Baptist Establishes HotSpots, Making Internet Access Easier for Guests

Jackson, Miss. -November 14, 2003 -- Baptist Medical Center established HotSpots in the lobby of the hospital and on the Labor and Delivery floor. Patients, visitors and vendors can connect to the Internet using the wireless networking interface on their own laptops, PDAs or tablet computers.

To use this feature, the laptop must have an 802.11b compatible wireless network card. This is the standard wireless ethernet networking technology for both business and home use. The 802.11b standard is a half-duplex protocol, operating at the 2.4 GHz range, with speeds up to 11Mbs.

"HotSpots have been provided to accommodate our guests' requests for Internet access," stated Baptist Vice President and Chief Information Officer Rick Caldwell. "We wanted to make it easier for people to keep in touch with family, friends, or the office while visiting Baptist. Most new laptop computers and PDA's have a wireless communication capability, which will allow them to connect to the Internet at locations, which provide what has come to be known as "hotspots."

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