TMCnet News
AT&T Inks Voice and Data Contract with Advanced HealthcareTMCnet Contributing Editor AT&T Inc. announced on Thursday that Advanced Healthcare, a physician-led, multi-specialty clinic group in southeastern Wisconsin awarded the telecom giant with a new optical and data-networking services contract.
The new, five-year contract calls for AT&T (News - Alert) to expand Advanced Healthcare's bandwidth through a deployment of a fully-redundant Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) ring to six locations throughout the state. With the additional bandwidth, Advanced Healthcare will be able to consolidate large amounts of voice, data and video traffic from its various locations to a single, fail-safe platform. "We were seeking a communications provider that would enable us to uphold our reputation of offering quality healthcare service through the most technologically advanced applications," said Edith Schneider, telecommunications manager for Advanced Healthcare. "We're certain that AT&T companies will supply us with premium services and equipment, allowing us to stay on the cutting edge of technology and consistently deliver first-rate patient care in more than 30 specialties."
The new services will also support an X-ray Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS), which can store, display and transmit digital medical images across Advanced Healthcare's network. Additionally, because of its increased capabilities, Advanced Healthcare will have the capacity to set up a disaster recovery site that mirrors the current data center. AT&T is currently the primary provider of voice and data services to Advanced Healthcare.
"We're delighted to be Advanced Healthcare's primary communications provider," said Vicki Jones, president-Business Communications Services, AT&T Global Services Inc. "Our optical networking services will allow Advanced Healthcare to increase its communications capabilities and enhance its network so that it can support new technologies, resulting in improved patient care."
AT&T announced pretty significant deals this week. On Tuesday, the telecom scored a $3.54 million, two-year networking contract from Orica Limited to integrate an Internet Protocol Virtual Private Network (IP VPN). Orica of Australia is a manufacturer in the mining, consumer products and chemical services market.
The new contract calls for AT&T to deploy a global network that will incorporate the telecom giant's latest Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) technology, connecting 135 Orica sites across Australia, Asia Pacific, Europe, Canada, Latin America and the United States. The AT&T system will give Orica's global staff access to its ordering and fulfillment systems based in Melbourne, Australia. The system will support Orica's $10 million SAP (News - Alert) consolidation project.
On Wednesday, AT&T announced that it scored a $3 million integrated networking contract from Lee Enterprises, a newspaper group with 58 daily newspapers and more than 300 weekly newspapers and specialty publications in 23 states.
The new, three-year contract calls for AT&T to combine Lee's voice and data onto one integrated platform, which will speed network access at the newspaper group's offices nationwide. With the new network in place, the company should be able to improve its ability to share info both internally and to its 4 million daily readers.
Advanced Healthcare
AT&T, Inc.
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Johanne Torres is contributing editor for TMCnet and Internet Telephony magazine. To see more articles by Johanne Torres, please visit Johanne Torres' columnist page.
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