Case Study: LifeCare Ambulance achieves $24,000/year phone-service savings and modernized 911 dispatch with Digium Switchvox

LifeCare Ambulance Uses Switchvox to Deliver 911 services

LifeCare Ambulance, a 225‑employee EMS and 911 dispatch provider in Lorain County, Ohio, faced a failing Nortel BCM 450 phone system with no vendor support, rising maintenance costs, and the need for reliable call recording and rugged handsets for field crews. Replacement quotes from legacy vendors and major suppliers were prohibitively expensive and add‑on fees ballooned costs, while cloud options lacked the emergency‑call functionality LifeCare required.

LifeCare chose Digium’s Switchvox 380 IP PBX (about $50K installed with phones, analog cards and N2Net support), gaining integrated call recording, web‑based management, Google Maps integration, Valcom emergency‑box support and mobile apps. The upgrade improved call quality and reliability, simplified administration and compliance, and cut monthly phone costs from $2,500 to $534—saving roughly $24,000 a year and avoiding competitor solutions that could have cost up to six times more.

LifeCare Ambulance

Richard Pozywak

Director of IT