Internet Office Parks (IOP) has provided medical emergency notification company, MediTrac, with a high speed cabling infrastructure as well as access to the Internet.
IOP is a subsidiary of CiTEC, the networking infrastructure company within the NATH (New Africa Technology Holdings) Group. IOP is the only company in South Africa to offer a complete and cost-effective, on-line Internet solution to companies located in office parks and multi-tenanted office complexes.
MediTrac MD, Angela Gahagan, says the deal is potentially worth over R2.6m during the next few years.
She explains MediTrac`s method of operation: "Due to the implication of theft, or the shortage of time at the scene of an accident; paramedics are reluctant to search through personal effects for medical aid verification. As a result, patients who may have excellent medical cover but are unable to communicate, are often transported to tertiary hospitals and not afforded the level of treatment to which they are entitled.
"With the MediTrac identification system, treatment and survival are optimised. The attractive MediTrac disc is worn on your person and continuous training of emergency staff ensures their awareness of this product."
The differentiating factor, continues Gahagan, is availability of information. MediTrac boasts a massive database of medical and personal detail for all clients, which is accessed by the hospitals using IOP`s offerings.
She says IOP provided the entire networking infrastructure within MediTrac`s two-storey building. "The category 5 UTP cabling allows for high-speed transfer of information across the LAN. Some 72 interchangeable voice and data points have been installed in strategic positions throughout the building, thus allowing flexibility for future expansion.
"A 64K-Diginet line allows MediTrac access to both e-mail and Internet 24 hours a day, with an ISDN link as a backup, since MediTrac is a 24-hour a day mission critical site. This interfaces with a state of the art 24x7 call centre."
Gahagan adds: "Due to mission critical issues relating to the extensive database, the integration of workflow between the call centre and MediTrac`s mission critical hub allows for complete redundancy. Fast and efficient despatch of information to emergency crews and hospitals is facilitated by the use of cutting edge technology."
IOP`s project manager, Mark Fourie, confirms that IOP has built in all possible redundancy. "From the point of view of the company`s growth we worked out a full phased-in approach. We examined everything that could go wrong and worked out solutions in advance. There is no single point of failure in the entire infrastructure because it is so critical that information is accessible by hospitals. Lives are literally at stake."
Fourie explains that the hospitals contact MediTrac via either the 10 000 incoming ISDN lines, or by phone - there are both land lines and cell lines supporting the various cell providers.
Due to exponential growth, he says, future plans include spending over R1m on high-tech scanning equipment to load medical histories onto the Informix database.
According to Gahagan, of the companies contacted, IOP offered the most suitable turnkey solution with guaranteed high service levels, taking into account the mission critical issues relating to MediTrac`s operation.
"Their consultant co-ordinated the supply and implementation of various services required, and handled project management on the demanding and varied aspects of MediTrac`s business."
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Internet Office Parks
CiTEC purchased IOP earlier this year. The deal extends the reach of CiTEC, a first-tier bandwidth supplier of mission critical Internet services in the corporate sector, to encompass the needs of the small-to-medium enterprise (SMME) market. IOP, in turn, can now leverage off CiTEC`s market position to expand its services to its growing customer base to provide, among other capabilities, e-commerce.
Together, the two companies - which will continue to focus on their respective key markets - will be able to tap into each other`s strengths to offer a total Internet connectivity solution to a broad range of users, from dial-up users to the SMME, as well as to large corporates.
IOP, which has differentiated itself by being the only company in South Africa to offer flexible, user-defined on-line Internet connectivity to corporate parks and office blocks, also adds value through a range of auxiliary products and services. These extend from providing PC rentals, to Web page hosting and development services, electronic commerce products, security and training.
CiTEC New Africa
CiTEC New Africa is a tier one, true IAP, with access to international circuits equating to 45Mb via satellite and 6Mb via SAT 2 terrestrial circuits. It conforms to international standards in every respect and is the only IAP to offer Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with respect to uptime, latency delay and throughput.
Unlike Internet Service Providers (ISPs), which manage Internet access to the point of entry to the public network - which is often unreliable - CiTEC is able to guarantee access by managing the network right into the clients` premises. The company`s innovative `last mile` technologies ensure 100% reliability - with access speeds 10 times faster than traditional networks.
Currently its infrastructure is concentrated in Johannesburg, Durban, Windhoek, Cape Town and New York, while another approximately 48 major areas have been identified as having the potential to attain the critical mass needed to roll out high speed last-mile solutions.