The pandemic experience has made consumers and organisations think more deeply than ever about health and wellbeing. With the NHS stretched by the pandemic, many people are taking measures into their own hands. That could mean downloading the latest fitness app, experimenting with new ways to contact health professionals, or investing in private health services.
As a result, GP surgeries, clinics, dental practices, hospitals and care homes are having to become more consumer-focused and efficient. It’s becoming necessary for healthcare providers to interact with patients in modern, virtual ways. At the same time, healthcare teams need to work seamlessly together, whether they’re working from a hospital ward, a surgery, an office or the kitchen table at home. Good communication is key.
Cloud communications are the new gold standard for healthcare
In this new reality, cloud-based unified communications create more effective healthcare practices. Most importantly, they mean that every healthcare sector worker can take a full-featured communications platform with them wherever they go.
Industry leader Avaya Cloud Office, for example, offers voice, video, chat/IM, fax and multimedia messages from a single number, and from any device. It’s all available on a softphone client (app) that works with smartphones, tablets and laptops. All it takes is an internet connection and team members can be accessible at all times, when that is required.
Crucially, Avaya Cloud Office also offers full integration with Microsoft Teams, creating a powerful, feature-rich solution for internal as well as external communications.
What does all this mean for your healthcare organisation? Communication and collaboration between doctors, patients, practitioners and other team members is easier and more effective with cloud communications, creating better outcomes.
For example, save time and expense by carrying out straightforward consultations by video call. And rather than scheduling an appointment, doctors and dentists might use chat to check in with patients recovering at home after a minor operation. Timely texts to patients can also prevent some of the £216 million lost to the NHS every year due to missed appointments.
Internally, healthcare teams can swap ideas, discuss patient treatments and synchronise workflows via video conference. Admin and back office colleagues can share files and work on the same document at the same time.
Sharing knowledge is at the heart of good healthcare. Cloud-based communications help facilitate the smooth flow of essential information.
Cost benefits of cloud
Cloud-based services make communicating with patients, colleagues and remote teams easier. They also make life simpler for IT leaders in the healthcare sector.
Cloud-based systems do away with the need for on-site PBX equipment, which can be expensive to maintain, repair and replace. Let your cloud communications provider worry about infrastructure. Spend your time perfecting the patient or practitioner experience in other ways instead.
With Avaya Cloud Office, savings also come in the form of cheaper call costs, because you can pool minutes across all lines. At Future Voice, we offer a range of discounted subscription packages, so you can find the right voice and data service at the right price for every member of staff.
Avaya Cloud Office is controlled from a simple, centralised management platform, which also allows you to scale the service up or down with just a couple of clicks.
The Future Voice difference
For healthcare sector organisations, cloud services are the way to leaner, more efficient collaboration and communication, both internally and externally.
Avaya Cloud Office from Future Voice is the perfect solution – and the perfect provider – for you. Future Voice has wide experience of meeting the needs of healthcare organisations, from GPs and clinics to dental practices. We know what you need from a communications service.
For example, we know that internal communication – for the sharing of patient information, say – needs to be smooth and efficient. That’s why we won’t charge a recurring monthly fee for Microsoft Teams integration. And while Avaya Cloud Office works as a softphone app for smartphones and laptops, we realise that surgery reception staff or hospital contact centre agents often prefer working with dedicated phones. That’s why we offer heavy discounts on a range of Avaya handsets.
With Avaya Cloud Office from Future Voice, you’ll also get free 24/7 support from trained Avaya technicians. It’s unlikely you’ll need it often. Avaya Cloud Office is built on RingCentral’s highly reliable, highly secure global platform, trusted by over 100 million users worldwide. Healthcare sector organisations can rely on it to keep sensitive patient information safe, while revolutionising their communications for a new post-pandemic era.