The virtual tour was guided by the district’s technology director, Mike Wellin. Wellin demonstrated how the new Sharepoint program allows teachers and administrators to share their lesson plans and other information with one another through classroom computers. He also highlighted a new security camera system which was purchased through the fundraising efforts of the PTO.

Using a computer in the board offices on Cherry Street, Wellin accessed live feeds from one of the cameras in the high school auditoria on Park Avenue. He explained that the same live feed would be available to law enforcement personnel whose cruisers are equipped with computers linked to the system.

According to Wellin, “Mount Gilead school district took an enterprise-wide approach when implementing the Cisco IP telephony system across all of its schools. This approach seamlessly added applications and technologies to the network, such as video streaming, IP video cameras, and wireless alerting devices including panic buttons, window and door sensors, smoke detectors and glass break sensors.”>

He explained that when a panic button is activated, a voice or text alert is sent, either to an administrator, or to law enforcement.

“The PTO at Park Avenue wanted to support efforts being made by the district to improve safety technologies already in place,” Wellin said. “They allocated $5,000 toward the purchase of video surveillance technology to be used across the school system. Outdoor cameras typically retail for $950 each, while indoor cameras are about $450.”

The PTO purchased one indoor and three outdoor cameras, the video server and necessary sensors. An additional four cameras, alerting devices, and labor costs were funded through a drug free grant in the amount of $8,391.

In addition to providing increased security, the camera system has also lowered the costs of the district’s liability insurance.

Royal Park Place - an Independent Living community by Providence Life Services - in Zeeland, MI, will soon be using SARA's wireless emergency call capabilities to address life safety in their community.  SARA is a simple to use, yet powerful alerting engine, which sends voice and text alerts to in-building pagers, email, telephones, cell phones, radios, CCTV and paging systems.  This allows both staff and residents to be notified of important events at any time, no matter where they are located.  Staff members can quickly address safety and security concerns or environmental problems before they turn into emergencies.

"We chose SARA and Status Solutions because of their ability to integrate multiple, disparate systems and to consolidate all of the systems we had in place to allow us to manage these various components from an enterprise perspective," states Carl Goodfriend, CIO of ProviNET - IT division of Providence Life Services.

Providence Life Services, formerly Rest Haven Christian Services, started as a single nursing home in 1959 and has since expanded to provide more aging services to even more people.  Providence Life Services operates under the core value that people deserve better care, and they continue to develop new services to meet new needs.  Providence Life Services is headquartered in Tinley Park, IL and has four Rehabilitation and Skilled Care communities and eight Independent and Assisted Living communities. Providence also offers Hospice services in Illinois and other in-home services throughout Illinois and Michigan.  Two additional communities are currently under construction in Illinois and Indiana.

As Providence Life Services began offering more and more healthcare options, they developed in-house technology expertise. ProviNET Solutions was formed as a technology division that could offer comprehensive technology support to Providence Life Services, as well as to a wide range of other organizations.
SARA provides staff a better means of communicating with residents, as well as system ease of use in terms of adds, moves and changes.  The two communities currently using SARA can leverage internal IT resources at ProviNET as their first line of technical support.  ProviNET is versed in the SARA solution, so that they can support Providence Life Services communities as needed.  With remote access, the ProviNET IT staff can easily log into a community's SARA server, diagnose and resolve a problem, only engaging the Status Solutions support team when needed.

"Status Solutions was selected as the vendor of choice because of their knowledge of the senior housing and healthcare industry, as well as their ability to demonstrate the benefits of SARA during the discovery phase of the selection process.  Customer references speak volumes in terms of clearly understanding the benefits a community can expect from implementing a new solution.  Status Solutions customers are happy to share their experiences with other potential customers, which speaks volumes to the level of service they receive," stated Carl Goodfriend, CIO of ProviNET.

The key advantage of implementing SARA across multiple communities is the ability to integrate various low voltage systems into a central point for more efficient management.  Prior to SARA, each of the Providence Life Services managed communities made their own decisions in terms of acquiring systems such as nurse call.  Providence Life Services used this consolidation model previously when streamlining their phone systems.  They chose a single vendor to service their 12 communities and have realized a vast improvement in efficiency, as well a significant cost savings.  They expect a similar scenario when eventually implementing SARA across all of their campuses.

"We did the due diligence necessary to determine that SARA is, in our opinion, the best system to provide the most value for our communities.  SARA's expandable platform, which includes extensive integration capability and broadcast communication, allows the technology to grow with our communities now and in the future," comments Bill Sherrard, CRSA's VP Purchasing & Operations Development and President of VIP Purchasing.

During this certification process the SARA system has undergone strenuous testing and has met the necessary requirements to be installed in either general or critical care areas.  This demonstrates SARA's ability to bring both traditional nurse call elements, as well as current generation communication tools together into a single solution.  SARA is the natural solution for communities looking to implement state of the art technology solutions across their entire campus regardless of the regulatory criteria required in certain areas.  By obtaining UL 1069 certification Status Solutions can provide a scalable solution that will meet the needs of communities as they grow and change to meet the needs of the aging population.

Many assisted living, independent living and senior nursing facilities have benefited from installing SARA.  While the benefits from the system are similar, the reason for choosing this flexible type of technology varies based upon the individual community's needs.  Kendal at Ithaca located in Ithaca, NY provides Independent Living, Adult Home, and Skilled Nursing Units.  The overarching goal for implementing SARA is to improve resident safety and mobility, and staff efficiency. Status Solutions will provide a new wireless infrastructure and devices where needed.  The SARA solution will also integrate to the communities' other monitoring devices and safety systems. SARA will become the central nervous system and therefore allow complete control of alerts, event reporting, and monitoring of all devices.  Using SARA's wander prevention and awareness capabilities will enable an integrated wander prevention solution that combines versatile alerting, rules based egress, and complete reporting of wandering events.

Kendal at Lexington located in Lexington, VA is a continuing care retirement community (CCRC) offering apartment and cottage options for independent living residents, the Webster Center for assisted living residents, and the Benjamin Borden Health Center for residents that require full level skilled nursing care.   The overall strategy is to leverage and extend the various life safety systems currently in place. An integrated and improved wander prevention system will also be installed. Improved resident safety and staff efficiency and productivity will be made possible through integrated event reports, staff reminders and campus-wide accessibility of vital system data.   "We are encouraged, as we have come to know the people and approaches of Status Solutions, that we will be creating a strategy and relationship for the future.  It is refreshing to feel the mutual excitement in our teams around the possibilities that can come out of our working together closely.  We expect, and look forward to, a very creative and productive partnership," commented John Diffey, Chief Executive Officer of The Kendal Corporation.

SARA will also enable the Kendal communities to make better use of their current technology investments by integrating to computers, email, and telephone systems already in place at both communities.  Because SARA can send alerts in text and voice format, on-site and off-site staff and/or emergency personnel will be able to receive vital alerts when needed via cell phone, pager, email or home phone.  SARA will also be used to improve resident satisfaction and involvement through the use of voice automated reminders.  This capability allows alerts for community events, scheduled activities, inclement weather updates, facility construction warnings, and medicine reminders to be scheduled and automatically sent via phone to designated residents and / or staff members.

Lakewood Manor, affiliated with Virginia Baptist Homes, located in Richmond, Va. selected SARA to improve their existing nurse call system through automation and integration to other systems and devices.  The building of 3 new independent apartment villas, made up of 10 units each, totaling 30 units gave Lakewood Manor the perfect opportunity to implement a solution that would allow their existing systems to work together more cohesively.  "We were looking for a way to have consistency from a safety standpoint across our entire campus.  We knew what we wanted and Status Solutions knew how to get us there," states Jim Jacobsen, Lakewood's Administrator of Support Services.

The wireless "bubble" that SARA has enabled at Lakewood Manor encompasses the entire community, and allows the staff to know both when and where an incident occurs.  With integrations to the nurse call system, the fire system and devices such as pull cords, pendants and motion sensors, the SARA system also enables reporting of historical events.  The motion based check-in component of SARA allows for an email to be sent to designated staff members when sensors in the specified residents' rooms detect movement before 11:00AM each morning.  If staff members do not receive the "check-in" message by the pre-determined time, then they know they should go to the resident's room to see if they need assistance.  "Family members think the motion based check-in process is a great enhancement to the community.  It gives them the peace of mind that their loved one will not be left alone in their room if an accident occurs," comments Jim Jacobsen.

Westminster-Canterbury of the Blue Ridge, located in Charlottesville, Va., chose to partner with Status Solutions and to implement SARA in order to overcome the increased communication challenges they were experiencing.  The community wanted to update and expand its technology capabilities where resident care and safety were concerned.  Their architect put them in touch with Status Solutions, and they are now currently implementing the SARA solution.

Westminster-Canterbury is considering the option of extending wireless pendants to all of their residents to enable notification of an incident, regardless of location, to staff members the moment the incident occurs.  They may also take advantage of the motion based check-in feature, as well as the automated voice reminders.  SARA can send alerts for community events, scheduled activities, bus departure and medicine reminders.  The reminders can be scheduled and automatically sent via phone to designated residents and/ or staff members.

Scott Hilles, Vice President at Westminster-Canterbury, comments,"We really feel that the sky is the limit.  SARA has so much to offer our community, and we are looking forward to exploring all of the enhanced capabilities this technology can provide to our staff and residents."

Many assisted living, independent living and senior nursing facilities have benefited from installing SARA.  While the benefits from the system are similar, the reason for choosing this flexible type of technology varies based upon the individual community's needs.

Springmoor Life Care Retirement Community in Raleigh, N.C. selected SARA to extend mobile safety coverage to their residents while leveraging their current infrastructure.  SARA will integrate to various systems, such as their fire safety system, to improve alerting.  Springmoor's Executive Director Kyle Dilday comments, "We chose Status Solutions because SARA was the only system we could find that would allow us to take our environment wireless in phases, while still utilizing our existing hardware, for example pull cords.  After implementing the alerting capabilities of the system we look forward to making use of some of SARA's additional features like the automated voice reminders."

Penick Village in Southern Pines, N.C. chose to partner with Status Solutions and to implement SARA in order to provide more freedom to their residents throughout the Healthcare facility, Assisted Living community and Independent Living apartments.  Jeff Hutchins, Penick Village's Executive Director, states, "After implementing SARA, we are able to provide better opportunities to our residents, for example through the use of wireless pendants that enable better coverage and service throughout the community."  Regarding the quality of service Status Solutions has provided Penick Village during and after the implementation of the system, Hutchins comments, "Status Solutions has been a great partner.  We feel like we can call them day or night if there is any type of problem.  They truly care about our residents, and the success of our community."

Both communities plan to utilize SARA's automated voice reminder capability that allows alerts for community events, scheduled activities, bus departure and medicine reminders to be scheduled and automatically sent via phone to designated residents and / or staff members.

There are also plans to leverage the motion based check-in component of SARA that allows for an email to be sent to designated staff members when sensors in the specified residents' rooms detect movement before 1:00PM each day.  If staff members do not receive the "check-in" message by the pre-determined time, then they know they should go to the resident's room to see if they need assistance.

