ANS targets NHS with tracking kit

ANS claims to have stolen a march on rival Cisco resellers after using the vendor's platform to develop location-based tracking applications for healthcare organisations.

The VAR claims less than 10 per cent of NHS organisations have piloted location-based tracking, which can enable the rapid location of crucial equipment, such as wheelchairs and defibrillators.
With this in mind, ANS is this Wednesday hosting a seminar for 60 NHS organisations to showcase its technology. The offering is based on applications that are developed on Cisco’s new Unified Applications environment and Cisco’s 2700 location appliance.
Scott Fletcher, managing director of ANS, said: “We are hoping to get about 20 to 30 rollouts this year. Four or five customers are already testing or have agreed to test the technology. Our understanding is that we are leading the way and that no one else is talking about this.
“If Cisco partners fail to progress in these areas, they will get left behind. It is no good just selling
kit; you need to sell applications that drive the infrastructure sales behind that.”
Jess Thompson-Hughes, managing director of Aruba distributor React Technologies, said: “It is a good potential market, but I am not sure the NHS is in any financial position to spend the kind of money the channel wants it to and it is a sales cycle of 18 months.”
Keith Reading, managing director of wireless VAR QoLcom, said: “We have been pushing this for two years and our experience in health is that you cannot sell tagging on its own. That is the reason uptake has been slow.”
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