Aruba Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARUN), a global leader in distributed enterprise network solutions, today announced that LRGHealthcare (LRGH), a healthcare charitable trust based in New Hampshire, has deployed Aruba's application-aware 802.11n Wi-Fi networks to address growing clinical mobility needs throughout the Lakes Region General Hospital, Franklin Regional Hospital, and associated clinics in the cities of Lanconia, Franklin, Gilford, and Meredith. Pervasive Wi-Fi coverage provides point of care access to EMR systems, patient monitors, voice communications, as well as secure guest access for improved patient satisfaction. Aruba authorized partner Akibia provided deployment integration for LRGH.
“It was essential for the replacement system to be resistant to interference and future-proof with respect to new data, telemetry, voice, or video applications we were considering.”
"Our legacy wireless network was limited in scope and could not handle the growing roster of new applications we wanted to support," said Scott Vachon, LRGHealthcare's Manager of Network Service. "It was essential for the replacement system to be resistant to interference and future-proof with respect to new data, telemetry, voice, or video applications we were considering."
Network reliability for mission-critical medical applications is provided by Aruba's 6000 Series Mobility Controller with redundant processors and dual-radio AP-105 and AP-124 Access Points featuring integrated spectrum analyzer capability. Wireless resiliency is ensured by Aruba's Adaptive Radio Management (ARM) technology. ARM automatically optimizes coverage and client performance in real-time for latency-sensitive communications. Regardless of local operating conditions and sources of interference, ARM and Aruba's spectrum analyzer technologies help ensure that latency-sensitive voice and video applications have sufficient network resources, including airtime, to operate reliably.
Aruba's policy-enforcement firewall provides network security for a heterogeneous user population that needs access to a wide variety of medical applications. The firewall provided differentiated access to each class of users based on factors including user identity, device type, location, and time of day. Aruba's captive portal provides access control and bandwidth limits to manage guest access, thereby ensuring network availability for more critical applications.
Operations management is provided by Aruba's AirWave Wireless Management Suite (AWMS), through which the entire network can be maintained from a single console interface. The AirWave suite provides a rich set of features - including extensive diagnostics and reporting - that help keep the network running consistently in top form. The suite supports multiple generations of wireless technology, made by different vendors and even using different wireless standards, to make it easier and less expensive to transition to a new network.
"Aruba offered the most extensive features and broadest functionality of any multi-channel or single-channel Wi-Fi vendor we investigated, and their references were ardently enthusiastic about the products and company," continued Vachon. "We now have reliable, pervasive coverage throughout our facilities, our client devices and mobile cart connections make bedside care a reality instead of a hope, and the guest network is seeing consistently heavy usage with no Help Desk issues."
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