To be deemed essential in moments of nationwide crisis is not something we handle lightly, but it is something that we are truly proud of. “When Ronco was founded, we provided backup power generators to organizations that served the public good – education, healthcare, and government. Fifty-five years later, little has changed in who we serve,” says Chris Wasp Jr, CEO & owner of Ronco. When what you do as a company makes a difference, work feels less like work and more like your purpose.
Supporting Healthcare Professionals in Response to COVID-19
Ronco has been called to the front-lines of defense in mission-critical facilities up and down the East Coast. With hospitals inundated with new patients, staff functioning with limited resources, and time being of the essence, changes need to be made to the communication systems that keep these facilities running efficiently. As the integrators behind these communication systems - nurse calls systems, real-time location systems, video and paging solutions - we are working around the clock to support our healthcare professionals.
Reprogramming Nurse Call Systems
“We are working with nursing leadership and our internal operations and service teams to temporarily reprogram nurse call systems to reduce the number of times clinical staff has to enter an infectious patient room, helping to stretch the use of Personal Protective Equipment,” says Cinzia Chadderdon, Senior Clinical Design & Implementation Specialist.
Taking extra precautions wherever we can, some members of our healthcare teams are virtually testing systems with hospital staff. “We are there even when we can’t be there. We’re using FaceTime to test a call cancel change, and dialing into the patient room nurse call equipment from a hospital wireless phone to reduce unnecessary proximity. With the hands free option, the staff that is already in the room will not need to touch the equipment to answer,” says Esselie Thompson, Clinical Design & Implementation Specialist.
Retrofitting Hospital Buildings
Additionally, our teams are working on retrofitting hospitals as states are looking to increase their number of hospital beds. "Ronco is accomplishing mountain-moving feats in record time, during unthinkable circumstances and in very stressful conditions to help those who need it the most," says Stacey Dodge, VP of Clinical Design & Implementation.
Transforming Traditional Communication
Social distancing has had a significant effect on hospital visitation policies. For many hospitals, only one parent or caregiver is permitted to be with the patient through the duration of their care. For the patients with support teams, or for those in Labor & Delivery, these policies are presenting a unique challenge. With a strong presence in the audiovisual industry, Ronco is working with healthcare executives on innovative ways to enable video conferencing within patient rooms for external communication. This will allow families and other caregivers practical and safe ways to stay connected and protected through the use of virtual channels.
Integrating Facility-Wide Paging
To reduce human involvement, error, and alarm fatigue, we are continuing to integrate paging into nurse call systems to automate, and zone code calls. With patient numbers increasing by the hour, creating a quieter healthcare environment is key to both patient satisfaction and healing. With this integration, managers can extend reassurance to their staff with supervision, reporting, and alarm capabilities that drive faster response times.
Maintaining Systems with 24x7 Support
Our teams are consistently available and, when possible, monitoring these facilities' systems to ensure that communications are never down. Our Technical Assistance Center operates 24x7x365 to provide real-time issue resolution, whether that is on-site or remote.
Keeping Our Decision Makers Connected - Municipalities, State & Federal
Our work in the government sector is more critical now than ever before. With press conferences every hour, governing bodies frequently meeting each day, and mass communication as essential as it is, now is not the time for system outages or inadequate technology. We are proud to equip these high-profile meeting spaces with audiovisual technology, and these agencies with secure phone systems and 24-hour support.
In the interest of stopping the spread of COVID-19, Ronco is working with decision-makers in this sector to help transition their teams to remote work. "These agencies needed to allow more of their employees to work from home. Ronco was called upon and quickly enabled its Unified Communications system for remote workers. Employees can now continue providing mission-critical services from the safety of their homes," says Brian Hansen, Executive VP of Sales.
Supporting Education Professionals in Response to COVID-19 & In Preparation for Future Emergency Preparedness
With educators at every level transitioning to online teaching environments, new technology is required. We are working with campuses to develop high-quality audiovisual solutions to ease this transition.
Proposing Solutions
"We are helping one of our more distant Higher Ed customers deploy remote desktop and mobile telephone users by adding software licenses and system resources while providing Technical Assistance Support remotely. Our remote support allows us to maintain social distancing policies in effect, as well as expedite the request," says Jennifer Knickerbocker, Strategic Account Manager. "In K-12, there is a need for teachers working remotely to step up their technology at home with higher-quality audio and video devices. Our Portable Conference Room Bundle is a cost-effective, plug-and-play solution that requires no technical experience to set up - making better teacher-student connections and empowering tele-education."
"The learning experience is transforming entirely. Audio and video quality are new obstacles for educators, but we can offer technology alternative to your average laptop camera and microphone - like an all-in-one soundbar with a camera built-in," says Scott Hall, Strategic Account Manager.
Preparing for Future Crisis
Though this pandemic has resulted in the move to tele-education, our K-12 facilities are not to be forgotten. For any school, keeping students and staff safe is a top priority. In fact, for those still accessible to contractors, Ronco is still busy at work to empower safer campuses for our youth. With a critical communications platform that distributes district-wide emergency notifications, we work to prepare districts for crisis response.
"At Ronco, school safety is everything! When a crisis occurs, every second counts. It’s important to establish and exercise your emergency response plans, but when an actual event happens and people are on edge, it’s even more important to ensure that everyone receive the right message without compromise. Ronco continues to work with school districts to strengthen and improve the efficiency of their emergency response plans to ensure that staff, students and first responders each receive their specific instructions without delay," says Mike Perkowski, Strategic Account Manager.
When Missions Are Critical, Ronco Is There
While reflecting on our purpose - to serve those who serve the public good - Scott Strassburg, VP of Sales, summarizes what we do best by saying, "As conditions are changing constantly and getting real-time communication is paramount, Ronco is here to answer the call."
