report back to Sarasota.  VCSs play a key role in helping to make a user’s idea become a reality inside the Voalte One solution.

Regardless of the style a company chooses to provide it, excellent customer service, executed well, breeds loyalty.  Period.  Consumers want their experiences to be effortless, and provided flawlessly.  When a company exceeds expectations, not only will they keep coming back, they’ll insist that their friends and colleagues do as well.  Voalte works hard every day to earn new “raving fans.”  Coming up with the VCS program to go the extra mile for our users is just one example of how we stay in tune with their needs.

In other words, we genuinely love running to get the fresh bag of lettuce before y’all ask.  :)   

When I joined Voalte six months ago, I was already a fan of the iPhone. I had read about this fantastic company providing a revolutionary healthcare communication solution via the iPhone. Needless to say, I was eager to join the team. I love providing excellent customer service and I love the iPhone, but providing support to those who care for others is especially rewarding. 

As a Voalte BFF, I provide Voalte support to caregivers at the point-of-care in real time. I’m there with our users throughout the course of a busy day to answer questions or provide other assistance that enables them to get back to their patients quickly. At any moment users can reach out to me by sending feedback at the touch of a button and I am able to respond just as quickly.  We BFFs do this all day, every day. It’s really all we think about.

Now caregivers are smart people. They’re well trained professionals and the work they do is complex and demanding. They’re dealing with changes in healthcare and responding to those who are in their care. They’re really amazing people. On top of everything they have to do, they’re navigating a technology leap from a patchwork of communication methods (personal pagers, overhead paging, call lights, patient monitoring systems, landline phones, and etc.) to Voalte, the one solution that allows for comprehensive communication from the palm of their hand. Suddenly, communication can travel effortlessly to and from your handheld smartphone at the tap of the screen. Voalte is an amazing and powerful solution for critical hospital communications.

So how do our users make the leap to the next level in communication technology? First, by being a caregiver at one of the best hospitals in the country! And while smartphones may seem to be ubiquitous, they are new to some of our users. The idea of using a smartphone may at first seem intimidating to some, but Voalte is built for comfort! Those who are new to smartphones sometimes need a bit of coaching on the phone itself. I’m the friend they can rely on to help them get over that little bump in the road. I’m their BFF, and our BFF team is there pretty much whenever we’re needed so that caregivers can get back to doing what they do best. Their transition to the Voalte solution is often an exhilarating experience because the user interface is so intuitive that they’re able to enjoy the benefits of improved communication immediately.

For me, it’s all a matter of perspective. You don’t need to know how to rebuild an engine in order to drive a car, and you don’t need to know every detail of how smartphones work in order to use one successfully. The Voalte solution makes it easy! Have a suggestion, comment, or question? Reach out and let us know. You’ll find my team listed under Voalte BFF in the directory.

Better communication means better caregivers.

Better caregivers mean better patient outcomes.

Fresh faces and excitement fill the room before each training class begins. Users chitchat amongst themselves thinking “what in the world is this lady going to train us on today?” They discuss what’s going on with their patients, their team dynamics, and their life in general. Often times, people come into class with preconceived notions from past in-service trainings and possible knowledge of iPhone or smartphone use. They may even discuss how Voalte will be perceived among their coworkers.

Now fast forward to the day of the unit’s “go-live”. Users may be a bit nervous about using Voalte. But there will be two major differences between those that attended training and those that did not: adoption and usability.

Users that attended training leave class excited about Voalte and how it will improve communication. Those that did not attend may feel obligated to use something they hardly know anything about. Adoption is key to the success of the Voalte implementation – or any other technology for that matter. Training class attendees know how to “Add to Favorites”, send feedback, find their extension, add contacts to the directory, and so much more. Also during training, users are given a user guide that provides step-by-step instructions on the Voalte application. If you do not attend training you are given a phone and left to ask questions that could have been answered. That person will only be able to use the basic functions of the application and are ultimately left at the mercy of their colleagues.

Attending training allows users to sit down and think about how they will use the application in real time, as they get the opportunity to practice operating the phones in class. As various features are explained, it is amazing seeing the       “ah-ha” moments people have about what the application can do and how Voalte will help with communication among colleagues in their unit, as well as throughout the entire hospital. They will now be able to receive information in a faster and more efficient manner. Training is usually the first point of contact we have with end users and is so critical to the success of the project.

See you in the next training class….

In my travels working with customers and partners I have the pleasure of talking with hospital management teams and end users about Voalte. Frequently our conversations gravitate to the lack of modern wireless communication solutions in healthcare and the truly unique capabilities Voalte brings to the market.

