The Société Royale de Philanthropie is one of the most time-honored institutions in the Belgian capital Brussels. Since 1828, its members and employees have devoted themselves to caring for society’s poorest and most vulnerable people.
AT A GLANCE
Replace legacy phone system with a reliable mobility system that offers superior coverage and range
The hospital required zero downtime for their patients and staff
Deploy new system without additional infrastructure needs
Snom, Groovit, 3CX, and Sonitor worked together to seamlessly changeover to the Snom M900 Series
PROJECT
Not far from the famous tourist attraction Porte de Hal – a medieval city gate, which also houses a museum - the society also runs a retirement and nursing home for 150 residents with the Residence Porte de Hal. Communication by telephone is vital for both the nurses and persons to be cared for. After various problems with the existing PBX, the society decided to overhaul the entire internal communications technology of the company with a completely new, functional, and future-proof system. Onboard: Snom, Sonitor, 3CX, and as integrator Groovit from Tournai in Belgium, who brought all the suppliers and components together and installed them on site.
For example, Sonitor Technologies installed a wireless doorbell system with TAG technology and
real-time geolocation for mobile use.
Call management was implemented via 3CX, the global market leader for business VoIP and Unified Communications. They were responsible for call management for patients and nursing staff. In parallel, Snom was responsible for equipping the entire residence with a powerful DECT multi-cell deployment including feature-rich desktop and matching mobile devices – with all hardware from Snom.
The newly acquired WiFi solution promised a high level of mobility and continuous availability for this purpose – but could not maintain this due to the unreliable network.
PROJECT REQUEST
Limited and unreliable availability can have fatal consequences, particularly in a medical environment.
Every second counts when someone is in distress. Therefore, a solution was needed here, which not only offered reliable accessibility and a higher range, but also a reliable mobile device battery life.
THE SOLUTION
A DECT-based infrastructure with special hardware by Snom. “Of course, we already knew that Snom offers superior products. The application of such individual solutions has again shown that Snom also offers the best support and service”, explains Benoît Verhaeghe, Manager Groovit SPRL. “Especially in the healthcare sector, we work in a sensitive environment, where extra care is needed. The special products of Snom, in
particular the M90 handset, score highly here. We would always recommend Snom!”
The society team is therefore ideally equipped for smooth communication: with mobile phones, which
offer up to twelve hours of talk time, HD audio sound, as well as secure network coverage to every corner
of the institution in the heart of the city.
“Supporting our partners in the best possible way is always a priority for us. Therefore, we do not have off-the-peg solutions, but always individual concepts, which are aligned to the challenges on site. At the Société Royale de Philanthropie we are able to score points with our DECT products – and still offer the benefit of safety with the antibacterial M90 handset.”
- Stephan Fuchs, Channel Director BeNeLux at Snom
For the new system, Groovit and Snom opted on multi-cell DECT infrastructure with DECT handsets
specially designed for hygiene-sensitive areas, also featuring an anti-bacterial coating. Of course, the
replacement of the legacy telephone system and the commissioning of the new system had to take
place with zero downtime. This was a delicate operation, where it was necessary to maintain communication despite the changeover.
Consequently, there was little time available for the installation, and it was a real challenge with such a complex legacy telephone system. Thanks to the seamless cooperation of the experts at Snom and
Groovit, hospital personnel and residents of Port de Hal noticed little on the day of the changeover. The end result is clear to all: the installed system currently comprises of 14 M900 base stations for multi-cell operation, 26 antibacterial M90 handsets, 5 M25 office handsets, as well as three ruggedized M80 handsets.
Contact the Snom team at infoUSA@snom.com to learn more!