Oct. 2, 2009—At Dogwood Village, a skilled nursing and assisted-living facility in Orange, Va., residents utilize RFID-enabled pendants and pull-cords to summon aid. The solution, provided by Status Solutions, is known as the Situational Awareness and Response Assistant (SARA). This system enables employees to know when a patient has pressed a pendant's alert button, as well as how long it takes for the staff to respond. Dogwood Village is now expanding its SARA deployment, and intends in the future to add temperature-sensing capabilities for such equipment as refrigerators and boilers, as well as locators to determine where in the assisted-living building a resident is when pressing a button.

Previously, Dogwood's skilled nursing rooms, which can accommodate a total of 138 residents, had two-way intercoms to allow residents to request help from the staff. When a patient pulled a cord attached to a switch mounted near her bed, it activated an intercom, enabling her to speak with a nurse working at a central station. That system, however, was not meeting the needs of the patients or employees, says Vernon Baker, Dogwood Village's president. A call could only be heard at the nursing station itself, making it more difficult for the appropriate staff members to respond if they were not at the station. What's more, the two-way calling confused many residents who could press the button for help, but had trouble understanding what nurses were saying over the intercom, or how they should respond. Workers also sometimes had trouble understanding the patients.

Dogwood Village implemented the pull-cord version of the SARA system at its 138-patient nursing home in 2006, and is now installing the pendant version at a new 75-resident assisted-living facility. The RFID-enabled pull-cord devices and pendants, as well as the solution's other RFID hardware, are manufactured by Inovonics.

Each pull-cord or pendant contains an active RFID tag that transmits a 902-928 MHz signal encoded with a unique ID number linked to the resident's name, history, room number and other information stored in the facility's back-end system. The pull-cord device, wired to a power supply, can be attached to a wall or bed. The pendant, which contains an internal battery, attaches to a lanyard worn around a patient's neck, and the patient presses a button on the pendant to summon help.

Each type of device beacons its unique ID number intermittently at all times, in order to confirm it is operating properly. According to Deric Blattenberger, Status Solutions' product manager, an Inovonics repeater (17 such devices are installed at the facility altogether) receives the ID number and sends it to a second repeater, which forwards the data to a centrally located receiver.

If the device's status changes—in other words, if a patient pulls its cord—it sends a modified transmission indicating a patient seeks assistance. The receiver has a cabled connection to the back-end system, where Status Solutions' SARA software receives the data, uses the ID number to determine the name and room of the patient who placed the call, and sends a text alert to the appropriate staff members' pagers or phones.

When a worker receives a text alert on her pager or phone, she sees a display of the patient's name and room number, then reports to that room. There, she resets the switch on the patient's pull-cord device or presses a recessed reset button on the back of the pendant, thus indicating the call has been answered.

If employees do not respond to the call within five minutes, a second page is sent, this time including the charge nurse, and then once more, including the unit manager. If no one responds within 20 minutes, Baker says, he receives a phone call himself.

The assisted-living facility now has 38 residents, though that number is expected to grow to approximately 75. Residents utilize a pendant instead of the pull-cord device used by nursing patients, because assisted-living residents are more mobile.

In both cases, the SARA system not only ensures that every call receives a response, it also records how long that response took. Once the pendant or pull-cord device is reset, the system records the response time, as well as who responded. Management can then use those records to determine how well the staff responds to calls, and track a specific problem if one is reported after the fact.

One example of the system in action illustrates the numerous ways in which it can be used, Baker says. Several weeks ago, he spoke with a resident who indicated the staff had taken too long responding to her calls the previous night. Baker was able to check the SARA records, determine when the calls were placed and which staff member was on call, and speak with that employee. However, he adds, he was also able to surmise that the resident was experiencing high levels of anxiety at the time, pressing the call button approximately 30 times a day for a variety of needs. With that knowledge, he says, the staff was then better able to understand the patient's problems and address them.

In another case, Baker says, family members of a resident indicated she reported not getting responses to her calls. However, the system determined the number of calls she had placed during the night, along with the average response time (for example, 10 calls with an average response of 2 minutes 32 seconds).

In the future, Baker says, the facility intends to install SARA locators, which identify each pendant's location when the call button is pressed. In that way, if a resident requires assistance but is not in his room, the system can identify in which floor and wing he is located. That, he says, will require installing 12 locators at the assisted-living, facility—one each in the north, south, east and west wings of every floor.

Baker says he was initially concerned that employees would resist switching to the SARA system. However, he says, they appreciate seeing just how long their own response times are, and different departments have competed to achieve the quickest response times.

The residents at First Community Village in Columbus, OH, have something similar - but a bit more practical and versatile.

The Situational Awareness and Response Assistant (SARA for short) is an automated alert system.  It can be used for just about anything, from alerting staff in the event of a fall to letting residents know about upcoming activities.

SARA employs a multi-platform system that includes telephone, email and pager alerts for all staff members, as well as resident communications.

Its range of applications is the best part of the SARA System, says FCV Facilities Director Beth Anne Carmen. 

"The activities people love the automated resident calling feature; the nursing staff love the resident alert pendants," she says.

The mult-use SARA system can broadcast alerts to residents and staff, announce activities or emergencies, locate wandering patients or monitor delayed egress doors in a dementia unit.

Status Solutions, a Charlottesville, Va.-based company, provides Situational Awareness and Response Assistant (SARA), an automated alerting system and awareness engine, to vertical markets such as senior housing, health care, education and government.

For more information about this new CAHSA member, please contact Amy Jeffs at 434-296-1789 or ajeffs@statussolutions.com.

About CAHSA (www.cahsa.org)

Established in 1968, the Colorado Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (CAHSA) is the state’s largest nonprofit organization representing a spectrum of providers that deliver services to the elderly. More than 200 member organizations belong to CAHSA, including nursing facilities, retirement communities, independent living housing and community-based services. CAHSA advocates public policy initiatives that support individual rights, quality care, equitable access and reimbursement for seniors. CAHSA is the state affiliate for two national organizations, the Assisted Living Federation of America and the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging.

According to John Baird, Status Solutions Co-Founder and lead developer of this innovative capability, “SPS is the process of SARA automatically creating a multi-dimensional model of the EchoStream RF Infrastructure on the property. The model consists of both fixed devices such as pull cords, wall mounted pendants, smoke detectors, etc. and virtual points of interest within the community.  When a resident activates their mobile device, SARA mathematically compares the location of the mobile resident in question to the model, and provides the closest positions.” 

Through SPS (a vector mapping technology), SARA provides highly accurate location data.  The location information provided to staff shows the proximity of the mobile user to a fixed device or virtual point of interest which can be as accurate as to the apartment. This level of accuracy is not available with traditional RF based systems, and has proven to help improve response times.  For example, a community who already had a good average response time to their alarms was able to reduce it by 45 – 60 seconds when using SPS.  

SARA with its SPS capability is currently deployed at Glenaire, a continuing care retirement community (CCRC) which includes residential living - cottages and apartments, a Community Center with multiple dining venues, wellness center and other services, and a complete Health Care facility, located in Cary, NC.  Sean Huyett, Executive Director at Glenaire, comments “We chose SARA because of the assurance the system will give us that our residents are safe and secure no matter where they are on our campus.  In the event that a resident needs help, we will be able to locate them quickly and easily because of the SPS technology.  We chose Status Solutions as a partner because of the innovative solutions they continue to make available to communities like Glenaire.”

Another facility taking advantage of SARA’s cutting edge positioning system is Arbor Acres United Methodist Retirement Community located in Winston-Salem, NC.  Arbor Acres offers Independent Living, Assisted Living, and Skilled Nursing Care.  LD Burton, Director of Facilities at Arbor Acres, states, “Through SARA’s new Positioning System we can increase the accuracy of the location information that is sent to our emergency responders.  Programming a location into the system is as easy as depressing a pendant in any location and then assigning that location a name in the SARA system.  This gives our residents and their families, and the staff, the peace of mind that Arbor Acres will be able to respond quickly and precisely in an emergency.”

“We are confident that Canadian acute care providers, senior housing facilities, schools, municipalities, manufacturing facilities, etc. will benefit from our innovative alert solutions the same way as our US customers and partners have,” states Mike MacLeod, Status Solutions Co-Founder.

Status Solutions has retained the services of Access2Sales Inc. to expand its offering. Philip Hamlin, Canadian Territory Manager has been working with facilities for more than 20 years to manage challenges through the introduction of technically and financially feasible solutions.  Tim Cavins, Status Solutions SVP of Sales, comments, “Philip was chosen for this role because of his experience helping customers with technical project management including technology integration, network development, implementation and support.” 

This new territory will be supported by a strong dealer network and Status Solutions’ customer-focused implementation and support teams.

Status Solutions’ Canadian office is located at:

1 Yonge Street, Suite 1801

Toronto, Ontario, M5E 1W7

(866) 846-7272 x780

About Access2Sales Inc.

Access2Sales Inc. offers a highly defined set of sales outsourcing services designed to help vendors increase sales among the leading distributors and Value Added Resellers (VARs) in North America.  Based on its extensive network of contacts, certified sales skills and proven track record, Access2Sales expands or establishes new direct sales organizations and channel strategies.  From targeted sales research and coaching to channel partner and sales force deployment, Access2Sales helps domestic and foreign businesses to develop and execute sales strategies. www.access2sales.com

Access2Sales Inc

1 Yonge Street, Suite 1801

Toronto, Ontario, M5E 1W7

For additional information contact:
Philippe Gagne
(416) 306-2485
pgagne@access2sales.com

“There is the issue of ‘Big Brother,’ a kind of friction between the resident and the provider, and also the adult children.  There has to be a balance between the adult children’s thirst for knowledge about what Mom and Dad are up to and what it means, and Mom or Dad’s desire for privacy,” said Mike MacLeod, co-founder of Status Solutions, a Charlottesville, Virginia, manufacturer of alert services.

Providers need enough transparency to be able to monitor behavior and ensure safety, even as residents express their understandable desire to live their lives without the burden of undue observation.

The balance is found in “inferences,” MacLeod says.  “It refers to checking in on people and making an inference based on motion or audio, whatever events there might be, with medicine cabinets or refrigerators opening, for example.  If you open the refrigerator, I don’t know if you have had a drink of orange juice, but I can infer that.  There is a lot of interest in these kind of things.”

SARA will be implemented at three MRC facilities, and each will be leveraging the situational awareness and alerting solution to meet their unique needs.  “Methodist Retirement Communities has selected the SARA awareness engine as our preferred alerting solution.  SARA will allow our communities to create a single alerting platform, leverage existing investments and help us provide a better level of care for our residents.  We are excited about the ongoing partnership with Status Solutions,” comments Brad Stewart Chief Financial Officer for MRC.

