Atereo’s Operator Console delivers
consistent call handling and performance improvements at
University Hospitals Bristol.
University Hospitals Bristol have over 8,000 staff
who offer over 100 different clinical services across nine different
sites. With services from the neonatal intensive care unit to care of the
elderly, the Trust offers care to the people of Bristol and the South West from
the very beginning of life to its later stages. University Hospitals
Bristol are one of the country's largest acute NHS Trusts with a 2008/2009
income of £454 million.
With strong links to the University of Bristol and
University of West of England, they are the major medical research centre in
the region. Their academic links also make them the largest centre for medical
training in the South West, attracting the highest calibre clinical staff from
across the UK, aiming to provide healthcare, research and teaching of the very
highest quality.
As an acute NHS Trust, the University Hospitals Bristol
switchboard takes thousands of calls every day, ranging from enquiries from the
public to crash calls from hospital wards.
The old switchboard console
configuration utilised two completely separate solutions:
Whilst this solution had been reliable for a long time, there was a desire to have a single integrated solution that would provide consistent call handling for all calls on the Trust’s mixed telephony network.
Atereo provided a fully integrated Screen Based Console enabling quick directory look up and transfer of calls from a single PC application. Integrating with both the traditional telephony platform (through the use of SIP-DPNSS Gateways) and the VoIP platform, Atereo provided a highly resilient solution.
Through the innovative way that the solution is delivered, Atereo can provide the Switchboard with consistent call handling features across the different telephone platforms. These include the ability to ‘camp-on’ to any busy line.
The switchboard staff can now answer, dial, transfer and page directly from the results of the search and within a single application, reducing time spent handling calls and improving accuracy.
The Trust chose a number of optional items from Atereo, including:
Alongside the Console solution, the Trust purchased Atereo Call Logging to provide consistent and detailed management information for both the switchboard and the wider telephony network.
Richard
Hooper (Telecoms Manager) has been very pleased with the Atereo Console.
Since the system has been installed, training new operators in the basics of
call handling is a 30 minute task, which has allowed staff to be drafted in
from other areas to provide cover at short notice.
Atereo have worked in
partnership with the Trust and have delivered a flexible solution that provides
more information to the Operators in an easier to use package.
The Trust now have an up-to-date,
powerful directory database which is easy to search and with the
ability to click to dial any of the numbers entered for a particular directory entry,
improving accuracy and speed of transfers.
In summary Richard Hooper
stated, “Atereo remote engineers have worked well with our on site engineers to
resolve any glitches that have arisen swiftly and with a minimum of fuss, and the
system has performed well above our expectations”.
