Will there be a central set of standards published that all health providers must adhere to?  To give an example all health organisations will eventually deploy Instant Messaging and Presence.  Given that all the health organisations need to communicate will there be a central standard?  What happens if a surgery has Sametime, a hospital has Jabber and the trust has OCS?  Without central standards the IT provision within the system we be chaotic.

How will de-centralised costs be tracked?  While centralised costs by their very nature create large top line figures that can attract significant attention.  De-centralised costs are extremely difficult to track and monitor, how will we know that the health organisations are procuring effectively?

Again no idea if this is the right thing for the UK government to do, I just hope they understand the ramifications of their decisions.  Strong central standards and close understanding of costs are required and it can prove very difficult to implement with many different autonomous organisations making decisions on IT infrastructure that ultimately have to work together to make the system work for patients and tax payers.

I do have one customer service question.  Technology is clearly going to play a significant role in the provision of services to patients in the future.  How within a system that is specifically and intentionally designed to provide a standard level of service to all patients can the UK government ensure a consistent level of service across the nation.  What happens if the North West implement IT 200% more effectively than the South West?   Will citizens from the South West have to travel 500 miles to the North West to receive more effective care?

• Google tried with Google Video but realised that Youtube’s brand had too much of a lead
• Google Search/Account id allowed Google a unique chance to monetise Youtube
• Youtube is a massive web property, for Google not to have control could be a threat in the future

I believe all three of the above reasons can be applied to a Google purchase of Skype.  While Google Voice is a good product I think Skype has too much of a brand lead for Gvoice to ever take over. To monetise Skype Google could push Skype into their Google accounts and search results while inserting ad words into Skype calls.  They could easily keep the Google Voice brand for their Enterprise apps and keep the Skype brand for consumers.

Imagine a Skype/Youtube and Google TV combination, which can be transferred to a desktop and mobile phone platform.

The Tandberg solution, now provided by the Cisco TelePresence Technology Group, connects the remote monastery with mainland hospitals so that local practitioners can rely on the experience of Russian and international experts, delivered via high-quality video. Valaam Monastery is located on Valaam Island in Russian Karelia, the largest island in Lake Ladoga, 22 kilometers (13.7 miles) from the mainland and 220 kilometers (137 miles) from St. Petersburg.

The Island of Valaam receives more than 110,000 visitors every year, and the new center is already providing teleconsultations for pilgrims and tourists as well as monks and other local patients. In the first two weeks of its operation, 20 sessions were organized in the outpatient medical room, including consultations with specialists in St. Petersburg and Moscow hospitals. In addition, the center carried out a multipoint three-party consultation with the G.I. Turner Orthopedic R&D Institute in St. Petersburg and the A.N. Burdenko Neurosurgery Institute of the Russian Medical Academy. During that session, the professors attended a 9-year-old disabled girl trying to regain her ability to walk.

Take a look at the press release here

Technet documents here

Microsoft’s new Lobby feature in their upcoming “Communication Server 14″ release could be a solution to this curse. The “CS14″ team over at this blog post give a brief hint at the Lobby feature and “CS14″ UI.

Fundamentally the Lobby feature and the integrated Audio Conferencing feature should now negate the need to complete a constant roll call.  All those on the call will see who is on the call and the chair of the call doesn’t have to worry about unauthorised attendance.

I’ve said/written this many times but we are only starting to scratch the surface that Unified Communication can provide.

The stethoscope – medical icon, lifesaver and doctor’s best friend – is disappearing from hospitals across the world as physicians increasingly use their smartphones to monitor patients’ heartbeats.

More than 3 million doctors have downloaded a 59p application – invented by Peter Bentley, a researcher from University College London – which turns an Apple iPhone into a stethoscope.

Last week, Bentley introduced a free version of the app, which is being downloaded by more than 500 users a day. Experts say the software, a major advance in medical technology, has saved lives and enabled doctors in remote areas to access specialist expertise.

“Everybody is very excited about the potential of the adoption of mobile phone technology into the medical workplace, and rightly so,” said Bentley, who initially developed the app “as a fun toy”.

“Smartphones are incredibly powerful devices packed full of sensors, cameras, high-quality microphones with amazing displays,” he said. “They are capable of saving lives, saving money and improving healthcare in a dramatic fashion – and we carry these massively powerful computers in our pockets.”

Read the iStethoscope article in the Guardian here the article describes other Telemedicince technologies too.

BT today announced two further voice initiatives on its converged communications platform, BT Onevoice. To enable larger organisations to accelerate the adoption of communications applications to the desktop, BT is launching SIP trunking in a number of countries, delivering a clear migration path to unified communications. At the same time, BT has the global Microsoft qualification of BT Onevoice for Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2.

BT Onevoice’s SIP trunking provides full connectivity between domestic country voice services and BT’s Onevoice global VPN to help customers reduce telephony costs and rapidly deploy converged applications. The service offers local numbering for both outgoing and incoming call traffic that can be delivered anywhere on a user’s network. Already available in the UK the services will be rolled out to the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France and the US in the coming months, with further regions, including Spain, to follow. In addition, by utilising SIP trunking, customers can reduce rental for access lines, reduce call costs, and improve collaboration for users, whether they be office based, on the move or based remotely.

BT also announced a commitment to deliver up to 25% reduction on voice communications for customers who already have a data network with BT, spend £700k on voice communications and then move their voice traffic to BT’s Onevoice product.  Devil of course will be in the detail.

Interesting to see another large incumbent telco start to broaden their UC offer to include support for products such as OCS and also start to offer guaranteed savings into the mix. While I fully expect the number of voice and video minutes to increase within an enterprise the per unit pricing will fall dramatically which creates real financial challenges for incumbents such as BT, AT%T, D-Telecom.

(please note I initially had guarantee savings and did not have the ‘up to’ 25% but having re-read I now notice BT are offering to commit up to 25% savings)

Michael Bolognino just released a blog post on Google Voice Blog explaining some of the really nice features that Voice/Gmail has built in, in case any of you lucky North Americans who has a Voice account didn’t know here are a few really nice features:

• Chrome click to dial extension:  see a number in Chrome and simply click to dial.  In my experience click to dial is the most popular feature when a UC system is deployed
• Call recording: click 4 and both parties are informed that the call is being recorded (I don’t think it is transcribed)
• Switch calls: a large number of calls require moving from one phone to another (eg from a mobile to landline or vice versa)  Google Voice allows the user to quickly switch the call from a chosen list of devices

I’m not sure Google/Cisco/IBM and Microsoft fully appreciate that voice remains at the centre of the UC&C tower – I think Cisco probably understand this more.  If one company can capture the voice element they will have an extremely good opportunity to attack email, instant messaging and collaboration platforms that are multi billion pound/dollar markets.  If Google keep innovating Voice they have a real chance at creating a spearhead for their Google Apps business……now please Google can you launch in Europe?