PineCrest Retirement Community in Lufkin, TX is a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) offering elegant retirement living with a full range of care, including residential living, assisted living, and health care.  SARA will become the single alerting platform by integrating to the existing Simplex 5001-9000 series nurse call system and the Simplex 4100 fire panel system.  SARA will monitor wireless pull cords and mobile pendants throughout the campus, and will escalate and send alerts via email, phone, text, and pages to the community’s radio devices.  PineCrest will also be using SARA’s patent pending Positioning System (SPS) to provide highly accurate location data.  The location information provided to staff shows the proximity of the mobile user to a fixed device or virtual point of interest which can be as accurate as to the apartment.

Cornerstone Retirement Community in Texarkana, TX is a CCRC with residential and assisted living apartments, health care and Home Health services located on a wooded 56-acre site.  Cornerstone will leverage the wireless infrastructure to extend life safety to its apartment residents, as well as outdoor coverage for the patio homes currently under construction.  All alert notifications will be sent to pre-defined destinations per the modes and actions programming rules determined in SARA.

Crestview Retirement Community in Bryan, TX provides residential living, assisted living, and private pay, Medicare, and Medicaid health care.  Status Solutions will implement a wireless infrastructure for the Crestview campus including the skilled nursing facility, assisted living facility, memory care residence, as well as defined common and outdoor areas.  Wireless pull cords will be installed in each resident apartment and mobile pendants will be used by residents in the assisted living facility.  Hardwired pull cord devices and dome light controllers will be installed in the skilled nursing area in compliance with regulations in the state of Texas.  The Roam Alert wander detection solution will be utilized in the Memory Care unit and cameras will be installed to round out Crestview’s situational awareness solution.

Status Solutions will continue to partner with MRC to help their other communities achieve situational awareness.  Both Status Solutions and MRC are active members of the Texas Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (TAHSA).

The Personal Information Center, currently an advanced prototype in Alpha testing, is an interactive multi-media device delivering information through a touch screen enabled kiosk.  The in-residence devices will enable facilities deploying this unique technology to provide an amenity that will enhance the daily lives of residents, their families and their caregivers.

The Personal Information Center will be generally available in October of 2010, but there is already a growing waiting list to be one of the senior housing facilities throughout the US and Canada that will receive this amenity when it becomes available to the market.

Capabilities include touch-button emergency duress, reminders (activities, medicine), voice reply email, local weather details, etc. The Personal Information Center also carousels interactive advertising and has a directory option allowing sponsors to cover the cost of the device.  Other than set up, there will be no cost to the end user.

With years of experience and hundreds of customers in the senior housing market, Status Solutions understands the technology requirements of this particular market.  Technology must be intuitive and easy-to-use, the provider must be capable of integration and extension, the cost to consumers must be affordable, and products must be available on widely adopted platforms.  The Personal Information Center meets all of these requirements and more importantly improves the daily lives of those who interact with it.

To learn more about the Personal Information Center, visit the Status Solutions booth # 125 at the ALFA Annual Conference & Expo in Phoenix May 25-26.

A Canadian company with more than 18 years of RF (Radio Frequency) experience providing in-building wireless design, integration and support, AirJuice has partnered with Status Solutions to distribute their innovative wireless alert management solutions to the Canadian market.

AirJuice takes great pride in its vendor agnostic, best of breed approach to finding the right solution for the customer. Each of their selected wireless technology partners have demonstrated their ability to provide the right wireless solution at the right price to meet both the short term and long term needs of the customer. Status Solutions is no exception.

Status Solutions offering is centered around SARA (Situational Awareness & Response Assistant) to provide wireless emergency call and broadcast communications for virtually any alarm generating system. Status Solutions has been successful in the United States for 8 years with 150,000 monitored devices at 200 locations using their solutions. Integration with existing life safety, security and environmental systems across all market segments with the ability to alert the right people at the right time will accrue immediate benefits to virtually any vertical market enterprise.

With a combination of skills in computer telephony integration, as well as practical experience in the delivery of monitoring and notification tools, Status Solutions is a focused growing company since 2002, with customer satisfaction as their top priority.  Expanding its reach to Canada in March of this year, Status Solutions is currently implementing SARA at Lutherwood and the Von Sakura House, two senior living facilities in Ontario.

Whether it's Healthcare, Hospitality, Educational or Industrial, AirJuice is pleased to offer the Status Solutions portfolio in conjunction with their own in-depth wireless and customer application experience through a knowledgeable, customer focused network of reseller partners.

AirJuice ensures its reseller partners are well equipped, well trained, and well supported.

For more information on AirJuice please call (416) 479-3535 or 1-866-858-0854 or visit www.airjuice.com.

1  When possible, providers should engage family members to make them advocates of the facility and its equipment. Operators can educate family members with brochures and various forms of information about systems.

“When a senior resident is resistant to wearing a wandering management bracelet or emergency call button, it is always helpful to find an advocate among family members,” notes Kathie Vick, marketing manager at RF Technologies.

2  Make sure employees are well educated in order to best disseminate information to residents' families.

“A resident's quality of life is only as comfortable as the caregiver's knowledge and expertise,” Vick adds.

3  Savvy operators have posted information about their safety systems on their websites, notes Intelligent InSites President and CEO Mark Rheault. This not only helps to disseminate information to family members and others, but it also allows a provider to distance itself from competitors, he adds. In addition, extra background information should be provided in orientation kits and other ancillary materials.

4  Don't forget that actions speak louder than words.

“As seeing is believing, the best way to convince residents and family members that your community has the right safety system in place is showing them a live presentation of the system itself,” Rheault says.

He advises that providers physically show what happens when a resident activates a safety system, on purpose or not. Show what happens when monitors or notification systems are triggered. Point out how notifications can escalate in urgency, or broaden in scope.

5  Along with demonstrating the equipment, Robert Wilowski, owner and president of Cord-Mate Inc., says providers should be able to show records illustrating successful use and past good outcomes. Testimonials from satisfied current or past clients (and their family members) also are helpful, Wilowski notes. Explain equipment maintenance and testing procedures, he adds.

6  Making sure residents and family members know the full range of systems' capabilities is always a challenge—one that must be balanced against intimidating the potential client, experts noted.

“Providers should convey that wireless technology affords itself to encompass the entire campus, therefore enabling residents freedom and mobility, while at the same time providing safety and security through the use of monitored devices,” notes Mike MacLeod, co-founder of Status Solutions.

Be sure to point out that better technology should improve staff efficiency and productivity, allowing caregivers to provide better direct care to residents, he adds.

7   Keeping the resident and his or her care front and center is the ultimate goal, reminds Eric Hunzeker, director of Direct Channel Sales for Stanley Healthcare Solutions.

“It's a tough reality to face when you're told your parent or another loved one in long-term care has been deemed a ‘fall risk' and requires a bed and/or chair exit alarm,” Hunzeker notes. He advises providers cover three important topics with family members.

First, be sure to tell how you arrived at your risk assessment, how the care plan considers various factors, and when the resident will be re-evaluated. Also, be frank about what other risk factors might be, or come, into play. One risk factor often is the harbinger of others, he explains.

Finally, be clear about the devices and systems you use. Ensure they're registered with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, he adds.

“Be compassionate, but be straightforward,” he advises. “This could be a very important time in their loved one's life.”

Status Solutions is the developer of SARA, an automated alerting system and awareness engine that provides a wireless sensor network, integration tools (to existing systems and devices) and broadcast communication in a single solution.  This rich set of capabilities resides on a single technology platform, allowing facilities to utilize one system to turn all of their alarms into managed alerts and seamlessly provide Life Safety Assurance, Security Monitoring, Environmental Awareness and Mass Notification.

The Avaya DevConnect program promotes the development, compliance-testing and co-marketing of innovative third-party products that are compatible with standards-based Avaya solutions.  Member organizations have expertise in a broad range of technologies – including IP telephony, contact centers and mobility applications – helping companies extend the value of multivendor networks and transform voice into an intelligent business application that delivers true value to the bottom line. 

“Membership in Avaya’s developer community will help us continue to grow our business and better serve more facilities in need of alerting capabilities,” said Mike MacLeod, Co-Founder of Status Solutions.  “Building on Avaya resources, and working more closely with the company to deliver compliance-tested solutions to the market, makes us better equipped to provide a seamless solution to Avaya’s customers and strong network of dealers.” 

The Avaya DevConnect program currently includes thousands of software and hardware developer companies, integrators, service providers and customers.  Members have created a broad array of innovative solutions tested for Avaya compliance, including natural language speech recognition applications, wireless services, specialized computer telephony integration and reporting capabilities, and applications tailored for specific vertical industries.

“Development partners like Status Solutions help Avaya expand its portfolio of alerting solutions which enables situational awareness,” said Eric Rossman, vice president, developer relations, Avaya.  “These types of applications make people aware of what is happening inside and outside of their facilities -- right now.”

As a member of the DevConnect program, companies have access to a wide range of support from Avaya, including technical resources and training.  There are three levels of membership – Registered, Gold and Platinum – each entailing progressive levels of marketing and sales involvement.  Free Registered membership is available to anyone interested in designing Avaya-compatible solutions.  Gold-level members and Platinum members must meet rigorous Avaya criteria for customer satisfaction, product support, business operations, marketing and sales.  Status Solutions is a Gold member of the Avaya DevConnect program.

Membership information and a listing of solutions developed and tested under the DevConnect program are available at www.avaya.com/devconnect.

 About Avaya

Avaya is a global leader in enterprise communications systems.  The company provides unified communications, contact centers, data solutions and related services directly and through its channel partners to leading businesses and organizations around the world.   Enterprises of all sizes depend on Avaya for state-of-the-art communications that improve efficiency, collaboration, customer service and competitiveness.   For more information, please visit www.avaya.com.  For more information on the Avaya DevConnect program, visit www.avaya.com/devconnect.

CATIE is a personal information center that provides Communication and Access to Information Everywhere. CATIE is an interactive multi-media device delivering information through a touch screen enabled kiosk.  The in-residence devices will enable facilities deploying this unique technology to provide an amenity that will enhance the daily lives of residents, their families and their caregivers.

Current capabilities include two-way communication, a message center with voice-reply email, reminders, announcements and surveys, access to local weather details, a status indicator of available community services, duress/ emergency button option, check-in capability, request services for staff and a resource directory – “Green Pages” of local businesses. 

Status Solutions is currently encouraging national and local sponsors to join this innovative endeavor, as CATIE also carousels interactive advertising allowing businesses to reach this specific audience in a very unique way.

With years of experience and hundreds of customers in the senior housing market, Status Solutions understands the technology requirements of this particular market.  Technology must be intuitive and easy-to-use, the provider must be capable of integration and extension, the cost to consumers must be affordable, and products must be available on widely adopted platforms.  CATIE meets all of these requirements, and more importantly improves the daily lives of those who interact with it.

To learn more about CATIE, visit the Status Solutions booth - # 939 at the AAHSA Annual Conference & Expo in Los Angeles Nov. 1 - 3.  CATIE will also be featured in the AAHSA Idea House which integrates thoughtful, flexible, accessible design with safety, wellness, and connectivity features to support an independent lifestyle while helping to monitor health and providing necessary care on an as-needed basis. The house will be exhibited and open for tours Oct. 31 - Nov. 3 in the South exhibit hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center.

