Georgia Poison Control

As the only poison emergency treatment information service in the state, the Georgia Poison Center (GPC) receives more than 100,000 calls per year from doctors, emergency medical professionals, worried parents and residents. For more than 40 years, GPC has offered 24/7 medical diagnostic expertise about human and animal poisonings. With a move to a new facility, and a mounting need to amplify how it manages calls and work mobility, GPC wanted to re-engineer their phone system to address growing challenges.

“Our job is to be up and running when a caller needs help. We must have a phone solution that we can absolutely rely on to be working around the clock as we do. Also, we’re looking for a way to empower teleworkers, to enable some staff members to work from the office or from home if credentialed to do so…The right telephony solution could really make the difference for the center and our constituents.”

— Gaylord Lopez, Pharm. D., DABAT and Director, Georgia Poison Center.

The incumbent telephone system was no longer meeting the GPC’s expansion and flexibility requirements. An existing call distribution program could not be customized to accommodate the influx of inbound traffic – agents had limited ability to route and handle calls and requests. And the phone infrastructure’s reliability was a growing concern.

“There was one defining moment even before the evaluation process when one vendor came in over a VoIP line with remote access, hoping to show us the teleworking function—and it wasn’t very good quality. Other solutions were either too complicated or too server-based. Then we discovered ShoreTel’s reliability, simplicity and price and knew we had a great fit.”
— Gaylord Lopez, Pharm. D., DABAT and Director, Georgia Poison Center.

Georgia Poison Control’s deployment of the ShoreTel Unified Communications solution revolutionizes how the center coordinates call traffic and telework opportunities. For the new facility’s call center, GPC installed ShoreTel Enterprise Contact Center application and more than 50 ShoreTel IP 565 Telephones with advanced features and hands-free calling. GPC plans to double the number of teleworkers this year, and possibly expand to grant the entire team remote access, due to the successful deployment of the new VoIP system.  Benefits include:

• An easily managed intuitive interface that supports reliability requirements for 24/7 operations.
• Expedited call routing and greater outreach opportunities using flexible tools, real-time views of call activity and a unified desktop experience.

“Perhaps the most important attribute is the reliability of the ShoreTel system. It has proved to be operational 24/7. For all of us at the GPC, the ShoreTel system gives us a collective peace of mind knowing that we can always be available when it matters.”
— Gaylord Lopez, Pharm. D., DABAT and Director, Georgia Poison Center.