New Wireless Networks for Guild Care
Guild Care is a Sussex based charity organisation providing much needed services for older people, people with dementia, carers and children with special needs. Established in 1933 one of the key activities of Guild Care is providing residential care and accommodation for older people.
The four Guild Care homes offer residents and their relatives complete peace of mind with nursing care available 24 hours a day providing as much or as little assistance as is needed.
The Problem
Guild Care has 4 homes with 40-60 residents in each home. The charity decided to invest in a software package to help them maintain their robust systems of record keeping, underpinned by a dynamic and responsive system of care planning. The HET software has been developed and tailored to meet the needs of the organisation, an innovative approach for a care supplier. Through wireless mobile terminals, it provides a transparent mechanism for monitoring interventions, observations and resident goals and helps them focus on the experience of those using their service.
The Requirements
In order for this system to be used throughout the four care homes, Guild Care required wireless networks to be deployed. Guild Care IT Manager James Holley was in charge of the project and explained how Guild Care came to consider Cavendish for the project. “We had spoken to the team at Cavendish previously about various telephone system needs and so we contacted them to find out if they had a wireless solution. We were quickly put in touch with the Cavendish wireless team.”
Choosing Cavendish
Asked about the response from Cavendish, James Holley replied that he had been very happy with the response. “Cavendish were able to offer two different wireless network solutions, one from Extricom and another from Aerohive. The wireless project managers from Cavendish understood our requirements and were very proactive providing pricing and technical details for both solutions,” explained James.
Choosing the Extricom Wireless Network
Asked why Guild Care had chosen the Extricom wireless solution from Cavendish, James Holley explained that having considered both options, the Extricom solution appeared to offer two key benefits that suited Guild Care’s needs:
• The ultra-thin access points offered better roaming between wireless cells, which could be useful in the future if Guild Care wanted to add wireless telephones to the network.
• The blanket technology made it possible to run separate networks over the same infrastructure, which could provide wireless internet access for residents and visitors that would not interfere with the very critical care management software.
The Installation
Commenting on the installation, James Holley said,
“I found all of the Cavendish engineers to be very approachable, polite accommodating and helpful.”
“They did an excellent job of overcoming problems faced due to the construction of some of our properties. They were happy to advise on and source any additional equipment.”
“The engineers were flexible enough to carry out extra work, which was outside of the project scope and still finished within the project time frames. All works were completed to an excellent standard.”
“The cabling and project managers were always easily contactable and visited the site regularly. The project manager did an excellent job of maintaining the smooth running of the project.”
“We enjoyed excellent correspondence between all parties involved making the Project Manager our one point of contact. He was always quick to respond to any queries that arose.”
Recommendation
Summing up Guild Care’s experience of working with Cavendish, James Holley said,
“The team at Cavendish had always been proactive and easily contactable. All the work was completed to an excellent standard and within timescales. I would be happy to recommend Cavendish to other organisations.”