The AFrame system includes a functional, discrete wristwatch monitor that works with wireless networks to automatically record and securely transmit the user's heart rate, blood pressure, blood oxygenation (O2 Sat), weight, glucose, location, and activity patterns.  Multiple individuals may simultaneously be monitored in a home or long term care facility.  The system also enhances senior safety and security by maintaining a silent vigil to detect impacts due to a fall, changes in room temperature, and similar important safety factors.  All data is trended to create personal baselines, with exceptions generating an immediate mobile alert to remote caregivers, family members, or fellow seniors in a community support arrangement.  The transfer and delivery of all information is secure, private, and HIPAA compliant.  The AFrame system is FDA cleared.

Additionally, if a user does fall, the wrist monitor’s built-in alert feature sends out a distress call.  There are no buttons to push or alarms to activate. “Our goal is to facilitate proactive and timely care for the elderly where and when they need it to support their long-term wellbeing,” said Dr. Amy Papadopoulos, AFrame Digital’s Senior Research Scientist.

Leveraging the companies’ new partnership, Status Solutions will market and sell AFrame’s advanced mobile health and safety monitoring system, and has integrated AFrame’s wrist monitor with SARA.  Alerts can be sent from the AFrame system to SARA and then delivered to almost any communication device to increase mobility and the level of care provided to residents in long term care facilities.

This solution can also be extended to seniors living in their homes; enabling concerned family members to be sent alerts and updates via SARA.  There will be also be a level of integration from SARA to AFrame's CareStation, which serves as an inference engine, that after gathering various sensor data can infer what changes in activity, temperature, sleep, toileting, eating, etc. may mean to someone’s health status.

“We spent a lot of time researching and analyzing various health monitoring technologies before choosing a partner.  We feel that AFrame’s solution is the best fit for our healthcare customers and the integration capabilities with our current and future situational awareness offerings brings a unique overall solution to the marketplace.  We are in the business of helping people, and we feel that this solution will continue to allow us to do just that,” states Mike MacLeod, Status Solutions Co-Founder.

"Status Solutions' reputation in senior housing markets has been earned through years of supporting their clients with top quality solutions and service.  We are pleased to work with Mike and his team to bring the very latest and most forward-thinking mobile health monitoring solutions to their senior housing and healthcare customers," said Bruce Wilson, AFrame's Chief Operating Officer.

Status Solutions and AFrame Digital will be exhibiting together at next week’s American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA) annual conference in Los Angeles, CA.  You can visit them on the tradeshow floor of the Los Angeles Convention Center in booth 939. 

About AFrame Digital:

AFrame Digital Inc., www.aframedigital.com, was founded in 2005 to research, design and manufacture non-intrusive, wireless sensor-based monitoring and situational awareness solutions for long-term care and occupational safety. AFrame has received support from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the National Institutes of Health, and is working closely with two large military treatment facilities, Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) and Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC), to develop models of injury and disease recovery for the bioinformatics analysis software portion of the system. The company's MobileCare Monitor™ system received FDA clearance in 2009 for in-patient, outpatient and home care settings. 

AFrame Digital 1889 Preston White Drive, Suite 101
Reston, Virginia 20191 (571) 308-0147

Status Solutions’ Clinical Application Framework is designed to meet the complex requirements in an acute care environment.  The Framework enables overall situational awareness by providing patient safety and alerting, environmental monitoring, asset tracking, health monitoring, workflow management and a bedside communication portal.

At the core of the Framework is the Situational Awareness and Response Assistant (SARA) that integrates to multiple systems to provide a single point of management for enhanced alerting and reporting.  Systems can include, Nurse Call, Patient Monitoring, Fire Panels, Infant Abduction, etc.  SARA also improves operations by providing two-way patient/ nurse communication, broadcasting emergency codes, environmental monitoring via sensors (i.e. labs, server rooms, restrooms, pharmacies), device tracking and monitoring of various patient devices.

Other key components of the Clinical Application Framework include Status Solutions’ latest innovative solutions MIMI and CATIE.  MIMI, powered by AFrame Digital, transfers Motion Into Meaningful Information.  MIMI includes a discrete wristwatch monitor that works with wireless networks to automatically record and securely transmit the user's heart rate, blood pressure, blood oxygenation (O2 Sat), weight, glucose, location, and activity patterns.  Multiple individuals may simultaneously be monitored in the hospital, a rehab facility or even in their home for post acute care monitoring.  The system also enhances in and out patient safety and security by maintaining a silent vigil to detect impacts due to a fall, changes in room temperature, and similar important safety factors.  All data is trended to create personal baselines, with exceptions generating an immediate mobile alert to nurses, physicians, family members, etc.  The transfer and delivery of all information is secure, private, and HIPAA compliant.  The AFrame system is FDA cleared.

CATIE is a personal information center that provides Communication and Access to Information Everywhere. CATIE is an interactive multi-media device delivering information through a touch screen enabled kiosk.  The in-room devices will enable facilities deploying this unique technology to provide an amenity that will enhance the daily lives of patients, their families and their caregivers. 

Status Solutions has and will continue to form strategic partnerships and leverage best of breed technologies to continue to expand the Clinical Application Framework to better meet the unique needs of acute care facilities.

Status Solutions will be exhibiting at next week’s Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) annual conference and exhibition in Orlando, FL.  You can visit them on the tradeshow floor of the Orange County Convention Center in booth 2133. 

Status Solutions has recently entered into a partnership with Stryker, initiating integration discussions between both organizations’ product management and development teams.  Stryker and Status Solutions are in the process of defining and developing an integration to drive alerts from Stryker’s smart bed wireless system to SARA’s robust alerting engine.

As part of Stryker’s focus on prevention, Stryker launched the industry’s next generation of connectivity with the first FDA-cleared¹ wireless hospital beds to improve care efficiencies and help prevent adverse events.  This is accomplished by providing better bedside data and greater flexibility.  In addition, Stryker’s open architecture approach reduces customers’ total cost of ownership and provides the freedom to build a custom solution by allowing caregivers to select the right surface for the right patient.

Stryker’s exclusive iBed Awareness smart bed monitor provides an enhanced level of monitoring to help prevent patient falls and notify caregivers of overdue workflow activities.  iBed Awareness lets caregivers select a specific bed configuration for a particular patient, then notifies the caregiver if the bed configuration changes via visual or optional audible alerts, and through nurse call systems.  These alerts, as well as data from Protocol Reminders™, an exclusive feature on the InTouch® Critical Care bed, are designed to help organize and promote compliance with proven best practices.

SARA integrates to multiple systems to provide enhanced alerting and reporting.  Systems can include nurse call, patient monitoring, fire panels, infant abduction, etc.  SARA also improves operations by providing two-way patient / nurse communication, broadcasting emergency codes, environmental monitoring via sensors (i.e. labs, server rooms, restrooms, pharmacies), asset tracking and monitoring of patient devices.  Innovative alerting solutions can improve operations and level of care. 

“An integrated solution including the Stryker smart bed and the SARA alerting engine provides a tremendous benefit to acute care facilities.  The true benefit is situational awareness – knowing what is going on when you are not there to see it.  This solution will help to reduce the risk of caregiver injury, while at the same time improve patient outcomes.  We are in the business of helping people, and we feel that this solution will continue to allow us to do that in acute care facilities,” states Mike MacLeod, Status Solutions Co-Founder.

“Status Solutions and SARA provide an attractive smart bed integration option for customers.  The combination of wireless smart bed information and a strong alerting engine will help enable caregivers to remotely monitor and be alerted about key information,” said Rich Mayoras, Senior Group Marketing Manager for Stryker.  “Stryker’s iBed platform and the introduction of the industry’s first wireless smart beds enable the next generation of smart bed connectivity to provide valuable, real-time information that clinicians need.  With Status Solutions and SARA, caregivers can get that information where and when they need it to make the most use of it.”

Status Solutions is exhibiting at this week’s Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) annual conference and exhibition in Orlando, FL.  You can visit them on the tradeshow floor of the Orange County Convention Center in booth 2133.

About Stryker’s Medical Division:

The Medical division of Stryker Corporation designs, manufactures, sells and services specialty patient care & handling equipment for the acute care hospital market.  Stryker’s innovative and easy-to-use products include critical care, med/surg and maternity beds; therapeutic and pulmonary support surfaces; mobility and procedural stretchers; and patient room furniture, as well as ambulance cots, stair and evacuation chairs for the emergency medical services industry.  Stryker’s Medical division is located in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Stryker is one of the world’s leading medical technology companies with the most broadly based range of products in orthopedics and a significant presence in other medical specialties.  Stryker works with respected medical professionals to help people lead more active and more satisfying lives and to reduce healthcare costs.  The Company's products include implants used in joint replacement, trauma, craniomaxillofacial and spinal surgeries; surgical, neurologic, and ear, nose & throat equipment; endoscopic, surgical navigation, and communications systems; as well as patient handling and emergency medical equipment.  The Company's web site address is http://www.stryker.com.

¹According to an FDE Premarket Notification database search from January 1, 1975 to February 1, 2011, there are no other approvals listed for the specific indication listed K103536 under product code FNL, as of February 1, 2011.

Status Solutions provides situational awareness solutions through its core product known as SARA, Situational Awareness and Response Assistant. Joining SARA this year are MIMI, Motion Into Meaningful Information, and CATIE, Communication and Access to Information Everywhere. “Situational awareness is a concept,” explained Mike MacLeod, co-founder of the company. “You can’t buy a 4-lb. bag of awareness, but when you become part of the Status Solutions company, you buy the concept of a network devoted to awareness and solutions that support that.”

What this means . . .

According to the statement issued by Inovonics, “The final order date for FA product is September 1, 2011, with the exception of the FA duress pendants.  As such, we will continue supporting the FA duress pendants at this time. We expect to be able to support various part numbers for the next 12-18 months. Please be aware that while we will support specified pendants for as long as possible, availability and pricing are dependent on component obsolescence and volume demands.”  A FAQ is available to help answer some of the questions customers may have.   

How Status Solutions can help . . .

Many customers have already made the switch from the FA platform to Inovonics’ more advanced EchoStream (EN) product line and are realizing the improvements in range and simplified installation.  But there are many customers in various markets that have not yet made this transition; therefore Status Solutions is offering to help in this upgrade process.

In order to help customers that have large investments in FA wireless infrastructures, Status Solutions has various programs in place to provide a way for these customers to slowly begin the upgrade to EN, while gaining the advantage of a state of the art alert server (SARA) and un-matched location capabilities (SARA’s Positioning System - SPS).

Working with the improved EN infrastructure, Status Solutions’ engineers developed a way to introduce an innovative positioning system.  SARA’s Positioning System (SPS) provides enhanced location support for mobile duress transmitters or pendants within the EN infrastructure.  Through vector mapping technology, SPS provides highly accurate location data which shows the proximity of the mobile device to a fixed device within the infrastructure.  Location can be as accurate as to the apartment.  SPS is patent pending and provides customers the ability to make location more precise through the use of fixed devices and virtual points of interest.

