Centre for Digestive Diseases

Located in Sydney Australia, the Centre for Digestive Diseases (CDD) is internationally regarded as a unique medical institution, collaborating with pharmaceutical companies, universities, and medical societies to achieve excellence in gastroenterology. It has distinguished itself as a unique medical institution offering novel approaches in researching, diagnosing, and treating gastrointestinal (GI) conditions.

“We had to get a reliable and robust system to ensure viable medical communications for the wellbeing of our patients. I had heard of the ShoreTel UC system through one of our IT staff. ShoreTel had a good reputation.”
- Professor Thomas Borody, Medical Director, Centre for Digestive Diseases.

When the Centre for Digestive Diseases (CDD) in Sydney’s outer west discovered that its server-based VoIP system was causing a breakdown in communications between medical staff and callers due to poor voice quality and congestion at reception, doctors feared for patients’ lives. Time was running out for the centre's director when he decided on the ShoreTel Unified Communications (UC) system recommended by integration specialist, PTS Communications.

“It got to the stage that we couldn’t hear the Health Insurance Commission giving us prescription numbers. That’s when we began to worry.”
- Professor Thomas Borody, Medical Director, Centre for Digestive Diseases.

ShoreTel provided the Centre for Digestive Diseases (CDD) with a ShoreTel 60 and a ShoreTel E1 Voice Switch comprising 39 extensions. The purchase also included mailbox licences, one operator licence, and one extension-only licence. There are currently 30 full-time and part-time staff with two staff in the IT Department. The deployment was supported by local reseller PTS, who also handled end-user training. Other benefits include:

• The system was up and running in less than two days, minimizing downtime.
• The system, which looks and behaves like a single, unified platform, scales with plug-and-play simplicity, lowering acquisition costs and maintenance costs and bringing down overall total cost of ownership.
• The system’s built-in suite of versatile, real-time tools — including telephony control, instant messaging (IM), and collaboration services — frees employees to spend more time helping patients.

“Productivity has increased thus a direct return on investment can be justified. We have estimated the system will pay for itself in less than two years. As bookings are made via phone, this return on investment estimate may be even sooner than expected.”
- Prof. Thomas Borody Medical Director, Centre for Digestive Diseases.