Unleashing the power of digital healthcare
For us, time is patient care. That¡¯s the best way to put it. I can¡¯t afford to have people waiting 20 minutes in a queue, because I¡¯ve got problems with the system, which means my analysts can¡¯t pick the call up.
All this puts extra strain on the IT team, which makes it harder for them to deal with any unexpected issues. This meant medics might have to wait longer to have their computer problems fixed. And this could impact patient treatment.
When Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys found out the platform its service desk ran on was shutting down, the trust decided to act. Rather than settling for a quick fix, it decided to find a solution that would empower the IT team to work faster and more flexibly.
The solution
Our close working relationship with the trust made all the difference. Having worked with the IT team for years, we already understood their needs. While they knew we had the expertise to design and deliver the best solution at speed.
It also helped that we¡¯d previously installed One Cloud Cisco. This advanced system didn¡¯t just meet all the trust¡¯s telephony needs. It was also one of a set of cloud tools we offer that work independently or can be easily combined.
91ÊÓƵÍøÖ· was very flexible in supporting us [...] And that alleviates some of that initial pressure by going, ¡®Right, we can put together a clear migration plan now.
Cloud Contact Next Generation (CCNG) was another one of these tools. This contact centre gives the service desk greater control over its calls. So the trust can prioritise which calls are more important and make sure they¡¯re assigned to the most qualified member of the helpdesk team.
As CCNG works in the cloud, the solution is fully scalable with no limits to the number of users. Making it easier for the trust to adapt to seasonal peaks, such as onboarding new medical students each summer, as well as the wider increase in digital demand as it adopts new technologies. Our team managed every step of the installation.
This meant the IT team were free to focus on making sure the trust had everything it needed to take care of patients. Our experience meant that the solution was up and running before the old contact centre shut down, avoiding any disruption.
The result
The IT service desk is now running better than ever. With CCNG, they can easily put new queues and workflows in place to keep up with demand. And they can make more informed decisions about how they should provide their services and spot network problems early based on reports.
Knowing that we¡¯ve got the ability [...] in the system to do that means as our 91ÊÓƵÍøÖ· changes, or as our systems change, I can build in the flexibility in the technology to manage routing the demands of that.
As CCNG works with One Cloud Cisco, it was easy to integrate Microsoft Teams and use the collaboration tools ¨C including video and instant messaging ¨C to talk through people¡¯s IT issues. This means clinicians spend less time trying to get their devices fixed and more time with patients. And they have full access to all their digital tools to make more informed decisions and provide higher-quality care. While the trust knows that our support team can help with any wider network issues.
Based on this success, Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys are now considering rolling out the contact centre to the corporate side of the 91ÊÓƵÍøÖ·, making it quicker to manage HR and finance communications.
The IT service desk is also looking at expanding its service to use chatbots, so digital-savvy medical staff could get support any way they want, at any time