How you can leverage your existing investment . . .

Status Solutions’ FA replacement strategy allows customers to place the EN infrastructure alongside their existing FA infrastructure.  New EN mobile pendants working with SPS can operate seamlessly alongside the FA infrastructure supporting fixed FA devices (pull cords, wall pendants, motion and smoke detectors, etc.).  As the FA devices fail over time, they can be replaced with EN devices and continue to operate seamlessly in the dual infrastructure environment.  Over time, all devices will transition to EN and the FA repeaters, locators, and serial receiver will no longer be needed.

The driving force behind this replacement strategy is SARA - the Situational Awareness and Response Assistant – a unique alert server.  SARA is web based, has an on-board voice engine for broadcast messaging, supports multiple integrations to 3^rd party alarming systems, interfaces with multiple environmental monitoring sensors, supports SPS enhanced location and much more. 

 Testimonials from facilities who Status Solutions is helping . . .  

“Status Solutions assisted two of our communities, Piedmont Crossing and Abernathy Laurels in North Carolina, to overlay the Inovonics EchoStream RF infrastructure on top of the existing FA infrastructure.  The upgraded, more robust wireless network allowed these communities to take advantage of enhanced location with SARA’s Positioning System (SPS), while leveraging the original investment and transitioning over time.”

Joel Shaw, Vice President of Facilities Management, United Church Homes and Services

“Penick Village chose to upgrade our infrastructure from FA to EchoStream to take advantage of SARA’s enhanced location through SPS.  SPS has allowed us to provide a better level of care to our residents by locating them quickly and easily to assist them when needed.  Status Solutions is a trusted partner that we look to help us maintain and improve life safety, security, environmental awareness and broadcast communication across our community.”

Cheryl Futrell, Chief Operating Officer, Penick Village

Contact Status Solutions today to learn which upgrade program best fits your needs.  Don't delay because RIGHT NOW matters most.  Call 866-846-7272 or send a message to fahelp@statussolutions.com

Status Solutions and Stryker announced their strategic partnership earlier this year at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) annual conference.  Over the past several months, Stryker and Status Solutions designed and developed an integration to drive alerts from Stryker’s iBed Wireless smart bed system to SARA’s robust alerting engine.

Through SARA’s rich integration toolset, this integration enables SARA to receive critical events from Stryker’s iBed Wireless system to enhance the level of care and patient monitoring in acute care environments.  This integration provides monitoring of Stryker iBed features such as bed exit, iBed Awareness, bed status, weight, protocols, etc.  iBed Awareness can monitor a caregiver-selected set of bed parameters.  When any of those parameters change, the Stryker iBed Wireless system will alert SARA of the change enabling enhanced alerting to a variety of end-points.  Parameters include individual siderail positions, brakes, bed exit, head of bed angle, bed height, current weight, and more.

"The Stryker integration provides customers a seamless bed alert management tool. When paired with SARA's integration platform, SARA is the go-to centralized alerting solution for acute care environments.  SARA helps to improve workflow by providing a single point of management for alerts from point of care systems,” comments Kris Kuty, Status Solutions Product Manager. 

“Status Solutions and SARA provide an attractive smart bed integration option for customers.  The combination of wireless smart bed information and a strong alerting engine will help enable caregivers to remotely monitor and be alerted of key information,” said Rich Mayoras, Senior Group Marketing Manager for Stryker.  “Stryker’s iBed platform and the introduction of the industry’s 1^st wireless smart beds enable the next generation of smart bed connectivity to provide valuable, real-time information that clinicians need.  With Status Solutions and SARA, caregivers can get that information where and when they need it to get the most value out of it.”

Status Solutions and Stryker are exhibiting at this week’s Atlantic Canada Clinical Engineering Society (ACCES) conference and exhibition in St. John’s, Newfoundland, and will be demonstrating the integration.  You can visit both companies on the tradeshow floor of the Delta St. John's Hotel and Conference Centre.

About Stryker’s iBed and Connected Hospital

Stryker’s Connected Hospital^® and iBedplatform involve a combination of communication, networking, and information management with an open-architecture strategy.  This provides maximum flexibility for a best-in-class system with a lower total cost of ownership.  This platform enables customers to better utilize smart beds as part of their care system both at the bedside and remotely to facilitate significant improvements in the cost and quality of patient care.  It also allows customers to maximize their current IT infrastructure investments. 

About Stryker’s Medical Division:

The Medical division of Stryker Corporation designs, manufactures, sells and services specialty patient care & handling equipment for the acute care hospital market.  Stryker’s innovative and easy-to-use products include critical care, med/surg and maternity beds; therapeutic and pulmonary support surfaces; mobility and procedural stretchers; and patient room furniture, as well as ambulance cots, stair and evacuation chairs for the emergency medical services industry.  Stryker’s Medical division is located inKalamazoo,Michigan.

Stryker is one of the world’s leading medical technology companies with the most broadly based range of products in orthopedics and a significant presence in other medical specialties.  Stryker works with respected medical professionals to help people lead more active and more satisfying lives and to reduce healthcare costs.  The Company's products include implants used in joint replacement, trauma, craniomaxillofacial and spinal surgeries; surgical, neurologic, and ear, nose & throat equipment; endoscopic, surgical navigation, and communications systems; as well as patient handling and emergency medical equipment.  The Company's web site address is http://www.stryker.com.

Status Solutions and ICON Voice Networks have recently entered into a partnership, initiating integration efforts between both organizations’ development teams.  The first phase of the integration includes the ability to use SIP to deliver real-time audio messages from the SARA alert engine to ICON Voice Networks SIP-enabled end-points, such as Iwatsu telephones, mobile devices, cell phones, land lines, etc.  The integration allows users to leverage the Iwatsu telephony platform not only for person-to-person communication, but also for various alarming events related to life safety, security and environmental monitoring and awareness.  SARA’s broadcast messaging functionality can also be leveraged through the Iwatsu communication platform.

“We have already seen how communications platforms such as the IwatsuEnterprise-CS, are valuable assets for assisted living facilities,” said Don Gant, ICON Voice Networks Vice President, Sales. “By adding SARA as an advanced alert notification component, we are able to deliver more peace of mind for patient care professionals and patients.”

SARA integrates to multiple systems to provide enhanced alerting and reporting.  Systems can include telephony, fire alarm systems, access control, building control, nurse call, patient monitoring, wander management, infant abduction, etc.  SARA also improves operations by providing life safety assurance through mobile duress alerting with enhance location, security monitoring and asset tracking, environmental awareness via sensors (i.e., labs, server rooms, restrooms, pharmacies), and mass notification and broadcast communication capabilities.  Innovative alerting solutions can help prevent loss of life, property, business and convenience.

“We see tremendous value and opportunity in partnering with ICON Voice Networks.  Not only do they have a proven robust telephony platform, but they have an extensive channel network that can effectively extend our situational awareness systems, particularly to the SMB market. ICON has further strengthened its offering by its ability to leverage the phone devices as a dashboard for alarms and alert management using our software. This makes their phone system immensely beneficial to their reseller community as it creates additional opportunities to add value to their customers,” states Suri Raman, Status Solutions Director of Business Development.

About ICON Voice Networks:

ICON Voice Networks designs, develops and distributes voice networking and integrated office solutions and products that serve the needs of small businesses and large enterprises alike. ICON Voice Networks products cater to the specific needs of a business by optimizing access and availability through highly reliable voice processing that incorporates the latest collaboration, video and mobility technologies. ICON Voice Networks has integrated these different mediums of communication with other office automation systems such as video monitoring and notification to provide a single office automation solution engineered from the core.  In addition to development, ICON Voice Networks also serves as a master distributor for multiple IP-PBX and unified communications product lines providing sales support, technical and engineering support and custom development.

Founded in 1995 by Harvard Medical School teaching hospitals, the Center for Connected Health develops new strategies to move health care from the hospital and doctor's office into the day-to-day lives of patients. Leveraging information technology -- cell phones, computers, networked devices and simple remote monitoring tools -- the Center helps providers and patients manage chronic conditions, maintain health and wellness, and improve adherence, engagement and clinical outcomes.

The Center will host its 8^th Annual Connected Health Symposium in Boston on October 20 - 21, 2011 at the Park Plaza Hotel.  The Partners' Connected Health Symposium recently announced a new program feature - its first annual Partners Symposium Innovators Challenge.  CATIE was selected to be a part of this unique program.

“We are honored to have been selected to participate in the upcoming Symposium.  Status Solutions strongly supports the foundation the Center for Connected Health was built on . . . leveraging technology to improve the lives of those who come in contact with it,” comments Mike MacLeod, Status Solutions Co-Founder.

About CATIE:

CATIE, delivered by Status Solutions, is a personal information center that provides Communication and Access to Information Everywhere.  CATIE, an interactive multi-media touch screen enabled kiosk, provides two-way communication, as well as other tools to enhance the daily lives of residents of independent and assisted living communities, their families and their caregivers.  CATIE was designed specifically for seniors with ease of use and access to information as the most important requirements.  CATIE’s Message Center enables voice-reply email, the home screen contains local weather details and a color-coded status indicator let’s residents know when the mail is in, the café is serving meals, etc.  CATIE can survey residents, serve as check-in device and provide other valuable communication tools for seniors.

Following an extensive request for proposal (RFP) process to replace an older emergency response system at its campuses, Air Force Village selected the SARA alerting engine because of its positioning system (SPS). This patent-pending, vector-mapping technology provides highly accurate location data, enabling the staff of Air Force Village to know if one of the residents needs assistance and the location of the emergency.

“Our former system only tied a mobile pendant back to a housing unit, but the SARA solution enables us to accurately locate the pendant – and the resident – wherever they may be within the community as well as across campuses,” explains Jim Hill, Air Force Village’s IT director. “This feature made it obvious that SARA was the way to go.”

However, the ability to use SARA for mass notifications and to integrate it later with other systems, such as those used to monitor their chillers, also made the technology the most attractive solution for Air Force Village. The fact that SARA is wireless and also allows the retirement community to leverage its existing safety and security infrastructure – smoke detectors, wireless repeaters and pull strings – further impressed Air Force Village.

“We really like the SARA technology because it’s an integrated, multi-faceted system that does a lot to ensure life safety,” Hill continues. “We know we made the right choice because we’ve found a partner in Status Solutions not only for emergency response but also for other key applications.” 

For example, Air Force Village is considering adding on the MIMI (Motion into Meaningful Information) health monitoring solution to enable its staff to monitor residents for falls. This option can help seniors live independently longer, delaying the need to move into assisted or skilled living facilities, and give their families added peace of mind.  

The SARA implementation at Air Force Village I was completed within two weeks in September with Air Force Village II scheduled to be finished within 10 to 14 days in October. “The Status Solutions team has done a great job and shown a lot of professionalism – from the RFP process through implementation,” Hill notes.

