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Next Generation Networks

The communications landscape in healthcare is changing. Traditional, copper-based and circuit-switched architectures are struggling to keep up with the demands being placed on them.

They are giving way to Next Generation Networks, based on fibre-optics and packet-switched technology. These are opening up new opportunities for NHS organisations, such as IP CCTV and IP Multimedia – which adds video, collaboration and presence options to Voice over IP services.

Stephen Beynon, managing director of ntl:Telewest Business argues that NGNs will not only form the "backbone" of businesses in the 21st Century, but that they will transform their internal and external communications.

"NGNs provide the infrastructure for businesses to make use of new communications tools such as mobile, VoIP, video," he says. "They allow for convergence, after many years of hype."

NGNs will also contribute to the transformation of healthcare, by allowing more of what is currently done in hospitals to be moved into community settings, nearer to patient's homes.

NHS Hounslow invested in an ntl:Telewest Business IP Multimedia solution when it first became a primary care trust in 2002. It now has a robust communications infrastructure on which it is now planning to build as it modernises its GP surgeries and creates new health centres for its local community.

	Next Generation Networks Next Generation Networks have emerged as the successor to traditional copper-based and circuit-switched legacy networks. They herald a new era in communications, security and track and trace technology; and hold out the promise of a transformation in patient care.

	Stephen Beynon audio interview Stephen Beynon, managing director of ntl:Telewest Business talks about next generation networks and the role of his company in providing them. He argues that NGNs form the "backbone" of organisations in the 21st Century, transforming communications internally and externally. Listen to the audio now.

	Case Study: NHS Hounslow When NHS Hounslow first became a primary care trust in 2002, it inherited a mix of voice and data services that needed upgrading. To create a robust infrastructure for the long term, it turned to ntl:Telewest Business IP Multimedia.


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