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Enhancing Communication Efficiency and Integration into Existing Infrastructure

Suffolk_NHS_Foundatio

  • Industry: Healthcare
  • Use case: Emergency Communication
  • Location: United Kingdom
  • Employees: 3,000
 

Highly effective tool for communicating urgent information

 

Strictly controlled publishing rights, ensuring that the system was used only for emergency communications

 

Developed a usage policy in collaboration with HR to ensure users understood how to use DeskAlerts effectively and responsibly

Company overview

West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust faced significant communication challenges, particularly in disseminating critical information across the organisation, which includes around 5,000 endpoint PCs. Traditional communication methods like email were not always effective, especially in urgent situations or when systems were down.

Summary

Ineffective communication during urgent situations created operational risks for West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust. They implemented DeskAlerts to deliver real-time emergency messages directly to staff desktops, even out of hours. The system integrated smoothly with Active Directory, ensured message control through strict publishing rights, and helped the Trust respond faster during critical IT and operational events.

img West Suffolk NHS

Challenge

West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust sought a more reliable and efficient communication tool that could integrate well with the existing infrastructure, specifically Active Directory, and provide a means to quickly disseminate critical information to the right people at the right time.

Solution

After researching various options and considering a similar solution used at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, the foundation decided to implement DeskAlerts.

This decision was influenced by its better integration with Active Directory compared to alternatives, competitive pricing, and positive references from other organisations. The system allowed for direct messages to be sent to desktop PCs and groups of staff, ensuring high visibility among clinical staff and operational teams who might not regularly check emails.

DeskAlerts was implemented to serve as a primary tool for communicating critical alerts and information.

The implementation process involved careful planning, preparing the organisation for the arrival of DeskAlerts through various communication routes, training for those authorised to send alerts, and a controlled rollout to ensure users were prepared for the new system.

Implementation was led by Liz Fox, IT Technical Project Manager, supported by Paul Dickerson, Cyber Security Officer.

quote2

DeskAlerts was easy to implement. Once the preparation was complete, many senior staff requested access to publish alerts; however, we had to limit the number of staff who had publishing rights to ensure the system was correctly used, following Trust Policy. It has proved invaluable for contacting staff out of hours.

Liz Fox
IT Technical Project Manager
quote2

Since the implementation of DeskAlerts at WSFT, the system has been a lifesaver during out-of-hours situations to get urgent messages out trust-wide. It has also saved a lot of time trying to hunt down individual computer assets, where we have been able to utilise a single message to a machine for important notices, such as keeping a machine powered on.

Russell Williams
Senior Endpoint Engineer

Result

DeskAlerts proved to be a highly effective tool for communicating urgent information, especially concerning system downtimes and critical updates.

West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust could strictly control publishing rights, ensuring that the system was used only for business-critical and emergency communications, avoiding misuse for non-essential messages.

User Guides, collaboration with the IT Service Desk, training sessions via Teams, and the development of a usage policy in collaboration with HR ensured users understood how to use DeskAlerts effectively and responsibly.

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