About Air Force Village
Founded by the Air Force Officers' Wives' Clubs, Air Force Village is a retirement community with two campuses located in San Antonio for retired and honorably served officers from all uniformed services. Air Force Village I, is located on Ravenswood Drive, and Air Force Village II, on John D. Ryan Boulevard.  Both communities offer a full continuum of care, from independent living homes and apartments to assisted living, skilled nursing and memory support, if needed. Air Force Village was the first military-related retirement community to be accredited by the Continuing Care Accreditation Commission in 1987.

His mom’s necessity was also the mother of his company’s latest invention. Mike MacLeod, CEO of Status Solutions, developed the CATIE (Communication and Access to Information Everywhere) solution to bridge the communication gap between seniors and the tech-savvy generations following them.

Like many seniors, MacLeod’s mother, 84, didn’t have access to email. When her 21-year-old granddaughter returned from a trip to Europe, she couldn’t view the photos. The two would have to wait months for a face-to-face visit before they could share the experience. “I wanted to close the digital distance between the generations in my family,” MacLeod explains. So the idea for CATIE was born, and now the solution promises to enhance the daily lives of those living in senior communities all across the country.

The first technology of its kind, CATIE enables two-way communication, functioning as an intercom, message center, electronic bulletin board and concierge. The interactive, multimedia device delivers information through a simple touch screen senior friendly interface. Anyone with a CATIE in-room, self-standing kiosk or portable tablet can connect with their families, friends and fellow residents as well as reach out to service providers inside and outside their senior living community.

Information technology intimidates seniors, and research indicates that 55 percent of those 65 and older don’t own or won’t use a PC, according to MacLeod. “Seniors are afraid of computer keyboards, but they have no problem looking at screens – like those on their TVs – or punching buttons,” he says. “CATIE keeps seniors informed, engaged, active and in touch with those who matter most, preventing a sense of isolation and improving the quality of their lives.”

Jeff Hutchins, CEO of Penick Village located in Southern Pines, NC, couldn’t agree with MacLeod’s premise more.  “Information gives people power – power that includes the opportunity to be engaged and knowledgeable.  And with knowledge comes choice.  Frequently when someone is aging, they feel that they are losing control of making choices in their lives.  We believe CATIE will provide the information to help folks maintain or enhance their control and make those choices,” states Hutchins.  Penick Village is an early adopter of the CATIE solution and is currently deploying the unique communication tool across their continuing care retirement community.  Hutchins feels strongly that, “The key to quality care and quality of life is communication.”

With the over-60 population expected to grow to 55 million in 2020 – and live longer – CATIE has the potential to significantly enhance both life quality and life safety for this demographic. “Status Solutions’ business model is based on producing positive societal impacts,” MacLeod notes. “Overcoming the digital divide so seniors stay connected to the world around them matters, and that’s what we do – things that matter.”

To learn more about CATIE, visit the Status Solutions booth - # 2321 at the LeadingAge 2011 Annual Meeting and IAHSA Global Aging Conference in Washington, DC October 17 - 19. 

The wireless SARA solution was chosen to replace an older, telephone-based system, to add capability to determine the person’s location in the community. “SARA’s proprietary positioning system provides us with more precision in locating a resident who may be experiencing a health episode,“ explains Wayne Kendrick, Director of IT Managed Services for Asbury Communities. “SPS enhances our ability to ensure the health and well-being of our residents, which is our number one job.”

Numerous devices, such as mobile pendants, can initiate an alarm when someone is in need of immediate attention, but it is SARA that turns these multiple alarming systems into a single managed alerting solution, allowing for more efficient processes and faster response times to improve life safety.

In addition to its alerting, positioning and telephone capabilities, Asbury Methodist Village chose to implement SARA because of its flexible integration capabilities and robust reporting. The ability to add health monitoring through the MIMI (Motion into Meaningful Information) solution also played a role in adopting SARA.

“MIMI could help us further enhance life safety and security at our campus, particularly in our assisted-living areas where there are fall risks and early intervention is so important,” Kendrick says. He also notes that MIMI potentially could enable Asbury to extend its business to the community at large. “Our caregivers could provide health support for seniors in the surrounding communities using MIMI for health monitoring,” notes Kendrick.

Asbury Methodist Village includes courtyard homes, villas and spacious apartments, as well as assisted-living suites, skilled-nursing residences, memory support and rehabilitation therapy services. SARA also will be implemented at three other Asbury communities: Inverness Village in Tulsa, Okla., Bethany Village in Mechanicsburg, Pa., and Asbury~Solomons Island in Solomons, Md.

About Asbury Methodist Village

Asbury Methodist Village is a CARF-CCAC and EAGLE-accredited continuing care retirement community that is part of Asbury Communities, Inc., which provides management and support services for a system of continuing care retirement communities for older adults.  Asbury Communities is ranked by the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA) and Ziegler Capital Markets Group’s AZ 100 as the 15th largest not-for-profit multi-site senior living organization in the country.  Asbury Methodist Village is also a member of LifeSpan Network.

IFMA members and World Workplace conference attendees will have the opportunity to learn how SARA can help their facilities prevent loss of life, property, business and convenience.  The robust alerting engine has enabled hospitals, schools, manufacturing facilities, office buildings, courthouses, senior living communities, etc. throughout North America to deliver life safety assurance, security monitoring, environmental awareness and mass notification.  Two of SARA’s innovative capabilities will be on display during next week’s conference in Phoenix, AZ.

SARA’s Positioning System (SPS) is patent pending (US Patent Application No. 12/690,443) technology that enables enhanced location support for mobile devices within the Inovonics EchoStream RF Infrastructure.  SPS is of a one-of-a-kind positioning capability, enabling SARA to serve as a facility’s real-time locating system (RTLS).

SPS is the process of SARA automatically creating a multi-dimensional model of the EchoStream RF Infrastructure on any property. The model consists of both fixed devices such as wall mounted panic buttons, motion sensors, smoke detectors, etc. and virtual points of interest within the facility or campus.  When a person activates their mobile device such as a panic button, SARA mathematically compares the location of the mobile person in question to the model, and provides the closest positions.

Through SPS (a vector mapping technology), SARA provides highly accurate location data.  The location information provided to staff shows the proximity of the mobile user to a fixed device or virtual point of interest which can be as accurate as to the room. This level of accuracy is not available with traditional RF based systems, and has proven to help improve response times.  For example, a facility that already had a good average response time to their alarms was able to reduce it by 45 – 60 seconds when using SPS.  

Through SARA’s eMessenger, users can leverage existing technology to receive emergency and non-emergency alerts from SARA on their Windows based computer desktops.  SARA’s eMessenger enhances the centralization of alerts while extending the ability to communicate to potentially thousands of screens throughout a hospital, school, government office, corporate office, etc.  Future versions will support alerts (both video and text) to PCs, mobile devices and tablets. Native support for iOS, Android, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, etc. will enable users to have better control over delivery of alerts.

To learn more about SARA, visit the Status Solutions booth - # 1902 at the International Facilities Manager’s Association (IFMA) World Workplace 2011 in Phoenix, AZ, October 26 - 27. 

Status Solutions’ Clinical Application Framework is designed to meet the complex requirements in an acute care environment.  The Framework enables overall situational awareness by providing patient and staff safety and alerting, environmental monitoring, asset tracking, and workflow management through the Staff Assignments Module.

At the core of the Framework is the Situational Awareness and Response Assistant (SARA) that integrates to multiple systems to provide a single point of management for enhanced alerting and reporting.  Systems can include, Nurse Call, Patient Monitoring, Fire Panels, Infant Abduction, etc.  SARA also improves operations by providing two-way patient/ nurse communication, broadcasting emergency codes, environmental monitoring via sensors (i.e. labs, server rooms, restrooms, pharmacies), device tracking and monitoring of various patient devices.

One of Status Solutions’ latest innovations, SARA’s eMessenger, will be highlighted in the expo hall.  Through SARA’s eMessenger, users can leverage existing technology to receive emergency and non-emergency alerts from SARA on their Windows based computer desktops.  SARA’s eMessenger enhances the centralization of alerts while extending the ability to communicate to potentially thousands of screens throughout a hospital.

In regards to 3^rd party integrations, Status Solutions entered into discussions earlier this year with Stryker to integrate smart bed information and enable the next generation patient care.  Stryker and Status Solutions have defined and developed an integration to drive alerts from Stryker’s smart bed (iBed) Wireless system to SARA’s robust alerting engine.  The integration will be demonstrated in booths # 1222 and 918.

Status Solutions has and will continue to form strategic partnerships and leverage best of breed technologies to continue to expand the Clinical Application Framework to better meet the unique needs of acute care facilities. 

To learn more about the Clinical Application Framework visit the Status Solutions booth # 918 at the OHA HealthAchieve Conference in Toronto November 7-8.

Members of international hotel and lodging associations and IHMRS attendees will have the opportunity to learn how SARA and CATIE can help their facilities prevent loss of life, property, business and convenience, while at the same time offering an amenity and communication tool to their guests.  The robust alerting engine has enabled hospitality providers throughout North America to deliver life safety assurance, security monitoring, environmental awareness and mass notification.  Two of SARA’s innovative capabilities will be on display during next week’s conference in New York City.

SARA’s Positioning System (SPS) is patent pending (US Patent Application No. 12/690,443) technology that enables enhanced location support for mobile devices within the Inovonics EchoStream RF Infrastructure.  SPS is of a one-of-a-kind positioning capability, enabling SARA to serve as a facility’s real-time locating system (RTLS).  This is an ideal solution for lone workers such as hotel service staff members, as well as guests.

SPS is the process of SARA automatically creating a multi-dimensional model of the EchoStream RF Infrastructure on any property. The model consists of both fixed devices such as wall mounted panic buttons, motion sensors, smoke detectors, etc. and virtual points of interest within the facility or campus.  When a person activates their mobile device such as a panic button, SARA mathematically compares the location of the mobile person in question to the model, and provides the closest positions.

Through SARA’s eMessenger, users can leverage existing technology to receive emergency and non-emergency alerts from SARA on their Windows based computer desktops.  SARA’s eMessenger enhances the centralization of alerts while extending the ability to communicate to potentially thousands of screens throughout a hospitality based facility/

Attendees will also meet CATIE, a personal information center that provides Communication and Access to Information Everywhere.  CATIE, an interactive multi-media touch screen enabled kiosk, providing two-way communication, as well as other tools to enhance a guest’s stay and the productivity of service staff members.  Offering a Bulletin Board of information, a Schedule of events, direct connection to the front desk, a directory of local services, etc., CATIE allows those offering an amenity set to increase occupancy through differentiation.

So why not create a device that functions as an intercom, message center, electronic bulletin board and concierge for those in senior living communities? Information can be delivered through a small kiosk or portable tablet with a simple touch screen and voice activation.

This new technology helps seniors connect with family, friends and fellow residents and reach out to area service providers who pay a fee to be listed. It also allows senior communities to offer an impressive, customizable set of amenities.

With the over-60 population expected to grow to 55 million in 2020, we have the opportunity to enhance both their safety and their quality life. Closing the digital divide to help seniors stay informed, active and in touch with loved ones is a positive societal impact.

