Oki Electric has announced the launch of its Outpatient Guidance System, a private mobile messaging solution that links cordless systems at hospitals with message cards handed out to outpatients.

With the Personal Information Protection Act established in Japan on May 30, 2003, movements to protect personal information have increased. Hospitals are also looking into ways to protect personal information and have been reexamining their method of calling out outpatients' names through an announcing system after having them sign in at the reception.

Oki has an established track record with hospitals, supplying them with cordless systems that link with nurse-call systems, enabling nurses to quickly respond when called by patients who are confined in the hospital. Recognizing the hospitals' needs to protect privacy when calling out patients' names, Oki developed the Outpatient Guidance System as a solution.

This system is based on "OiNET791," a pager-type message card utilizing PHS technology developed by Oki Electric Co., Ltd. a major Japanese manufacturer of pagers for hospitals. The card connects with Oki's IP-PBX, the IPstage®-EX series or DISCOVERY®. This solution not only protects the personal information of outpatients, but also improves business operations for hospitals.

Sending information to outpatients via the works as follows:

• When the patients sign in at the reception, the message card will be handed to them
• All patient appointment data is delivered to each section of the hospital. By operating the pager, a section can send a personal message to the message card handed to a certain patient.
• When patient’s card receives a message, it will ring or vibrate, alerting the patient, and will display information about the appointment and location in large letters.

By eliminating the need to call out patients’ names, business operation improves while protecting the privacy of outpatients. It is also more convenient to patients, since they can wait anywhere in the hospital.

Oki plans to deploy this private mobile messaging solution to other service venues, where calling out personal names is required, particularly in environments where quiet is preferred and/or where different groups must be called.

About Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd.

Founded in 1881, Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. is Japan's first telecommunications manufacturer, with its headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. With the corporate vision, "Oki, Network Solutions for a Global Society," Oki provides top-quality products, technologies and solutions to its customers through its info-telecom system business, semiconductor business and printer business. All three businesses function as a collective force to create exciting new products and technologies that satisfy a spectrum of customer needs in various markets. Visit Oki's global web site at http://www.oki.com/.

Notes:

• IPstage and DISCOVERY are registered trademarks of Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. in Japan.
• Other names of companies and products are trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective companies and organizations.