Connected audio is helping healthcare organizations improve communication, strengthen emergency response, and create better experiences for patients, visitors, and staff.
As hospitals become increasingly connected, the role of audio is changing. Once mostly used solely for public address systems, audio is now an important part of a broader connected technology ecosystem that’s designed to support safety, communication, and operations.
The latest episode of the Secure Insights podcast explores this evolution and examines how healthcare organizations can take a more unified approach to audio, security, and communications.
Host Steve Burdet, Manager, Solutions Management, Axis Communications, is joined by Chris Wildfoerster, Program Manager for Audio, Axis Communications, and Paul Baratta, Segment Development Manager for Healthcare, Axis Communications to discuss the unique communication challenges facing healthcare facilities. The group dives into how connected audio can help address needs ranging from emergency response to the everyday patient and visitor experience.
The conversation begins with the growing concept of the "smart hospital." As healthcare facilities adopt more connected technologies, systems that have traditionally been siloed are starting to converge. Rather than treating all these security technologies as isolated tools, organizations now have an opportunity to bring them together, improving situational awareness and delivering information where and when it is needed.
You see the video and you see the event taking place. But when you add audio, it completes the story. It sets the whole stage. I like to say we go from a one-dimensional solution to a multi-dimensional solution.
— Chris Wildfoerster, Program Manager, Audio, Axis Communications
Of course, effective communication isn't limited to critical events. Throughout this episode, Chris and Paul explain the role audio can play in creating a better everyday experience for patients, visitors, and staff. Background music and clear announcements can all influence how people experience a healthcare environment, particularly during situations that may already be stressful or unfamiliar.
The discussion also highlights the importance of intelligibility. A message is only useful if people can clearly hear and understand it. Poor audio quality and outdated infrastructure can create confusion, while more targeted communication helps ensure relevant information reaches the right people without disrupting an entire facility.
During emergencies, that ability becomes even more important. Integrating audio with mass notifications systems and technologies such as video, analytics, strobes, and text-based alerts can give healthcare teams additional ways to communicate and respond to developing situations. This episode examines how a connected approach can help improve response to critical events.
Whether you're a healthcare security professional, hospital administrator, facilities leader, system integrator, or technology decision-maker, this episode offers practical insights into how a more connected approach to audio can support safer, more responsive healthcare environments.
To hear the entire conversation, watch the full episode below.
Interested in staying up to date on the latest conversations from Secure Insights? Subscribe to the Axis Communications YouTube channel to be notified whenever new episodes are released. You can also listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. New episodes are released every other week.