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Northern
Communications
Reaching People When
It Counts Most
SUDBURY • NORTH BAY . TIMMINS
AUGUST2001, ISSUE 13
The Lowly Pager
May Not Be so
Lowly After All
A survey
from Ottawa-based Decima Research has found that pager use is increasing, and
that they are an especially hot item for women and those over the age of 55. The
number of women using pagers in Canada has doubled, jumping from four per cent
of the population in 1999 to about eight per cent in 2000. In total, 36 percent
of pager users in Canada last year were women, compared to 19 percent a year
earlier. Canadians aged 55 or older have tripled their use of pagers. About nine
percent from this group used pagers in 2000, compared to three per cent in 1999.
People from Ontario are the most active pager users in the country, and more
respondents than ever said they now use pagers for non-business purposes, such
as keeping track of children when they’re in school or out with friends. Peter
Barnes, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Wireless
Telecommunications Association, said the paging industry has changed
dramatically over the past two years, with new two-way pagers offering e-mail
and instant messaging features and much smaller and more colourful devices being
introduced into the market. No longer just hip-tags that vibrate or beep, pagers
have become tools for sending quick messages to business colleagues, friends and
family. Source: The Globe and Mail
Think We can’t
Help? Think Again!
Recently, a client came in asking if we had a
method for her and her fiancé to communicate. Normally this is a very simple
concept. In this case however, both clients are hearing impaired. This makes it
impossible for them to communicate via cell phone or other standard methods of
communication.
They recently had a baby and realized that they may
need to contact each other in case of an emergency. Diane McKechnie, one of our
pager salespeople in North Bay, having taken a sign language course, was able to
communicate with the client and determine her needs.
After having evaluated the situation and the
clients’ needs, Diane recommended an alphanumeric pager, which could be set on
vibrate mode. We also set them up with InfoRad, a computer program which allows
you to send full text messages.
The client is now able to contact her fiancé at any
time and therefore is enjoying a greater peace of mind knowing that, in an
emergency, she will not be alone.
Do you have a complex communication problem?
Call us to see what we can do for you.
Did You Know?
Fire department volunteer response have green
flashing lights. If you see one of these vehicles coming, please treat it
the same way you would a fire truck. When dealing with fire, seconds can save
lives. Help our brave fire fighters to do their jobs as effectively as possible.
~ Quote of the
Month ~
“Short as life is, we make it still shorter by the
careless waste of time.”
Victor Hugo
Congratulations!!
Our congratulations go out to Rick Delorme and our
North Bay staff for implementing a doctor’s paging system for the North Bay
General Hospital. A hospital representative came to Northern Communications
looking for an improved method of communication with their on-call physicians.
Until that time, the hospital staff had numerous contact numbers for each
physician making it difficult to locate them.
Our North Bay office set-up the physicians with
pagers allowing the hospital staff to contact the appropriate doctor with one
call. The hospital has been so satisfied with the results that they have had us
set-up a second system for their on-call operating room and recovery room
nurses.
Does your business or personal life require you to
be reachable at the drop of a hat? As the following letter from the North Bay
General Hospital indicates, we can help!
April 27. 2001
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
RE: Northern Communications
Answering Service -
DOCTORS’ PAGING SYSTEM
Approximately 18 months ago, the North Bay
General Hospital implemented a paging system for approximately 90 physicians who
provide on•call coverage for patients in the Hospital, and an additional 6
emergency physicians who are often called to provide back-up for each other in
the Emergency Department. Prior to implementing this system, staff would spend
significant amounts of time calling a list of numbers to track down a physician,
and each physician had their own individual methods of contact which might
include numbers for office telephones, home telephones, cellular phones, pagers,
and answering service. Hospital staff now have one number that all staff within
the hospital can call to page any physician on-staff at the North Bay General
Hospital.
The experience and expertise demonstrated by Rick
Delorme and the other Northern Communications staff made the process of getting
this system set-up and running smoothly almost effortless from the viewpoint of
the Hospital staff. Northern Communications was able to adapt their processes to
our needs, and on several occasions provided opportunities in the Hospital where
physicians could talk to a representative of the Answering Service for
inservicing on the pagers or to answer questions.
Since beginning the Doctors’ Paging System, we have
had only a few issues that related more to physician preference than to bugs in
the system. We have been so pleased with the timely, responsive, and pleasant
service, that we have now set up another paging system with Northern
Communications for our on-call operating room and recovery room nurses. This
system, as well, is working very smoothly.
We have been very pleased with the prompt service
we have received from Northern Communications and look forward to a long,
mutually beneficial relationship with them in the future.
Yours sincerely,
Pam Goodwin Bob Pinder
Medical Administrative Assistant Engineering Services
Technologist
Services that
we offer that you may not know about.
Northern Communications offers a plethora of services over and above monitoring
your alarms, answering your business line, and providing pager service. We can
take orders for you, perform client surveys, handle product recalls, and provide
reception relief. We are also able to provide reception overflow service which
forwards calls to us when your receptionist is on another call. If your business
requires that you be reachable to provide emergency products or services to your
clientele we can provide emergency response service. Remote reception is another
valuable tool for certain businesses. This service allows us to keep the caller
on the line while we connect you to that same line so that you can speak with
your client immediately. Our dispatch provides bilingual service, as well as
TTY/TDD Service, which enables us to communicate with hearing-impaired clients.
We also use a translator service to communicate with clients who do not speak
French or English. If you have a communication need, let us help you find the
best solution!
Reminder for
our Telephone Answering Service (TAS) Clients
1.
Please make us aware of employee changes or new hires that receive messages
through the TAS.
2. Tell us if you want us to change the
procedures to follow when receiving calls for your business.
3. If an employee’s contact information changes
(addresses, pager number, phone number or cell number), please let us know.
4. Please make sure that we have an up-to-date
on-call list. Faxing the on-call list is preferred.
5. If your business hours change it is
important to let us know so that we can relay the correct information to your
clientele.
6. When we page you to callus, you may get a busy
signal when dialling your business line. This may be because we have a client
holding on your line. If this happens, please call the Answering Service:
Sudbury 675-9101;
North Bay 474-2500; Timmins 268-2391.
Sudbury 673-8888, North Bay 474-2200, Timmins
268-4822
Toll-Free: (800) 461-3317
www.northerncom.com
www.northern911.com
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