April 15th, what does this day mean to you? For most U.S. citizens, it isn’t a day to look forward to. That’s because it’s the day our taxes are due. While it is part of our civic responsibility, I would venture to say that few people really enjoy the tax season; even CPAs are crazed during this time of year. And it isn’t only the pain of cutting a check if you are one of the unfortunate ones who owes money; it is also the cumbersome process of getting your taxes done.
But I’ve noticed something a little different this tax season, ads about tax services are heavily focused on expertise vs. ease. TurboTax, TaxAct, H&R Block, you name it, all seem to be promoting the credentials of their tax experts and the quality experience you will have when you engage with them. This could be due to the added levels of complexity related to changes in rules and regulations from year to year, or it could be that people are having issues with accuracy. Regardless, the “experts” promise a better experience.
We’ve seen Cisco TelePresence making a difference in health care. Most recently, it helped connect Children’s Hospitals with the North Pole for the holidays, and now its uses have extended to saving lives.
There are few things in life that are more important than your health and the health of your loved ones. Lack of time has become a major factor in people not seeking out the medical care they need. Therefore, health care providers have had to keep up with this ongoing issue and find ways to ensure patients receive the care they need.
Oklahoma’s largest health care system, INTEGRIS was one of those providers. Faced with the challenge of delivering the quality they desired, INTEGRIS was looking for an effective way to connect hospitals throughout the area to increase employee collaboration and improve patient care. With the help of Cisco collaboration technology, Cisco TelePresence and Cisco Jabber, INTEGRIS has established a life-saving program that has decreased stroke mortality rates and increased access to health specialists.
At Enterprise Connect we made a number of announcements about Cisco’s pervasive conferencing strategy and new solutions that caused quite a buzz at the show and are really resonating with our customers. More and more I talk to business leaders who understand the value of pervasive video collaboration and their next questions are:
How do I extend HD video to everyone in the organization on any device, from their personal mobile or desktop system through to group telepresence systems?
How do we ensure each participant gets a high quality experience, matched to the capabilities of the device(s) they choose to use?
And how do I provide this flexibility and scale affordably?
Recently I spoke to my colleague, Richard Mullen, about how our new optimized conferencing infrastructure is supporting this explosion of video-enabled users. With flexible and intelligent resource pooling and orchestration enabling a tailored service model, we are delivering affordable personal HD multiparty conferencing at an equivalent of only Read More »
In March, I make an annual journey from Dallas to Orlando – not to visit that famous mouse or take a Spring break. No, I am there with thousands of IT, telecom, and networking professionals who have descended upon Orlando to attend Enterprise Connect, the leading conference and expo on enterprise communications and collaboration.
This year, both Jimmy Ray and Robb (along with the amazing TechWiseTV crew) joined me to capture all of the excitement, announcements, and cool demos.
If you missed the conference, don’t fret. We have all of the highlights here!
First, I caught up with Rob Lloyd immediately after his keynote to get the scoop on the Internet of Everything and how it will impact businesses.
More than 20 years ago when INTEGRIS Health chose to invest in collaboration technologies, little did they know they were making a decision that would one day save lives.
With more than 16 hospitals and 9,000 employees throughout Oklahoma, INTEGRIS is the state’s largest health care system. An early adopter of telemedicine, they implemented video technology in the early 1990s. But what started simply as an effective way to connect hospitals has grown into a life-saving program that has decreased stroke mortality rates and increased access to health specialists.
What’s INTEGRIS’ secret? A team of top medical professionals armed with Cisco’s leading edge collaboration technologies. Solutions like Cisco TelePresence and Cisco Jabber allow two-way, interactive collaboration between doctors and patients to support INTEGRIS’ telehealth programs that treat everything from mental health illness and speech impairments to stroke and Hepatitis C patients.
April 15th, what does this day mean to you? For most U.S. citizens, it isn’t a day to look forward to. That’s because it’s the day our taxes are due. While it is part of our civic responsibility, I would venture to say that few people really enjoy the tax season; even CPAs are crazed during this time of year. And it isn’t only the pain of cutting a check if you are one of the unfortunate ones who owes money; it is also the cumbersome process of getting your taxes done.
