If you’re in a business with branch offices, you may be able to benefit from Metro Ethernet, a computer network that connects business local area networks (LANs) and individual end users to a wide area network (WAN), or to the Internet.
Any large business or corporation can benefit from using Metro Ethernet to connect branch campuses or offices to an intranet. This connectivity, combined with cost effectiveness, reliability, scalability and bandwidth management, is superior to most proprietary networks and is vital to highly technological, fast-paced industries.
This is one reason that Metro Ethernet is gaining traction in the health care arena, says Steve Wreede, a sales engineer with Time Warner Cable Business Class.
“The technology and data needs of the health care industry are constantly growing, and that growth will only continue in the future,” says Wreede. “Metro Ethernet solutions can keep pace with and meet those needs.”
Smart Business spoke with Wreede about Metro Ethernet and how health care providers and other businesses can use it to create efficiencies and save money.
Why is Metro Ethernet so important in the health care arena?
More bandwidth is always needed in health care. Health care providers work heavily with medical imaging such as X-rays, MRIs, EKGs, endoscopies, microscopies, etc., and they need to be able to transfer that data between doctors and radiologists quickly and efficiently so that diagnoses and medical recommendations can be made.
Most health care systems use at least 100 megabits. Years ago, that much bandwidth was unheard of, but with all the medical technology today, that much bandwidth is absolutely necessary. Metro Ethernet can provide as much bandwidth as a health care provider needs.
Also, Metro Ethernet can make a health care provider’s whole network administration easier. Many hospitals have more computers than they do doctors, nurses and patients combined. Metro Ethernet can streamline all of those into one network, without traditional routing problems. This leads to more productive servers and higher bandwidth, which are integral to keeping modern medical equipment up and running.
