<< News Release

DTSI Enables Makati Medical with Advanced Call Center Technology
Renovated facility features dedicated call center serving patients, doctors

(Manila, Philippines, December 8, 2009) - IT services firm Diversified Technology Solutions International, Inc. (DTSI) is supplying advanced communications technology to the Makati Medical Center (MMC), initially providing the capacity for a large, world-class call center to service the medical facility's patients and medical professionals. MMC is the first medical facility in the Philippines to offer a dedicated customer care call center.

The investment in technology is part of a broad renovation and modernization strategy for what many consider the Philippines' foremost medical facility. Earlier this year, MMC inaugurated a new, modern medical services building. Other improvements are ultimately intended to provide an IT-enabled "connected hospital" environment enabling seamless patient and patient care monitoring and service delivery. DTSI delivered and implemented an Avaya solution that replaced aging communications infrastructure.

"The purpose of our dedicated call center and enhanced telecom infrastructure is to add value for our patients and medical staff," said Rosalie R. Montenegro, MMC president and CEO. "Our agents are able to inform patients if their doctor is currently holding clinic and when he or she will be holding clinic rather than simply transferring a call. If a doctor is unavailable, our agents will also suggest alternative medical staff, and can help make arrangements for the patient to see a doctor," she explained.

Health services management is new to Ms. Montenegro, who is considered a pioneer in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry in the Philippines. She set up and managed Citibank's shared services facility, where she also relied on Avaya technology, in the late 80s and early 90s. She worked for ABN-Amro in a regional role based in Singapore after leaving Citibank but eventually returned to the Philippines to set up and manage PLDT's business process outsourcing (BPO) subsidiaries Vocativ, Parlance, and Ventus as a senior vice president (The subsidiaries merged in 2001 under the Ventus brand.). She was also instrumental in helping other major BPO services suppliers enter the Philippine market, such as TeleTech and Infosys.

Eighteen months after retiring from PLDT in 2006, PLDT chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan called to ask Ms. Montenegro to take the top executive position at MMC. Mr. Pangilinan is also MMC chairman. Ms. Montenegro said she was attracted to the job because it is an entirely different industry and has a social outreach dimension, but also because of her affinity for MMC. "MMC has always been 'my hospital' and all my children were born here," she said.

There is, however, "an interesting link to her former job as head of PLDT's BPO initiatives: the emergence of medical outsourcing, which is more popularly known as medical tourism. "I used to sell Philippine BPO services to the world. Now, I will be selling Philippine medical services." But before she could undertake that task, Ms. Montenegro oversaw some major changes at MMC in the areas of IT and telecom infrastructure, facilities, service quality, and human capital.

For the hospital's technology needs, Ms. Montenegro turned to DTSI and its president and managing director, Miguel C. Garcia. "Miguel is entrepreneurial and knows the business," she said, providing the basis of her decision to work with his company. "He always comes up with a solution regardless of the situation, and there are no delays. That's why I've worked with him for nine years. That and the fact that DTSI provides real value for money."

Ms. Montenegro says more development is in store for MMC. "By next April, you are going to see a significantly upgraded facility," she said in reference to the physical and other improvements to the hospital. Improved infrastructure, facilities, and service quality are just some of the changes taking place, Ms. Montenegro explained. "We are examining all our processes to improve service delivery to both patients and doctors. We are using technology to enable these improved processes."

Among the technologies Ms. Montenegro is exploring with Mr. Garcia is a revolutionary solution from Cisco called The Connected Hospital. The Cisco solution will monitor and manage all aspects of a patient's stay-including ventilation, air conditioning, lighting, security, fire and life safety, digital devices, and signage-on a single network to allow staff to focus on providing patient care. "We're already providing world-class service and healthcare. But we're going to get even better," she said.

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About DTSI
DTSI is a leading global systems integrator that designs, builds, deploys, and manages communications solutions and facilities for their customers who include much of the Fortune 500. It is best reputed as a contact center and BPO expert, with over 100,000 seats enabled in the United States and the Philippines. DTSI's portfolio includes business communications, turnkey contact center solutions both on and offshore, hosted and managed services, and an extensive array of professional and consulting services. The company has forged strategic partnerships with global technology leaders including Avaya, Cisco, Verint, Microsoft, and Dell, allowing it to provide customers with world-class converged voice and data products, and solutions. For more information about DTSI, visit its website at www.dtsi.com.ph.

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