Just thought I would let anyone who is interested know about a good little program. I know it is good, because over the past two years I have looked at about 30 and tried 15, and this is the only one that has consistently worked and is very simple.
Anyone can use this program, but I think it is most useful to those who have a computer in the rooms. We probably couldn't work without it. Basically, it is a small instant messenger which works over the LAN and NOT over the Internet. You can receive and send messages from and to any computer. It also logs all messages.
It is NOT meant to replace the message part of AC. That should be used for patient messages. This is for things like your receptionist messaging, "Dr. Smith on line one," or your messaging your secretary, "Please call Dr. Jones." You may message your triage nurse to have the ED at St. Williams Hospital fax the labs on your patient. My rooms are pretty far down the hall and for my receptionist to walk down to the room to tell me about a phone call that I may not even take anyway is inefficient. Plus, she would have to knock on the door, etc.
For all of the computer gurus, yes it does use the NET SEND command (Windows Messenger), so yes that service has to be on. There can be security issues with Windows Messenger running, but the good outweighs the bad for me.
This one is, by far, the easiest IM to use, and it works flawlessly unlike many others. Best of all, it's free. You can look at it if you wish at:
http://pages.videotron.com/mmoose/Anyway, just passing it along.