Mike MacLeod is President of Status Solutions. For more information, contact Status Solutions at 866-846-7272 or info@statussolutions.com

Asbury Methodist Village is installing a system that, at the push of a button, allows care teams to respond to residents in a medical emergency no matter where they are on the 130-acre campus.

“We want residents to be able to enjoy the beautiful grounds here,” said Amy Ostrolenk, director of the community’s health and wellness and care management programs.

Lifeline, the previous system, was set up to work only when the residents were in their houses or units.

Seniors should feel safe as they wander near the grassy nulls and ponds, or walk to activities on campus, she said. If they feel short of breath or they fall down — the two most common emergencies — they can push a button on a pendant, which will page a nurse or nursing assistant who will be able to see who they are, where they are and where they live.

There are sensors placed in indoor and outdoor locations throughout the campus, and when the resident pushes the button, the nurses’ pager shows the sensor that the resident is closest to, and his or her name or address.

Asbury began installing the system, the Status Solutions’ Situational Awareness and Response Assistant, in October and the more than 900 residents in six of its residential living neighborhoods and one of its assisted-living neighborhoods will have it available by Dec. 16.

There is no fee to residents for the new system. The $335,000 project was funded as a capital improvement, said Henry Moehring, an assistant administrator.

With this technology, Asbury is ahead of the times, said Andrew Carle, founding director of senior housing administration at George Mason University.

Carle is a leading advocate for what he coined “nana” technology, any microchip-based technology designed or intended to improve quality of life for senior citizens.

Nana technology plays on the words “nanotechnology,” scientific study on an atomic and molecular scale, and “Nana,” as a nickname for a grandmother.

Assisted-living communities only have caught on to using this type of technology in the past five years, and, even now, it mostly is used in communities for those with dementia, or for those who wander, Carle said.

Status Solution’s monitoring system is in place in about 300 senior living communities nationwide. It has been available for 10 years, said Laura Prince, a market specialist for Status Solutions, based in Charlottesville, Va.

When searching for a new system, Asbury Communities, which operates five senior living communities nationwide, heard from residents that they wanted to feel safer outside of their homes, Ostrolenk said.

The two registered nurses and two assistants on Asbury’s emergency care team respond to about eight or nine calls per day in people’s homes, most of them emergencies, she said.

That number might increase now that the system is working outside of homes, and, if it does, additional staffing might be needed, she said.

The monitoring system compiles information for communities and keeps a log, which allows them to monitor the effectiveness of their responses, Prince said.

Although some seniors might not be keen to using new technology, it gives their families peace of mind, Prince said.

“[It works] for the families’ benefit, so they can say, ‘Hey, Dad called and it took 20 minutes [to respond],’” she said.

Carle is a major proponent of technology for seniors but said it should be used to assist medical teams, not replace them.

“What it does is assist human beings who work there and who live there, but it is not a guarantee,” he said.

CATIE is an interactive, multimedia application that delivers information through a simple touch screen to enable two-way communication. It functions as an intercom, message center, electronic bulletin board and concierge. Seniors using CATIE can connect with their families, friends and fellow residents, as well as the larger community.  

“Two-way communication is important to any service industry, but it’s challenging when a lot of seniors may not be technology savvy,” explains Mike MacLeod, Status Solutions president and CATIE’s inventor. “Many don’t own or won’t use a computer, while others may be more comfortable with information technology – or at least they don’t mind looking at a screen and pushing a few buttons. So with this simple technology, seniors can see what’s being served for dinner, schedule their activities, and read and respond to emails from their grandchildren.”

Seniors using the solution also can reach out to local medical practices, restaurants, salons and other service providers listed in CATIE’s Green Pages directory, which attracted OrthoCarolina as a partner in making the technology available at Southminster. “We’re thrilled about CATIE because it increases seniors’ access to our services and information about orthopedic care,” says Blair Primis, marketing director for OrthoCarolina. “This technology will enable us to educate an important population about such topics as joint health and spine care and reinforces our brand in terms of leadership and innovation. We’re excited to work with Status Solutions and Southminster in delivering content the residents can use to improve their lives.”

Southminster is using the new CATIE technology to provide such amenities as reviewing dining menus and activity schedules with personalized calendars as well as placing maintenance requests. “We had been searching for a way to better communicate with our residents and were attracted to CATIE because it’s a simple yet powerful two-way communication tool,” explains David Lacy, Southminster’s CEO. “We also see it helping us to streamline and improve internal business processes, enabling more efficient administration so staff can maintain a constant focus on delivering superior care and services.”   

With the over-60 population expected to grow to 55 million in 2020 – and live longer – CATIE has the potential to significantly enhance both life quality and safety for this demographic, according to MacLeod. “Status Solutions’ business model is based on producing positive societal impacts, and helping seniors stay connected to the world around them is important,” he says. In fact, it was MacLeod’s family that inspired CATIE – he wanted his children to be able to easily communicate with their grandmother who doesn’t have a computer and therefore no access to email.

“CATIE can keep seniors informed, active and in touch with those that matter most, preventing a sense of isolation and improving their quality of life,” MacLeod says. “And because of the significant societal value and market opportunity, Status Solutions will continue to enhance CATIE’s features and functionality. We’re also working to build out a national network of local sponsors, like OrthoCarolina, to support CATIE’s Green Pages.”

About OrthoCarolina

As one of the nation’s leading orthopedic practices with offices across the Carolinas, OrthoCarolina is your destination for comprehensive orthopedic care. Leveraging our physicians’ expertise in the areas of foot and ankle, hand, hip and knee, shoulder and elbow, spine, sports medicine and pediatrics; and providing services that include physical therapy, MRI and post-surgical support; we can offer you a continuum of care unmatched in the region. OrthoCarolina. You. Improved. Visit us at www.orthocarolina.com.

SARA is an automated alerting system and awareness engine that sends voice and text alerts via phones, pagers, emails, computer screens, PA systems, etc. With SARA’s wireless sensor network, integration tools and mass notification capabilities in a single platform, a hospital will know exactly what’s happening in and around its facilities to ensure patient safety and security.

The SARA situational awareness solution for hospitals is engineered to run on HP TouchSmart 9300 All-in-One business PC and HP Slate 2. In addition to the alarm management and alerting platform that integrates with such point-of-care systems as nurse call, telemetry and smart beds (such as Stryker wireless iBed), this SARA solution set includes SARA’s Staff Assignments Module, a new standardized tool that links alerts to clinicians’ mobile devices.

“In clinical environments where multiple systems require alarm management, clinicians need to know how to configure alerting on each platform,” explains Suri Raman, director of business development for Status Solutions. “Managing alerts on multiple systems can lead to confusion, inefficiencies and distractions that detract from patient care, ultimately leading to alarm fatigue. SARA’s Staff Assignments module provides hospitals with a standardized platform for intelligently assigning point-of-care alerts to communication end points for greater efficiency.”

The solution also features SARA’s eMessenger, which enhances the centralization of alerts while extending the ability to communicate to many HP touchscreen PCs and tablets throughout a hospital. Browser-based, pop-up alerts can contain information that is either emergency or non-emergency related. “One important application for SARA’s eMessenger involves code centralization, enabling staff assigned to the operating rooms to receive automatic notifications when certain codes occur,” notes Raman.

“Combining Status Solutions’ situational awareness software with HP’s computing technologies will offer hospitals a powerful tool to help them take better care of patients and increase their quality ratings,” explains Mike MacLeod, president of Status Solutions. “With SARA, acute care clinicians can improve their response to patient alerts and better manage their workload, reducing alarm fatigue and increasing efficiencies in both the delivery of care as well as hospital administration including Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements.”     

SARA is an automated alerting engine that integrates disparate life safety, security monitoring and environmental controls, turning alarms into managed voice and text alerts for delivery to designated communication devices, including cell phones, landlines, pagers, computer screens, PA systems, etc. With the situational awareness SARA provides, action can be taken to protect people, property and business operations. SARA includes a wireless sensor network, integration tools for existing alarm and communication systems, and mass notification in one powerful platform. SARA mitigates risk by ensuring that the right people get the right information at the right time on the right devices for faster, more efficient emergency response.

“Like us, Status Solutions is a company that will cater to the individual needs of a customer and respond quickly to help achieve the desired outcomes,” says Jeff Wyatt, executive vice president of Koorsen Fire & Security. “We’re excited about this partnership because of what it means for end users. This partnership represents innovation, adding important capabilities for reliable, real-time situational awareness such as accurate location for wireless duress devices and mass notification through virtually any screen. In addition, future opportunities include asset tracking and video integration.”

SARA’s patent-pending Positioning System (SPS) uses vector-mapping technology to provide highly accurate location data that shows the proximity of a wireless duress device to a fixed device within the Inovonics EchoStream RF Infrastructure. Points of interest can be defined anywhere in or around a facility to provide multiple points of data to more quickly and easily find those who need help. Applications include wireless pendants worn by residents in senior living communities, emergency pull stations in courthouse parking garages, and mobile panic buttons for lone workers or VIP guests at hotels and resorts.

SARA’s eMessenger is an alerting capability that enhances the centralized management of alerts by extending the ability to communicate to thousands of PC screens throughout a hospital, university, manufacturing plant or office complex. Browser-based, pop-up alerts can contain information that is emergency or non-emergency related, including inclement weather announcements and meeting reminders with times and locations. Future versions of the software module will support both video and text alerts to PCs and mobile devices including tablets.

“Status Solutions and Koorsen Fire & Security both focus on meeting critical customer needs, and this partnership is a big win for making complete situational awareness possible in any size business to protect people and property,” says Mike MacLeod, president of Status Solutions. “There are no second chances when it comes to safety and security. Working together, we can offer serious protection against ignorance-based loss through custom integrations for life safety, security and environmental controls.”

About Koorsen Fire & Security

Koorsen Fire & Security is one of the largest and most respected, privately owned fire and security businesses in the United States. Specializing in service and custom design of fire, security and communications systems, Koorsen leads the industry with creative solutions, quality products and unparalleled support. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind., Koorsen is located in 23 cities across the country and continues to grow at an astonishing rate. Koorsen Fire & Security has been providing businesses and residential customers with systems and products that safeguard them from loss and harm since 1946. Visit www.koorsen.com to learn more.

SARA is an automated alerting engine that integrates disparate alarm systems, sending managed voice and text alerts to designated communication devices (e.g., cell phones, landlines, pagers, emails, computer screens, PA systems, etc.). By ensuring that the right information gets to the right people at the right time on the right devices, action can be taken to protect people, property and business operations. SARA includes a wireless sensor network, integration tools for existing alarm and communication systems, and mass notification in one powerful platform, which is now compliance-tested by Avaya for compatibility with Avaya IP Office Release 8.0.

 “We’re pleased to be part of Avaya’s DevConnect program because we know that our joint customers will benefit from innovations that are based on open, standards-based platforms,” says Mike MacLeod, president of Status Solutions. “Users of Avaya IP deskphones with a SARA interface can implement a situational awareness strategy easily and cost effectively, getting more out of their communication infrastructures in terms of real-time alerting and mass notification to prevent ignorance-based loss. There are no second chances when it comes to safety and security.”

