Display Technology

Exterity IPTV keeps hospitals in Turkey, Qatar informed throughout COVID-19

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare facilities have relied on fast, reliable and clear communication to keep both staff and visitors informed and safe.

Desktop displays, deployed by Exterity, help keep staff at TOBB ETU Hospital in Turkey educated and informed. Provided

August 31, 2021 by Kevin Damask — Editor, Digital Signage Today

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare facilities have relied on fast, reliable and clear communication to keep both staff and visitors informed and safe.

Exterity, a Vitec company, has used its niche in the digital signage and IPTV field to help front-line workers at two hospitals, TOBB University of Technology in and Economics Hospital in Ankara, Turkey, and Hamad Medical Corporation in Doha, Qatar stay communicated through a line of IPTV solutions. Exterity, founded in 2001, is headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Both facilities are using digital signage screens to welcome patients and visitors, providing direction throughout the hospital. Since the pandemic began in early 2020, the signage has also provided vital health and safety information, such as the importance of wearing masks, hand washing and keeping a social distance.

IPTV displays broadcast feeds and programming with up-to-date news and research on the pandemic, keeping hospital staff informed. In the Turkey and Qatar hospitals, staff have used the Exterity displays to share training and protocol information, cleaning instructions, new procedures for delivery, and how to be safe while using cafeterias, kitchens and other frequently shared facilities.

TOBB ETU Hospital employs more than 500 staff and provides accident and emergency care, surgery, outpatient treatments and 100 in-patient beds. In 2017, ETU, looking to upgrade its video systems throughout the hospital, deployed Exterity's IPTV.

"The system was used to provide in-room entertainment for its patients, including both domestic and foreign TV channels, which played a significant role in ensuring the comfort of guests by creating a more comfortable environment," Colin Farquhar, SVP of sales at Vitec, said in an email interview with Digital Signage Today. "The Exterity IP video system also was used to deliver presentations and training videos to enable staff to quickly access medical information when tending to a patient at their convenience from a desktop computer."

Farquhar

The system delivers entertainment and information to 85 patient rooms, six public areas and 28 staff desktops. Hospital staff can also use it to brush up on training whenever they want through a desktop computer.
The TOBB ETU facility has deployed the AvediaServer central management platform to monitor channels to make sure content is seamlessly added to the network. The network's server houses a video library, allowing staff to access any video they wish on-demand.

"The wellbeing of our patients and their visitors is essential in helping to promote a pleasant environment in often challenging circumstances," Gazi Durusulu, IT manager of TOBB ETU Hospital, said on a website promoting the product. "The new IPTV system is part of our ongoing commitment to ensure that every person who visits our hospital is made as comfortable as possible."

TOBB ETÜ Hospital contacted 4D Sistem Company, a system integrator with AV expertise, to deploy the IPTV system throughout the hospital.

"Exterity has a great set of extremely flexible solutions that are a perfect fit to meet the requirements of the TOBB ETÜ Hospital environment," Cihangir Karalar, general manager of 4D Sistem Company, said on a website to promote the product. "In addition, the software management tools are easy to use and allow even non-technical staff to upload and watch pre-recorded video presentations with just a few clicks."

Following the success of ETU's Exterity rollout, Hamad Medical decided to follow suit, installing the video system for in-room entertainment in 2018. The system provides 120 channels and video on demand for long-term patients. Farquhar said the IPTV user interface supports Arabic, English and other languages.

Hamad Medical provides secondary and tertiary healthcare in Qatar. Hamad Medical manages 10 hospitals well as the National Ambulance Service in Qatar, along with home and residential care services.

"The solution also integrates with the Nurse Call system, enabling patients to use remote controls to operate their TV via Exterity Media Players as well as call for medical support," Farquhar said.

While Farquhar wouldn't provide specific feedback from the facilities, he said both hospitals have found multiple ways to utilize Exterity's system.

The end-to-end IP and video system has also been deployed in the United Kingdom's National Health Service and includes a line of iPads in a children's hospital. Farquhar declined to comment on future developments or upgrades to the system, but said Exterity frequently looks at options to improve the communication systems.

"We continue to work with specialist channel and technology partners in the healthcare sector and look for opportunities to expand functionality where appropriate like, for example, the Nurse Call functionality at the Hamad International Hospital," he said.

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