Donor Network West Relies on Critical Communications to Deliver Hope on Time

Seventeen people die every day in the U.S. while waiting for an organ transplant. Donor Network West, a federally designated organ procurement organization (OPO) nonprofit organization serving in northern California and northern Nevada, has been a beacon of hope for those needing organs since 1987. They serve over 13 million people across 45 counties with a mission to save and improve lives through organ, eye and tissue donation.

The importance of their work cannot be understated. “The urgency for us to do our job well and recover these organs to get people off the waitlist is critical,” says Dr. Janice Whaley, President and CEO of Donor Network West.

“These emergent situations need to be resolved quickly,” explains Luis Mayen, VP of External Affairs. From procurement to transplant, the process should ideally be completed within 24 hours. This requires meticulous coordination of healthcare providers, transportation logistics, and precise timing. A robust communication system is key to managing the high volume of calls and ensuring timely coordination.

Understanding the obstacles: Critical communication complications

Donor Network West receives 600,000 calls annually and encounters several significant challenges that affect their ability to coordinate organ and tissue donations effectively. “Each call we receive is critical because it could be lifesaving,” says JT Mason, VP of Information Technology and Privacy Officer. With hundreds of Health Advisors working primarily by phone, a reliable communication system was a must.

One of the main challenges was the lack of resilience in their existing system, leading to frequent service disruptions and reduced control over toll-free and local numbers. This made it difficult to manage critical calls efficiently and maintain reliable communication. Their current top-tier Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) design further complicated troubleshooting and resolving issues promptly.

Call quality was another big challenge. Donor Network West experienced voice dropouts that disrupted communication between the donor families, donor hospitals, transplant centers and their call center. Clear call quality was essential for supporting grieving families during sensitive times. Intermittent audio issues resulted in lost call recordings, disrupting critical conversations and leading to incomplete information being shared.

They also lacked dual call recording, which is crucial for compliance and quality assurance. Always-on recording allows for continuous monitoring of all calls, while on-demand recording enables selective recording as needed. Without these concurrent capabilities, it was challenging to thoroughly monitor and review communications, ensuring that compliance standards and quality benchmarks were achieved.

Using voice technology to drive lifesaving connections

Donor Network West then partnered with Lumen and Apex Datacom. The collaboration transformed their call handling platform into a highly resilient, work-from-anywhere solution.

Lumen^® Edge Bare Metal is a cloud service designed to run applications closer to users and minimize latency. Voice Complete^® service provides advanced call routing to manage and control phone calls, helping to ensure reliability and availability.

By consolidating voice traffic over a single IP network, the organization streamlines call management and optimize costs. Advanced call routing minimized delays and improved the efficiency of handling calls. The high-availability design provided smooth communication, even during peak call volumes. Mason noted, “With built-in resiliency, our lines are automatically rerouted if there’s any kind of interruption in service, which has made a tremendous difference in our operation.”

For top-notch voice quality, Donor Network West leveraged the FastRoute application from Apex Datacom, running on Lumen Edge Bare Metal service, maintaining a response time under 20 milliseconds to help ensure clear and uninterrupted conversations. The geographical distribution of Lumen Edge Bare Metal servers, located close to both the VoIP gateways and the CCaaS provider, further minimized response times and improved voice quality. Additionally, Lumen^® Ethernet Local Area Network (ELAN) and Dedicated Internet Access (DIA) services provided reliable and high-speed connectivity, enhancing call quality.

For call storage, Donor Network West used Lumen^® Network Storage (LNS) for a reliable and scalable solution. The FastRoute application supported both always-on and on-demand recordings saved on Lumen Network Storage. This enables high-fidelity recordings for compliance and quality assurance. Mason notes, “Due to Lumen network storage solutions, we’re able to access all our recordings with families, which are necessary for compliance and to ensure we work quickly, accurately, reliably and most importantly, securely.”

This new solution allowed Donor Network West to efficiently manage and store large volumes of call recordings so that they are available when needed.

Mastering the call with comprehensive collaborations

The partnership with Lumen and Apex Datacom has significantly improved call quality and reliability for Donor Network West. “The quality level has been higher, with fewer service interruptions and less lag time, which means smoother conversations with the families,” says Mason. Enhanced connectivity allows Health Advisors to focus on their mission without worrying about technical disruptions, improving operational efficiency and reinforcing Donor Network West’s commitment to saving lives.

Key solutions and benefits provided by Lumen include:

1. Increased efficiency: Enhanced call management allows handling over 600,000 critical calls annually with fewer dropped calls and better data consumption. “Our ability to consume more data over our Lumen lines will enable us to achieve saving more lives and healing more lives,” says Mason.
2. Improved quality assurance: Lumen VoIP gateways and Edge Bare Metal servers have reduced voice dropouts and improved overall call quality by maintaining ultra-low latency. “The conversations that we have with the families out there go much more smoothly, and we are able to work with the families and focus on their needs,” Mason notes.
3. Enhanced compliance: Secure storage of call recordings helps maintain regulatory compliance.
4. Cost savings: The partnership with Lumen resulted in over 50% savings per month on voice billing, allowing for better resource allocation.

Overall, Lumen and Apex Datacom solutions help ensure reliable and efficient communication, enabling Donor Network West to continue their lifesaving work without disruptions. “The superior stack of Lumen services is what attracted us,” agrees Jeff Reed, Solutions Engineer at Apex Datacom. “As opposed to other network providers that only have pieces of the puzzle, Lumen allows us to bring a total solution together.”

A legacy of hope: Continuing the mission alongside next-gen technology

Donor Network West’s partnerships with Lumen and Apex Datacom have not only improved their operations but also transformed lives. Every call and connection is a lifeline, handled with care and precision. Whaley emphasizes, “In order to be successful, you have to have the passion, you have to be focused on the mission, and you have to know that every day what you do has an impact on someone’s life.”

Mayen highlights the heroism of donor families. “These families are getting the worst news of their life, and when we ask them to give, they’re saying yes.” His involvement led him to become a living donor, matching him with a 42-year-old mom in New York. “I’ve never met her, but I think about her every day,” he says.

The unwavering dedication and compassion of donor families and living donors like Mayen, and the Donor Network West team create a legacy of hope and healing. As they grow, Donor Network West remains a beacon of hope and resilience. Their collaboration with Lumen demonstrates the powerful allyship of technology in critical healthcare operations, empowering Donor Network West to fulfill their promise and answer the call, every time.

To learn more about Donor Network West’s transformation, read the full customer success story.

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