Case Study: VCU Health System achieves ubiquitous 4G-capable wireless and virtually no IT help‑desk calls with Black Box Network Services

VCU Health System is meeting clinician demand for enterprise mobile connectivity through 4G-capable ubiquitous wireless

VCU Health System, a large academic medical center, faced rising clinician frustration and heavy IT Help Desk demand due to unreliable wireless connectivity across its facilities. To support mission‑critical mHealth workflows and 4G-capable ubiquitous wireless access, VCU standardized on Black Box Network Services’ distributed antenna system (DAS) and WLAN solutions and engaged their professional services for design and deployment.

Black Box Network Services performed comprehensive RF assessments and engineered a DAS/WLAN deployment that supports Wi‑Fi, medical telemetry and 4G while “traffic managing” clients from VoIP handsets to mobile computers. The result: virtually no wireless issues in the new critical care tower (about one‑third of the ~1 million sq. ft. coverage area), a dramatic drop in connectivity help‑desk calls, and reliable support for hundreds to thousands of devices (e.g., 700+ smartphones soon 1,500, 600 VoIP handsets, 850+ COWs), enabling device independence, mobile video conferencing and improved care delivery.

VCU Health System