Florham Park, NJ -- June 28, 2004 -- Global Crossing (NASDAQ: GLBCE) today introduced a healthy dose of IP services for the healthcare industry with its telemedicine offer -- a bundle of Global Crossing's IP VPN Service™ for end-to-end connectivity coupled with IP and/or ISDN videoconferencing. These technologies offer converged IP services and provide for the transmission of voice, video and data over a secure MPLS-based network, in addition to facilitating face-to-face physician-patient and physician-to-physician communication in real-time.
The healthcare community has embraced telemedicine -- the practice of exchanging information from one site to another by electronic communications -- since its arrival on the medical scene more than 10 years ago. The use of video communications technology such as Global Crossing's award-winning iVideoconferencing enables telemedicine users to improve the quality and accessibility of medical care to patients, participate in distance learning, as well as enhancing the sharing of medical knowledge and opinions from physicians and specialists in disparate locations.
"With Global Crossing's telemedicine offer, which removes the geographic barrier, doctors, nurses and researchers can provide real-time consultative care, collaboration or distance learning from remote locations," explained Anthony Christie, Global Crossing's chief marketing officer. "Global Crossing's technology positions us as an enabler of telemedicine applications, providing the global connectivity that allows physicians to expand their knowledge, share their findings and improve patient care from disparate locations."
Telemedicine is supported by federal grants in the United States, and 46 states currently offer financial aid for telemedicine, according to the U.S. Federal Telemedicine Directory. In March 2004, President Bush also asked Congress for $100 million to finance demonstration projects promoting the use of information technology to improve health care quality in 2005. Telemedicine -- also referred to as telehealth -- is a technology that is already helping increase accessibility to quality healthcare.
iVideoconferencing, recently recognized as the Best New Videoconferencing Service of 2004 by international consulting firm Frost & Sullivan, significantly improves the video quality and service reliability as compared to traditional ISDN videoconferencing services, and is most desirable for connecting international sites or remote locations that only have ISDN access. By leveraging Global Crossing's private global IP network to backhaul video traffic, iVideoconferencing enables customers to capitalize on the benefits of IP technology today without having to upgrade their existing ISDN infrastructure - and it delivers a near-broadcast quality picture. Global Crossing operators set up the call in advance of the scheduled appointment time, so the healthcare provider simply enters the room to see their patient or colleagues at other sites.
Healthcare providers can also keep current on the latest medical developments and techniques in their field through distance learning with Global Crossing's iVideoconferencing As a result, less time is spent away from the practice and more time can be spent seeing patients.
By using a customer's existing ISDN network, iVideoconferencing backhauls the international portion of the video call over Global Crossing's secure IP backbone, which delivers better reliability and lower costs compared with traditional ISDN connections. Using iVideoconferencing, customers can save as much as 40 to 70 percent on current ISDN rates on international routes. The calls terminate on local ISDN facilities having passed through a single global network.
Global Crossing's managed IPVPN Service, which enables iVideoconferencing, is perfect for intra-network telemedicine applications that require secure, reliable connectivity amongst other hospital locations. Global Crossing's private MPLS-based IP VPN Service allows healthcare organizations to gain the efficiencies and cost-savings of a network where voice, video and data applications converge on a single, interoperable platform. With multiple Classes of Service (CoS) and differentiated Quality of Service (QoS), Global Crossing enables healthcare providers to prioritize video-based telemedicine applications if they choose to simultaneously run other applications over the network to maximize the aspect of IP convergence such as Voice over IP or standard data transfers.
Global Crossing is a pioneer and leader in the conferencing services business. The company's fiber-optic network enables it to deliver integrated, customized, and managed collaboration services -- audio, video and Web-based solutions -- to address customers' network and real-time collaboration needs. Global Crossing's solutions are distinguished by their ease-of-use, transmission quality, reliability and cost-effectiveness.
About Global Crossing
Global Crossing (NASDAQ: GLBCE) provides telecommunications solutions over the world's first integrated global IP-based network. Its core network connects more than 300 cities and 30 countries worldwide, and delivers services to more than 500 major cities, 50 countries and 6 continents around the globe. The company's global sales and support model matches the network footprint and, like the network, delivers a consistent customer experience worldwide.
Global Crossing IP services are global in scale, linking the world's enterprises, governments and carriers with customers, employees and partners worldwide in a secure environment that is ideally suited for IP-based business applications, allowing e-commerce to thrive. The company offers a full range of managed data and voice products including Global Crossing IP VPN Service, Global Crossing Managed Services and Global Crossing VoIP services, to more than 40 percent of the Fortune 500, as well as 700 carriers, mobile operators and ISPs.
Please visit www.globalcrossing.com for more information about Global Crossing.
