The FAQs The Dental High Technology Newsletter
Volume 2, Issue 9 May 2002 Published by Cary H. Ganz, DDS
21st Century Communication
Cary H. Ganz DDS, P.C.
The Dental Spa at Garden City
400 Garden City Plaza
Garden City, NY 11530
(516) 741-1230
drg@ganzdental.com
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Cary H. Ganz DDS
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As more and more dental offices begin to understand the importance and power of placing computers not only in their business and private offices but also in their treatment rooms, companies will begin to provide tools that will become indispensable during a busy and productive day.
For many years most dental offices have used traditional means of communicating information from the "front" to the "back", from one treatment room to another and from one individual to another. These tools have ranged from a loud scream to expensive light systems. For those of you that currently have a traditional light system I am sure you will agree that you would never want to practice without such a device. Unless there was a better way!
During a busy day there are numerous times that we need to communicate with one another. Office personnel need to tell us about important calls, not-so important calls, salesman waiting at the front door, leaks in the bathroom plumbing and the all important call from the spouse. We also need to know when a patient arrives for their appointment, when an assistant is needed in a specific treatment room and when problems arise that may require immediate attention.
Situations can arise in the dental office where emergency care is needed immediately. Where minutes if not seconds really do count. Anyone who has been in practice for even a short period of time can come up with their own scenarios for the need for rapid communication.
For those of you with computers in your office, whether they are just in the management area or in the opertories or both, there is now a new tool that provides not only all of the functions of the traditional light systems but adds a whole bunch of additional features that we, in my office, are finding extremely useful.
SoftCom Messaging was developed in 1995, well before its time. The creators of SoftCom have many years of dental communication and Practice Management Software development experience. They are responsive and understand the needs of today's dental office needs. KC International has provided a unique, inexpensive alternative to the light systems of the past. I think that SoftCom is well worth your time to investigate and see if there is a fit with your practice. They can be reached at http://www.kcinternational.net/ or by calling 530-676-4078
Step 1: Download Software
In order to install the program I would suggest that you go to SoftCom's website. Click on Enter the Website. Then click on Download Trial Software. Follow the directions and you will be able to download a 30 day full function trial version of the software. I would suggest that you do as I did and load it on just two or three computers in order to test it out first. Then go for it if you find it to be of value to your practice. Let me tell you how it works.......
Step 2: Installation -
The installation of SoftCom is a two (2) step process. 1. You must first load the software on your server. When you download the file off of the Internet and run the setup program you will be asked where to install the software. If you are running this from your server than the installation folder should be C:\program files\softcom where C is your server's local hard drive. If you are running the software from a workstation that you need to substitute the server drive letter (i.e. X or G) for C in the above path.
2: You will need to load the program on each workstation separately . To accomplish this you will need to run wsetup.exe found in the softcom directory on your server from the workstation. More detailed instructions can be found on the SoftCom website.
Step 3: Customizing the Workstation
When you first open the program on each workstation you will need to give that workstation a unique name so that other workstations can see you and communicate. Go to Start, Programs, SoftCom and then click on SoftCom Administration. You will open the adjacent window. Change the Station names to more meaningful ones for your practice.
You can also create system wide messages here as well. This speeds up the message process by allowing you to have certain messages always available without the need to type them each and every time. More about that in a minute.
Using SoftCom
I would suggest that you place a check in QuickView box on the main screen. This will place a series of lights on your computer much like a light system of the past....but far more energized.
Patient Waiting in Reception Room
In my office my receptionist announces that the patient whose appointm ent is scheduled for Treatment Room 2 is in the reception room, by clicking on 2 and blue. Blues starts and remain flashing until we hit reset indicating our confirmation.
Phone Call for Assistant
All staff members are assigned a number. Green signifies a telephone call that requires immediate attention. 5 Green usually means my kids are calling.....
Emergency at Front Desk
Each workstation can assign a Priority Message. Hitting the Priority button on the main screen sends that message to each and every workstation. You can also assign specific buttons to that message as well. Red 12345 means emergency at the front desk
Sending a Message
To communicate without lifting a phone or yelling throughout the office just type a message and send it to any workstation on the network. Click on New, choose the workstation, click on subject to attach a system message and/or type your own message. Click Send. This is voiceless communication.