Medisch Spectrum Twente (MST) is a top-clinical hospital situated on five different locations and fulfills a regional function as a heart and radio therapy center. With 4.000 employees it's the largest employer in the region of Twente. Besides all basic facilities, Medisch Spectrum Twente offers top clinical functions. The top clinical nature is developing steadily and is acknowledged in- and outside the region. Almost all medical specialisms are available.

The hospital offers radio therapy, autologous bone marrow transplants, neurosurgery and hemodialisys. The hospital is an acknowledged center for the treatment of AIDS. Furthermore it's working with the Isalaclinics in Zwolle as a transport clinic for in vitro fertilization. In 1999 MST was designated as a trauma center (one of eleven in The Netherlands). A Thorax center is also part of the hospital.

With eleven medical-specialist study programs (including those for hospital apothecary, clinical chemist, general clinical physicist and clinical psychologist) Medisch Spectrum Twente is one of the biggest non-academic training hospitals in the Netherlands. MST is one of the two non-academical hospitals with a full license for the internist training program.
In affiliation with the medical faculty of the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen MST provides the postgraduate part of the medical training. An average of 40 co assistants is being trained by Medisch Spectrum Twente on a yearly basis.

The IT department is responsible for installation and maintenance of 1.600 work stations. Almost all care processes run on 70 servers in the computer center. Because the MST is operational 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, it's crucial that the systems are available outside office hours as well. Possible failures and calamities have to be remedied immediately.

To solve problems people working in the IT department sometimes need to operate a work station remotely. In the past this was done by means of a Java-script or an iLO-board. This was always done through IP, which worked relatively slow, or sometimes not at all when (a part of) the network was not available, so they wanted to find an alternative.

Medisch Centrum Twente looked for a multi-user KVM solution which made it possible to take over a work station in an analog way. It had to perform from a bigger distance as well, because they were anticipating a future expansion to another part of the building. The solution also had to accommodate serial control.

The advice

MST reviewed a few solutions, among which Black Box¿s suggestions. MST was a Black Box customer already, having purchased cables and connectors in the past. After contacting their Black Box accountmanager they received extensive Tech Support advice, who came up with the ideal solution, the ServSwitch Octet.

The ServSwitch Octet is a high-end solution that meets the demands for the performance in a hospital that's operational 24 hours a day. If this product may malfunction in the future it can be replaced one on one without influencing other equipment, after which the work process can be resumed immediately.
In the end the hospital chose a 42-port solution that can be used simultaneously by 4 users. The Octet is a multi-platform solution that meets the desires for serial operation. By using UTP cabling the Octet also offers the flexibility MST demands.

Why Black Box

Besides the fact that Black Box provided the perfect solution for this specific need, MST was very happy with the possibility to return products if they weren't satisfied with the performance. The actual installation of the switch turned out to be quite simple.

Mr. F. Fornara, Senior IT Project Services about Black Box:

"One of the strongest sales arguments for me was that we could return the product if it didn't meet our demands. Because Black Box is so convinced of the quality of it's products, we had faith in the ServSwitch Octet as well. The advice we received helped us find the best solution fast, and the product performs as promised. For future expansions it is most likely the Octet will be the product of our choice again."