CallMeSmart: An Ascom/Trixbox Based Prototype for Context Controlled Mobile Communication in Hospitals

Hospitals are working environments where information is constantly exchanged between co-workers over a complex communication infrastructure. In order to support the needs of hospital professionals, this infrastructure should provide the possibility to exchange important information as quickly as possible and, at the same time, contact colleagues without interrupting their working activities unnecessarily. Interruptions are unpleasant situations and a source of stress and distraction that may increase the probability of taking wrong decisions. Currently, hospital communication infrastructure relies on the use of pagers which create a large amount of unnecessary interruptions. Wireless phones are less utilized, but as opposed to pagers they provide text and audio services in the same device. With a suitable context-aware system it should be capable of balance interruptions and thereby provide solutions able to efficiently support the work of hospital professionals. The system has been developed using the iterative software engineering approach, Unified Process. The system is able to block and re-route calls directed to users that are not available due to their location, work schedule, activity and role. A number of tests have been carried out after the development, and highlighted some changes that have to be made before being deployed in real hospital environments.