What is interoperability? It’s a seemingly simple question, but not one that has an entirely straightforward answer. Nonetheless, BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, provides “a common definition of interoperability” — to use the organization’s own words.
This definition is as follows: “The ability of computer systems or software to exchange and make use of information.” Even BCS concedes that this is “a very broad definition”; however, it does encapsulate much of the concept’s potentially beneficial effect while hinting at how this could be enhanced.
To explain how interoperability works, let’s take the analogy of two people who want to communicate with each other but don’t speak the same first language. How might a primarily English-speaking person be able to discuss something in-depth with someone mainly conversant in the French language instead?
Both parties could dip into their repertoire of second languages — if, indeed, they have them — and find one in which both are able to speak. Alternatively, they could forgo vocalizing altogether in favour of a non-verbal means of communication, such as sign language or Braille.
In essence, this would be interoperability in action. In a business communication context, however, it is more likely to mean reaching out to someone by email or social media when a more conventional method of communication, like telephoning, is out of the question — perhaps due to extortionate calling costs.
This is bound to depend on the nature of the task at hand. In some fields of work, it is especially crucial to ensure that workers across various workplaces can keep in touch with each other in a smooth and non cumbersome fashion — with the healthcare sector being a good case in point.
Here, patients can often be transferred from one healthcare provider or venue to another meaning that keeping particular clinical data intact and readily accessible throughout the patient’s journey can be imperative. Hence, efforts to weave various health information systems and data have accelerated.
In a recent US poll of ambulatory healthcare decision-makers from around the country, 76% perceived a direct connection between interoperability and achieving better patient outcomes, as reported in a press release published by Business Wire.
For this purpose, your business would benefit from a telecoms solution where various communication options — including instant messaging (IM), CRM, and other apps — are all tied to one easy-to-use portal, making for what could be referred to as a unified communications solution.
That way, many different calls, emails, and messages from customers or clients can all easily reach you without you having to regularly juggle and switch between a wide range of separate communication tools.
With the Horizon business phone systems from Gamma, for example, companies can even ease interoperability between their mobile phones and fixed, office-based telephones. Consequently, even staff members away from the office, perhaps as a result of embarking on business trips, wouldn’t have to miss calls from especially vital contacts.
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement | 1 year | Set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Advertisement" category . |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional | 11 months | The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". |
CookieLawInfoConsent | 1 year | Records the default button state of the corresponding category & the status of CCPA. It works only in coordination with the primary cookie. |
viewed_cookie_policy | 11 months | The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
__gads | 1 year 24 days | The __gads cookie, set by Google, is stored under DoubleClick domain and tracks the number of times users see an advert, measures the success of the campaign and calculates its revenue. This cookie can only be read from the domain they are set on and will not track any data while browsing through other sites. |
_ga | 2 years | The _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors. |
_ga_2DFKH2LM4H | 2 years | This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. |
_gat_gtag_UA_93233250_1 | 1 minute | Set by Google to distinguish users. |
_gid | 1 day | Installed by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously. |
aigm_tracking_consent | 1 year | Created by Monster Tracking v2 for internal tracking/fingerprinting - determines whether the user has consented to being tracked by allowing cookies. |
aigm_tracking_id | 1 year | Created by Monster Tracking v2 for internal tracking/fingerprinting - contains the consent ID number of the user. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
IDE | 1 year 24 days | Google DoubleClick IDE cookies are used to store information about how the user uses the website to present them with relevant ads and according to the user profile. |
test_cookie | 15 minutes | The test_cookie is set by doubleclick.net and is used to determine if the user's browser supports cookies. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
cookietest | session | No description |
GoogleAdServingTest | session | No description |