1. Convenience – Voalte eliminates the need for the nurse's "tool belt" of multiple devices and applications. Text messaging, alarms/notifications, and voice communications all flow naturally to a single smartphone application.

 

2. Ease of Use – Why is Apple selling 350,000+ iPhones Per DAY? It's intuitive and simple to use. Voalte leverages the advantages of the robust iPhone hardware and a software application that provides all of a caregiver's communications needs on a shared device with a single sign-on.

 

3. Functionality – I tried text messaging on my old Nokia cell phone. Remember pushing each button 1,2, or 3 times to get the letter you wanted? Forget it. The advent of full keyboards made text messaging a mainstay of communication in the modern world. The non-smartphone handsets currently used in most hospitals today provide the same functionality you abandoned 10 years ago in your personal life.

 

4. Efficiency – The workload of nurses and physicians is astounding. Few jobs require keeping multiple "balls in the air" quite like the hospital environment. A study shows that communication with team members, or other departments, accounts for 20.6% of nurse's time. Providing more streamlined communications leads to happier more effective caregivers. The result is more time spent at the bedside with patients and fewer mistakes. Voalte provides better outcomes and happier patients. This all leads to higher reimbursement and lower cost to the hospital and our over burdened healthcare system.

 

5. Flexibility – The typical process for replacing broken wireless phones in the hospital is for the telecom team to order the same proprietary phones they have been using for decades. The "new" handsets may be a different color or shape, but provide the same limited functionality and user interface they've always had. Why replace a dead-end phone with another dead-end phone?

Voalte can custom provision iPhones tailored to the hospital system's needs or even customize by department. Voice, alarms, and text are just the beginning. Voalte puts the power of 50,000+ medical applications in your hands at the bedside – drug reference, med math calculators, language translation – the options are endless and growing every day. Shouldn't your wireless hardware and software solution have the flexibility to grow and change with your communication needs?

I’ve often been asked if a proprietary SIP PBX or an open source PBX should be utilized in my environment. Well, the answer to this question can be rather complex, depending upon your needs. There are reasons one may be beneficial over the other, as I have explained below.

An open source SIP PBX will normally interoperate with any PBX, proprietary or open, as long as it supports the SIP RFC 3261, the IETF SIP standard. The great thing about an open PBX is you can customize the software to suit your needs. There is also plenty of online help to get you going and even to help you once you have started. The only negative thing about the open PBX is it may be more difficult to get paid support.

A proprietary SIP PBX may not interoperate with another proprietary SIP PBX. Many times companies add proprietary SIP extensions to their code, which prohibits some interoperability with other proprietary SIP PBX’s. Proprietary PBX’s may not completely follow the IETF standard either, which also adds to interoperability issues, especially with other proprietary PBX’s. A proprietary PBX will often limit you to purchase other peripheral hardware just from that one vendor. The nice thing about proprietary PBX’s though, is they normally have a paid support staff to aid you when you need assistance.

In conclusion, the open source SIP PBX will be much less in expense compared to the proprietary PBX. There are no licensing fees and you do not have to sign contracts for support. As long as you have a knowledgeable staff and want to save on costs, the open source SIP PBX is certainly the way to go. A proprietary PBX is just that, proprietary, and often keeps your selection down to just the one vendor.

Simply said: We think nurses rock!

Over the past few years, Voalté has had the privilege of working side-by-side with nurses on a daily basis. This opportunity has not only allowed us to better understand their typical daily functions, but their daily struggles and successes as well. 

Their relentless commitment and passion is truly an inspiration to us and those they heal. 

At the end of the day - after everything is said and done – nurses are the real heroes. And for that reason, we’re excited to share the top five reasons why we celebrate nurses! 

Thank you for bringing a smile to the world one patient at a time. Happy National Nurses Week from the entire Voalté family.

#5. Nurses are human

We celebrate nurses because they care for the good of the whole person. They take care of the biological, psychological, spiritual, and social needs of their patients. 

#4. Nurses are tireless 

We celebrate nurses because they work long hours, are in demanding environments, miss vacations and still attend to those who need them most. 

#3. Nurses care 

We celebrate nurses because they treat our loved ones with empathy and compassion. 

#2. Nurses save lives 

We celebrate nurses because they provide critical response in time of need.

#1. Nurses are the glue that keep everything together 

We celebrate nurses because they are the main link in making the health care process go smoothly and the patient experience positive. They interact with patients, families, doctors and all other departments and fill in any gaps in patient care. 

Why do you celebrate nurses? We’d love to hear your reasons.