Status Solutions is a Technology Partner in the Avaya DevConnect program—an initiative to develop, market and sell innovative third-party products that interoperate with Avaya technology and extend the value of a company’s investment in its network.  

As a DevConnect Technology Partner, Status Solutions is eligible to submit products for compliance testing by the Avaya Solution Interoperability and Test Lab. There, a team of Avaya engineers develops a comprehensive test plan for each application to verify whether it is Avaya compatible. Doing so enables businesses to confidently add best-in-class capabilities to their network without having to replace their existing infrastructure—speeding deployment of new applications and reducing both network complexity and implementation costs.  

“Status Solutions’ Situational Awareness and Response Assistant has undergone formalized interoperability testing,” said Eric Rossman, vice president, developer relations at Avaya.  “By working with independent technology companies through the Avaya DevConnect program to assess compatibility, this helps us ensure that Avaya customers can confidently leverage and upgrade to our latest solutions.”

About Avaya

Avaya is a global provider of business collaboration and communications solutions, providing unified communications, contact centers, networking and related services to companies of all sizes around the world. For more information please visit www.avaya.com. For more information on the Avaya DevConnect program, visit www.avaya.com/devconnect.

SARA’s eMessenger, an add-on to the SARA (Situational Awareness and Response Assistant) emergency alert engine, extends mass notification to the desktop, enabling emergency as well as non-emergency information to be delivered as browser-based, pop-up alerts on PC screens. Pop-up alerts can appear as color-coded text, audio or a combination of both and always show up in a window or full screen regardless of the application in use.

It is now up to Consulting-Specifying Engineer readers to determine which products will stand out from the crowd to win gold, silver and bronze in the 8^th annual awards. The results will be announced in September.

Click here to read more about the finalists.

SARA is an automated alerting engine that integrates life safety, security monitoring and environmental controls, turning alarms from these disparate systems into managed voice and text alerts for delivery to designated communication devices, including cell phones, landlines, pagers, computer screens, PA systems, etc. With the situational awareness SARA provides, action can be taken to protect people and property. SARA includes a wireless sensor network, integration tools for existing alarm and communication systems, and mass notification in one powerful platform.

“This is an important partnership for Status Solutions as more organizations begin to recognize the value of situational awareness and how easy it is to integrate the SARA technology with their IP- and telephony-enabled systems,” says Mike MacLeod, president of Status Solutions. “Black Box is a powerful player in the communications industry, and we’re excited to work with them to help their customers mitigate risk with centralized monitoring, alerting and notification tools.”

“Status Solutions is a growing company with an impressive portfolio of software solutions that help customers in numerous industries and environments, including hospitals, universities, government complexes and corporate campuses,” explains Mark Neel, vice president with Black Box Network Services. “Given our expertise in voice and data infrastructure and the integrations possible with SARA, these solutions can be valuable to clients who must manage information from disparate systems and ensure it gets to the right people at the right time on the right devices to protect people, property and overall business operations.” 

About Black Box

Black Box is a leading communications system integrator dedicated to designing, sourcing, implementing and maintaining today’s complex communications solutions. Black Box services more than 175,000 clients in approximately 150 countries with approximately 200 offices throughout the world. To learn more, visit the Black Box Web site at http://www.blackbox.com.

All 12 Providence Life Services communities eventually will use SARA, which is an automated alerting engine that integrates life safety, security and environmental controls, turning alarms from these disparate systems into managed voice and text alerts for delivery to designated communication devices, including landlines, cell phones, pagers, emails, computer screens, PA systems, etc. SARA includes a wireless sensor network, integration tools for existing alarm and communication systems, and mass notification in one powerful platform. With the situational awareness SARA provides, Park Place will have a wide view of what’s happening in and around its campus to enhance resident safety and security.

Park Place is a 12.5-acre community with 173 independent living units, which opened in February 2012. Its assisted living area with 86 units, including 20 memory support units and health center, is scheduled to open in the June-July 2012 timeframe. SARA will be used throughout the campus for nurse call and mobile duress. The solution, which can be customized to meet the life safety, security monitoring, environmental awareness and mass notification requirements of any facility, also will be integrated with the community’s EMR system so resident information will populate other business-critical systems automatically, including nurse call, wander management, etc.   

“Park Place has been constructed as a ‘model’ community with best-of-breed technologies to create a five-star experience for our residents,” explains Don Engelsman Park Place’s executive director. “Resident safety and security is of utmost importance when it comes to ensuring that five-star lifestyle, so SARA will be used for emergency alerting in addition to integrating other safety, security and environmental systems for complete situational awareness.” For example, Park Place will integrate SARA with its access control system and use it to monitor the temperature of its refrigeration units and swimming pool.

ProviNET Solutions, the technology division of Providence Life Services, vetted a number of systems before deciding to standardize on SARA, according to Carl Goodfriend, ProviNET CIO. “We selected SARA because it integrates with a lot of different systems and didn’t require us to replace existing alarm or communication systems in order to leverage its capabilities. In fact, we’ve been able to simplify and centralize the management of all of our systems and in many cases extend the ROI for each because of Status Solutions’ expertise in computer telephony integration and support for different protocols,” Goodfriend says.

Goodfriend goes on to explain that ProviNET is exploring the addition of the CATIE (Communication and Access to Information Everywhere) multimedia application for two-way communication and MIMI (Motion into Meaningful Information) for mobile health monitoring because he sees them as critical pieces of a “CCRC without walls” strategy. “CCRCs, including Park Place, are looking for ways to extend their brick-and-mortar services to the community at large, and SARA’s sister [situational awareness] solutions could help Providence Life Services and our other clients deliver important social and telehealth benefits.”

About Providence Life Services

Providence Life Services (formerly known as Rest Haven Christian Services) is a not-for-profit organization that has provided residential accommodations and services to Chicago-area seniors since 1912. Providence Life Services currently operates 12 communities throughout Illinois, Michigan and Indiana, serving the needs of more than 1,500 residents. Visit us at www.provlife.com.         

About ProviNET Solutions

ProviNET Solutions is a full-service IT company that offers a comprehensive spectrum of technology solutions, including IT consulting, support, training, and implementation, as well as technical assistance and hosting services. ProviNET supports a variety of Skilled, Independent, and Assisted Living communities as well as non-healthcare clients throughout the country and is headquartered in Tinley Park, Illinois. Visit us at www.provinet.com.         

More than 3,000 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted this year for consideration in a wide range of categories, including Most Innovative Company of the Year, Management Team of the Year, Best New Product or Service of the Year, Corporate Social Responsibility Program of the Year, and Executive of the Year, among others. Status Solutions is nominated in the Best New Product or Service – Software – Cloud Application/Service category for CATIE (Communication and Access to Information Everywhere).

CATIE is a multimedia application for two-way communication and self-service. It functions as an intercom, message center, electronic bulletin board and concierge for residents in senior living communities. It helps to prevent a sense of isolation and improve their quality of life by keeping them informed, active and in touch with those who matter most.

“CATIE can enhance the daily lives of seniors and take the senior living industry to a new level when it comes to providing custom amenities and streamlining business processes so care remains the primary focus,” explains Mike MacLeod, Status Solutions president and CATIE’s inventor. “We’re excited that CATIE has been honored as an American Business Awards finalist and would like to congratulate all of the companies who’ve been recognized along with us for their innovations.” 

Finalists were chosen by more than 140 business professionals nationwide during preliminary judging in April and May. More than 150 members of 10 specialized judging committees will determine Stevie Award placements from among the Finalists during final judging, which takes place May 14-25. Details about The American Business Awards and the list of Finalists in all categories are available at www.stevieawards.com/aba. 

For the first time, The American Business Awards will be presented at two awards events: the ABA's traditional banquet on Monday, June 18, in New York, and a new tech awards event on Monday, September 17, in San Francisco.

About the Stevie Awards

Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.  Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide.  Learn more about The Stevie Awards at www.stevieawards.com.

Sponsors and partners of The 2012 American Business Awards include American Support, Business TalkRadio Network, Callidus Software, Citrix Online, Dynamic Research Corporation, iolo technologies, John Hancock Funds, LifeLock, PetRays, Primus Telecommunications Group, SoftPro, and VerticalResponse.

CATIE is a multimedia application for two-way communication and self-service. It functions as an intercom, message center, electronic bulletin board and concierge to help seniors stay connected to the world around them for a better quality of life. The solution also enables senior living communities to design and deliver amenities customized to reflect their unique brands and services. These include the ability to:

• Review menus and make dining reservations
• Schedule activities and view a personalized calendar
• Make maintenance requests
• Notify housekeeping of cleaning and supply needs
• Respond to surveys  

Communities that deploy CATIE can streamline their business processes and reduce expenses. Digitizing menus and activity calendars not only saves trees but also eliminates those printing costs and enables staff to update information on demand. New revenue streams also can be established through CATIE’s Green Pages, a directory of local resources. Medical practices, restaurants, salons and other businesses pay for listings because they appreciate the societal impact and value access to a growing demographic with a lot of buying power. 

“We’re excited that CATIE has been recognized by ALFA as a technology that can enhance the daily lives of seniors,” says Mike MacLeod, president of Status Solutions and CATIE’s inventor. “Like the ATM revolutionized banking, CATIE is ushering in automated self-service for seniors who are growing more accustomed to technology and expect amenity sets that help them maintain a comfortable, active lifestyle. This solution can improve the quality of seniors’ lives and help senior living communities take service delivery and care to new levels.”  

“We have the honor to spread the good news about remarkable resident-centered programs fulfilling every aspect of senior-living operations, from wellness services to staff development,” said Richard P. Grimes, president and CEO of ALFA. “All of this year’s entries speak to the high standard of innovation and professionalism among our members and demonstrate their resourcefulness and ingenuity.”

Program submissions were judged for their uniqueness in the industry, innovative use of ideas from outside the industry, impact on residents, their families, staff and operations, the strength of quantitative and qualitative results and strategic vision. One Program to Watch is being recognized in each of the eight categories of business excellence.  Programs receiving this recognition have potential in the future to make a big impact in senior living.

CATIE, as well as other programs, are recognized in the May/June issue of Senior Living Executive at www.alfapublications.org. Status Solutions is demonstrating the CATIE solution at booth No 917 at COMMUNITY 2012, the ALFA Conference & Expo, May 16-18 in Dallas. Learn more at www.alfa.org/conference.  

About the Assisted Living Federation of America

The Assisted Living Federation of America (ALFA) is the largest national association exclusively dedicated to professionally-managed, resident-centered senior living communities and the seniors and families they serve.  Since 1990, ALFA has advocated for choice, accessibility, independence, dignity, and quality of life for all seniors.  ALFA’s programs promote business and operational excellence through education, research, publications, professional networking and online tools designed to foster innovation and entrepreneurism in the field of senior living.  Visit ALFA’s Web site at www.alfa.org.