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• BizTalk
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• BizTalk RFID – Connecting the Edge to Enterprise – 29th October 2008

  Overview With the increasing deployment of RFID across a variety of business domains, from traditional supply-chain scenarios through to tracking of any critical assets within a business such as specialist equipment within a health-care environment, criminal justice even through to critical document tracking. This seminar provides an overview of the Microsoft platform for RFID and includes customer case studies and demonstrations of the platform. The Microsoft platform for RFID is BizTalk Server 2006 R2. BizTalk RFID puts real-time, asset visibility within reach of every customer, spanning systems, people, and processes both within and across organizational boundaries. BizTalk RFID empowers customers to make informed business decisions with real-time data from geographically dispersed, yet integrated systems—putting you one step ahead of the competition. All this coupled with the confidence of an enterprise-class infrastructure, regardless of your company size. Your business, connected. Agenda Morning Session 10:00am - 10:30am Arrival and Registration 10:30am -10.45am Welcome & Introductions 10:45am- 11:30pm RFID Scenarios & Microsoft Approach – How the Microsoft RFID platform provides solutions for some typical business problems addressed by RFID. 11.30am-12.15pm Customer Case Studies - Overview of how BizTalk RFID has been deployed by customers across a variety of different business domains such as supply-chain, restaurants and asset management 12.15pm-01.00pm Lunch 1.00pm-1.45pm Demonstration – Demonstration of RFID platform and capabilities 1.45pm-2.00pm Close & Final Q&A – Open question and answer session and closing remarks Location Microsoft London (Cardinal Place), 100 Victoria Street, London SW1E 5JL click here for a map At the Conclusion You will have a better understanding of how Microsoft RFID technologies can help your organization gain greater visibility to the edge of their enterprise and integrate data to drive and improve business performance. Primary Audience This event will be particularly valuable to senior IT professionals interested in RFID and the Microsoft platform for RFID. To Register Please click on the above link to register. Space is limited and therefore it is advisable to register early to avoid disappointment. Posted Tuesday, October 14, 2008 6:33 AM from Health & Education Technology Specialist | 0 Comments Filed under: BizTalk, NHS, RFID

• iSUG Cool Stuff

  Richard Lane and I attended the iSoft User Group conference (iSUG) last week where we did a total of 10 sessions across two days.  One of the highlights (for us at least) was a session entitled 'Cool Stuff'  where we had a chance to share some of the new and exciting technologies coming out from Microsoft - both from a professional and a consumer perspective.  Below is a quick list of topics (with associated links) that we covered: Medical Search Services NHS health care workers who have a connection to the National Network for the NHS (N3) are now able to access a range of trusted clinical information sources in one place, using Medical Search Services. The service provides access to trusted clinical information resources when and where they are most required. With practical functionality built around day to day needs, Medical Search Services offer a range of information resources to staff who may not regularly have used existing NHS library services. SilverLight We then demonstrated our DeepZoom technology starting with the memorabilia collection at the Hard Rock Cafe and then showing how this can be utilised in healthcare showing the Microsoft CUI patient journey demonstrator - with the secondary care demonstrator using the technology to present medical charts. HealthVault We then showed our healthcare consumer focus with HealthVault - as described in a previous post PopFly We switched gears and had some fun developing a mash-up or two using PopFly Photographs Finishing off with photographs we showed how photo's could be taken with a mobile and shared using Live Mesh and Windows Live.  We also showed how new technology from Microsoft research - namely AutoCollage and Photosynth. Posted Monday, October 13, 2008 4:41 AM from Health & Education Technology Specialist | 0 Comments Filed under: NHS

• Unified Communication in Healthcare

  This week I'm travelling to Cumbria in the north of England to discuss the issues they face collaborating and communicating across one of the most geographically challenging areas of the country.  Like most NHS trusts consultants and staff spend lots of time travelling between the different locations, often to meet with colleagues. This not only costs in terms of time and money but also has an impact on the environment.   Instant Messaging, Voice & Video One of the things I'm intending to talk about is of course Office Communications Server and its use in Healthcare.    One of the first things I tend to show is the ability to connect to colleagues and peers quickly moving from a Instant Messaging conversation to an interactive voice/video conversation.  People are always surprised how easy it is to add additional parties to the conversation by simply dragging them into the conversation window.  This is fantastic for multi-disciplinary teams to be able to connect and communicate effectively. Interactive Meetings One of the things that invariably comes up during these conversations is the use of video conferencing.   Many Trusts in the UK have made significant investments in these technologies - but typically these require specialist hardware, networks and dedicated rooms.  The biggest challenge however is that it forces people to move to the appropriate facility to access.   Our model is very different in that we bring the technology to the user so that they can communicate with colleagues and peers on their terms and time-scales. To assist me I'm taking along one of the new Roundtable devices.   For those that haven't seen them - they look like the picture on the right.  The Roundtable is a new web-cam having 5 cameras and 5 mirrors to give a 360 degree view of the room. Its simply a usb device that plugs straight into my PC. Using active speaker recognition people see a panoramic view of everyone in the room as well as a close up of the person speaking.  So a great scenario for this is when you have a real meeting at a trust location and two or three people joining the meeting either from home or another location. The Roundtable makes any room a video conferencing room...   As well as being being able to see and to speak to people Office Communications Server offers the ability to share information whether that be a set of slides, pictures, desktop applications as well as collaborative tools such as white boards and polls.       In addition Office Communications Server meetings can be recorded making this an ideal environment for providing training - basically if you miss the meeting you can access the recording at a later date.   Beyond the PC The other key element of Office Communications Server is the ability to connect to people on the telephone.   Lots of people in healthcare have invested significant sums in IP telephony and whilst there are obvious benefits in rationalising to a single network all it means for end users is a new fancy telephone on the desktop.  With Office Communications Server we break down these barriers in communication connecting users on PC's with users on the telephone (whether its an IP phone or not).  So if I receive an email from a colleague as they are online I can use instant messaging or make a voice or video call to their PC.   If they are not online I can call them on their desk-phone or their mobile.  Don't worry if you haven't got IP telephony today with the addition of an IP bridge Office Communications Server will talk directly to your existing PBX. I  personally use one of the new usb telephone handsets connected to my PC as I don't have a traditional desk-phone anymore.  This type of device works really well for me as I spend a lot of time on the telephone and like the feel of a handset (I guess I'm just old fashioned that way!) There are lots of alternatives though such as headsets, web-cams ands speaker phones.   In fact Microsoft has developed, along with a range of partners,  a new breed of IP telephones  which runs Office Communicator right there on the handset.  These devices are Internet enabled so I can take one home, plug it into my wireless router and all of my phone call conversations are routed to that device securely over the Internet.       We also have a version of the office communicator for mobile devices.   this means that I can be online to colleagues and peers on my mobile device as well as on my PC. Posted Thursday, September 18, 2008 3:27 AM from Health & Education Technology Specialist | 0 Comments Filed under: NHS