Sponsor Spotlight: SDC Solutions, Inc. (SDC)

SDC Solutions, Inc., a division of Amcom Software, is a leading provider of mission-critical communications solutions.  Through a robust suite of products, including IntelliDESK^® PC-based Console, IntelliSPEECH^® Intelligent Virtual Agent, WebSERVICES Web-based Directory, IPSERVICES IP-based Directory, and Event and Emergency Notification, SDC integrates industry standard technologies to provide easy access to centralized directory knowledge.  SDC products streamline communications to increase patient safety and satisfaction, boost staff productivity, and reduce operating costs.  They can be used together as part of a total call handling solution or individually, based on an organization's needs. 

SDC is committed to combining the most innovative technological concepts with solid traditional values in order to provide our customers and partners with secure, reliable communications, mission-critical solutions, and unparalleled customer satisfaction.  SDC is known for its superior service, custom development, implementation, training, and customer support. 

History: SDC Solutions was founded as System Development Company of New Hampshire in 1984 by President and CEO Joseph Jarnutowski, an already seasoned healthcare professional.  Upon its inception, SDC was quickly chosen as an IBM business partner in the Application Specialist Program to develop application integrations for communications throughout hospital facilities.

In 1986, SDC began working with Siemens Business Communications (then ROLM) for the integration of voice and data (CTI).  In 1989, Siemens selected SDC as its first business partner in the Complimentary Applications Program for healthcare and other industries.  SDC has since expanded their list of application partners to involve several major PBX vendors, including Avaya, CISCO, Ericsson, Fujitsu, NEC, NORTEL, and 3COM.

In 2005, System Development Company of New Hampshire launched its new corporate identity as SDC Solutions.  The new identity reflected the evolution of SDC over its more than 20-year history, growing from a development company into a true solutions provider.  This new identity accurately communicated SDC's commitment to innovation, efficiency, and most importantly, customer service and support. 

Based in Manchester, New Hampshire, SDC has field offices throughout the United States.  Through its more than two decades in business, SDC has become a trusted and reliable provider of cost-effective tools that help healthcare organizations conduct business more efficiently.

Products: The core of SDC's solution is a comprehensive enterprise database which houses all information critical to a healthcare environment and is automatically kept up-to-date by leveraging existing HR and patient information systems.  This single database is accessible by a suite of products designed to integrate with and reinforce each other, thus creating an all-inclusive solution, helping hospitals streamline and facilitate all forms of communications across the organization.  SDC's products are adaptable to organizations of all sizes and integrate seamlessly into most PBX environments in a standard Windows-based setting.

IntelliDESK®: IntelliDESK is a comprehensive PC-based attendant console designed to meet specific healthcare requirements.  IntelliDESK provides operator-access to the comprehensive enterprise database and delivers critical hospital information, such as on-call schedules, physician, staff and patient contact information, employee status, departmental information, and emergency procedures, directly to the operators' desktops.  Using a programmable keyboard designed specifically for healthcare, operators are able to process more calls in less time and with greater accuracy.  Ultimately, operator efficiency improves, leading to enhanced customer service. 

IntelliDESK highlights include:

• Contact Preferences and Notes: Provides all the information necessary to get the right calls to the right person.

• Emergency Processing: Supplies the operator with a pre-defined list of emergencies, proper procedures, immediate paging, and autodialing to pre-defined emergency teams.  Includes automatic transaction logging. 

• Park and Retrieve/Meet Me Paging: Frees operators by allowing them to "park" a call on a designated extension and notify the recipient via a "Meet Me" page.  The call may be retrieved without additional operator assistance. 

• Programmable Keyboard: Provides single keystroke access to IntelliDESK features and functions, thereby promoting efficiency and eliminating potential keystroke errors.

IntelliSPEECH®: IntelliSPEECH Intelligent Virtual Agent provides natural access to the comprehensive enterprise database via the spoken word.  Inbound callers may connect their own call, initiate a page, or access information by stating a command rather than using operator assistance or confusing touchtone menus.  Used as a virtual hospital employee, IntelliSPEECH eliminates up to eighty percent of routine calls, allowing operators to provide the highest level of customer support and manage tasks that are more complex.  Incoming calls are answered by a pleasant virtual operator, combining state of the art technology with a human touch. 

IntelliSPEECH highlights include:

• Emergency Notification System (ENS): Automates the process of emergency paging and auto-dialing.

• Unique User Identification: Ensures system security by authenticating users before allowing system access or modifications. 

• Email Reader: Enables callers to create, retrieve, and reply to emails using speech. 

• Custom Greetings: Allows different internal and external greetings.  In addition, external greetings can be changed in real-time and scheduled as needed from the telephone.

WebSERVICES: Designed to deliver employee access to the comprehensive enterprise database, WebSERVICES facilitates easy-to-use database search capabilities for physicians and staff with Web access, both desktop and mobile.  WebSERVICES also improves the process of managing departmental on-call schedules by empowering departments to easily and securely update this information, eliminating multiple data entry and ensuring that all operators have immediate access to the most accurate information. 

WebSERVICES is comprised of three components:

• Directory: Delivers the same directory used by operators to all employees via the Intranet.  From the directory, employees can look up numbers, pocket page, change personal status, send email, and temporarily reassign pagers. 

• Administration/Personal: Allows authorized users to edit information and schedules and enables departments to input their own changes to the directory and on-call schedules. 

• OnCall: Allows on-call schedules to be viewed from any computer on the Intranet.  Users are able to view the schedules for various departments, as well as access contact information and pocket page from this screen

IPSERVICES: IPSERVICES is designed to save critical time by allowing employees to access the comprehensive enterprise database directly from IP display phones.  Each directory search provides status, title, department, extension, and pager or messaging device.  Additional information can be provided according to an organization's specific needs.  IPSERVICES saves time by allowing employees to connect their call or launch a page directly from the IP screen and further promotes directory accuracy by providing employees with an additional way to update their status.  Ultimately, IPSERVICES helps expedite accurate internal communications without operator assistance, saving critical employee time and effort by allowing operators to devote more attention to customer service. 

IPSERVICES highlights include:

• OnCall: Allows on-call schedules to be viewed from any IP display phone.  Users are able to view the schedules for various departments, as well as access contact information and page from the display screen.

• Emergency Procedures: With proper authorization, users can launch an emergency, with request for response, from any IP display phone.

IPBanner: IPBanner is an IP-based messaging application that delivers an unlimited number of banner messages to an unlimited number of IP display phones.  In a healthcare environment, IPBanner is extremely useful for pushing notifications, such as department meeting updates, site events, or JCAHO arrival dates and times, to administration, staff, and outlying clinics.  The banners are simple to create, support text and high-resolution graphics, and can be delivered one at a time or on a specified rotation.  Customer-defined endpoints can be used for messages requiring a response.  Organizations can also employ the application as a revenue-generating source by selling banner ads to local businesses and restaurants.

Additional Product Modules: SDC provides a comprehensive selection of additional product modules that augment the base product offering.  Additional product modules include:

• Paging

• Messaging

• OnCall

• Enhanced Call Handling

• Park and Retrieve

• Administration

• Directory Updates (EDIX)

• Patient Information Module (PIM)

• Physician's Message Delivery

• Property Management System Integration (PMSI)

Custom Solutions: In addition to packaged applications, SDC specializes in creating individualized custom applications and integrations to address customer's specific business challenges.