We are Now a Fully High Definition Telehealth Network!

[TelehealthMan]

Hi All;
We just finished a complete refresh of our telehealth equipment and WAN. So now, after lots of hard work, we are a fully High Definition Telehealth Network! I think we may be one of the first in the world!
I really don't know of another network anywhere that is fully HD.

Hey I just had to tell someone and you guys on this forum are probably some of the only people who would understand and perhaps care :)

The picture quality increase is amazing. Our clinicians are already reporting that this is a clinically significant upgrade. We also transitioned to a MPLS fibre optic WAN with QoS at the same time. We have been pumping 720p back and forth over 1170 Kilometers and it is working very well so far.
I hope nobody minds if I put this in the Telehealth section too.

[whitebuffalo]

Congrats man. i was told we were the first criminal justice system to be all HD. the difference is significant in picture quality! :D

[JustBuck24]

What type of eps are you using. What bridge are you using?

[rfrench]

TelehealthMan,
Congratulations!
We are considering the purchase of an RMX2000 at SIU School of Medicine. I was hoping to find someone using one and ask what issues they have, both successes and failures. We have a mix of (Polycom) ViewStations, VSX and implementing HDX 9000 series equipment.

[Niel.C]

Hi all, I'm with the Telehealth Man!!
We don't use an RMX2000. We have all Tandberg endpoints, mostly Edge 85s and 95s. We also don't have an internal bridge, we receive our bridging services from an outside provider.

I can tell you that having made the switch was not easy. Especially with the fact that we not only changed all our endpoints, but also moved from a nearly all ISDN network to a full IP setup. Was a lot of work but well worth it. :happy:

[TelehealthMan]

Thanks for the kind words of encouragement folks.
We are using Tandberg endpoints; mostly Edge 95 models.For HD 720p we need at least 1.5 Mbps to get a decent framerate. The picture quality is amazingly good.
Peace Country Health is located in Alberta Canada and run on a province wide fiber based MPLS network called Alberta Supernet. This province wide WAN is really great. Our main facility has a 1 Gbps link to Alberta Supernet. Other smaller facilities have 100 Mbps (not just for Video). We have QoS implemented throughout the network so video is prioritised. We use several external bridge providers in Alberta.
Our clinical work is almost exclusively point to point.

We have an ISDN Gateway so if anyone wants to do a test call into our network just let me know.

[ranjithvarier]

hi !

Congrdz!! :)

Do you have any idea about the video bridge used by your service provider?

[TelehealthMan]

Hi;

We use several bridge providers. One is a Polycom MGC 100, the other is a Tandberg MPS 800.

The Tandberg can do HD

[Efortysix]

I am curious about HD video calls, I have been away from this sector for some time and have lost traffic of the recent improvements.

Do the HD calls use h.264 or is there a new standard?

[Sean Lessman]

Do the HD calls use h.264 or is there a new standard?

H.264

Sean

[TelehealthMan]

YUP H.264 and a bit more bandwidth than before :)

[Conquest_Tsi]

How many sites do you have?

Are you guys running VOIP across the network or soley VC as your interactive/real time data?

What kind of LCD/Plasmas are you guys using for ur HD screens?

Are you looking at putting in a border controller for ext HD calls?

[leprechaun]

We have still a way to go here in ON...

[Niel.C]

Conquest_Tsi, here are some answers for you:

- yes we are running VOIP over our network as well. Not at all sites, but maybe half. We also push all our network data around over the WAN, digital Xrays and everything else we do in health care.
- we currently have 35 sites.
- we use Sharp Aquos LCD screens, 46 and 52 inch are our standards.
- we have a BC but do not currently support calls over the public internet.

Hope that answers your questions.