Cox Business technicians cut more than 1,400 phone lines from a competitor en route to installing a new voice platform, as well as a backup data network, for the Care New England health system.
Cox Business had been providing video and data systems to Care New England for more than a decade, but it recently completed the install on its Cox Business Voice Manager phone services. With Cox Business’ Voice Manager, Care New England staff can now use five-digit dialing to contact their business partners across the state.
The installation of Cox Business Voice Manager phone service makes Cox the sole telecommunications provider for all of Care New England’s Rhode Island locations, including Women & Infants Hospital, Kent Hospital, Butler Hospital, the VNA of Care New England and several dozen medical office buildings.
“We are pleased to have a partner such as Cox to help support our environment of care with an infrastructure that is robust, cost-effective and reliable,” said Heather Hartman, director of IS technical services at Care New England. “We chose Cox because they are able to provide us with flexible options customized to meet our needs. Their strong customer service, combined with proven technology approaches, helps us deliver a complete solution to support the needs of our clinicians, patients and the community.”
On the data side, Cox Business Metro Ethernet was added as a secure backup to Care New England’s existing Cox Business data services. The network was designed with redundant fiber ring architecture to provide additional failover capability in the event of a disaster.
“Cox Business’ reliable network infrastructure and local resources fulfill Care New England’s complex communications needs,” said Mark Scott, vice president of Cox Business. “We are delighted they have expanded their relationship with Cox, allowing them to leverage our total value proposition and ensuring that we provide excellent services, at competitive rates, and with local customer support.”
In addition to Care New England, several other Rhode Island health care organizations use Cox Business for their advanced communications networks. Gateway Healthcare, Open MRI of New England and East Side Clinical Labs have been using Cox Business to support such services as telemedicine, remote video consultations, real-time information exchange and medical imaging.
Health care is one of the more promising verticals for cable operators’ business services platforms. In September, Time Warner Cable Business Class launched the first trial of its Healthcare Solutions platform in Maine, while Cablevision has been proactive in working with health care providers in its New York metropolitan footprint.
