Home and Community Options, Inc

Blandin Light Speed Grant

Six Month Progress Report

Peter Walsh, Project Coordinator

April 22, 2008

 

We have just completed the first six months of our Light Speed Project and it is exciting to provide an update on the progress we have made toward our goals.

 

All in all we have made good strides in either completing or moving forward on our goal related activities.  Perhaps the biggest disappointment has been the slow progress of HBCI making the FTTH connections.  We hope that with warmer weather their technicians will be better able to complete this task.  HBCI has indicated that they will be starting to lay underground cable now that the ground is frost free and they assure us that once they get started installations will flow steadily.

 

We are very pleased with the response of our staff and their desire for additional training.  We are excited to see the ease in which our E-File system is being deployed and we have programs clamoring to be next on our installation list.  Fortunately, that decision is made by the agency Directors and they select programs on the basis of need and readiness.

 

Our remote monitoring venture is unfolding very nicely.  We have a model home in the midst of implementation with a variety of security devices working and progress being made every day.  We have most of the call escalation program completed and are designing the user interface screens.  We are testing the phone interface and find that it works well.  I am sure we will find more things that we need to adjust as we start playing out some scenarios.  

 

We are meeting monthly with a local group made up of providers of care to the elderly who are seeking ways to improve the delivery of service to seniors within the Winona community.  They are excited about our participation and we hope to find some opportunities to implement some of our remote monitoring solutions within their care population. 

 

We are grateful to the Blandin Foundation for this opportunity to implement our broadband applications.

 

 

 

 

 

 

April eNews is on the Streets

We posted the April eNews yesterday. I wanted to share the parts of the eNews that aren’t on the blog already with the blgo readers…

Community News

Alexandria
All State Wireless a subsidiary of All State Satellite Depot Inc. opened a new Sprint store March 1 in Alexandria.

Crookston
Secretary of State Mark Ritchie visited Crookston, mentioning the possibility of allowing absentee votes via the Internet. It was a suggestion that Governor Pawlenty voted down last year, but will probably resurface. (http://tinyurl.com/3y4g34)

Eagan
Eagan Mayor Mike Maguire, reflecting on the last year, mentions efforts to bring broadband to the community. “Broadband is as vital to our wellbeing as good roads, electrical power and safe water,” he said. (http://tinyurl.com/324pch)  

Iron Range
The Iron Range Network Joint Powers Board is committed to a high speed network but they are at a crossroads and are considering their options for building and deploying the network. (http://tinyurl.com/2pdefq)  

Isanti
A conference for parents entitled, Youngsters and the Internet, draws 150 attendees in Isanti. Parents learn how to teach their children about the Internet and how to keep safe online. (http://tinyurl.com/2lr3bv)  

Marshall
Insight School of Minnesota, an online high school will open next fall. The school expects 200 students. Insight School opened in Washington in 2006 and has been popular and well regarded. (http://tinyurl.com/2jckuc)  

Minneapolis
Minneapolis Wireless network is set to be completed by the end of March, 2008. (http://tinyurl.com/27×5vz)  

Monticello
A columnist for the Monticello Times provides a rave review of YouTube and its religious brother God Tube. (http://tinyurl.com/3csclj)  

Red Wing
Senator Amy Klobuchar visited in March to discuss broadband in Red Wing, among other things. (http://tinyurl.com/394kqy)

Sebeka
CrossUSA recruits technology workers to rural areas to remotely manage networks and mainframes in such a way that keeps the jobs in the country rather than offshore. (http://tinyurl.com/39v2d5)  

St Cloud
St. Cloud Recreation Department will no longer be printing catalogs; program information will now be posted online only. Community members have concerns but the impact will be closely monitored. (http://tinyurl.com/2mzy7d)  

Thief River Falls
Police offer the old mantra – if it seems too good to be true, it probably is – as sage advice on the Internet. (http://tinyurl.com/2uj4tb)  

Todd County
Todd County started an FTTP program with a meeting with committee members, key stakeholders and Bill Coleman representing Blandin Foundation. They discussed the need for the community to invest in telecommunications to get the network they want and need for their future.

Twin Cities
The Twin Cities are beefing up their communications networks to support the GOP National Convention this September. Verizon Wireless expects a 150 percent rise in data transmissions on its broadband network. Qwest Communications International will add more than 100 miles of fiber-optic and copper lines in and around the Xcel Energy Center. (http://tinyurl.com/2uc2hx)  

Waseca
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the Waseca County Sheriff’s Office are working out a new system that will allow residents to activate burning permits online. Online permits will be $5 but can be reactivated throughout the year. (http://tinyurl.com/2my9aj)  

Winona
Home and Community Options Inc is in the midst of wiring one of their residences. Once it is installed, the home will not need night staff on premises; it will be monitored remotely. (http://tinyurl.com/2pm8y5)  

Coleman’s Corner

Blandin Foundation’s broadband programs enable me to work with many communities throughout the state. My work this week was especially interesting. On one day, I met with leaders in a community that is just embarking on the journey to better understanding of their telecommunications services. They are asking the right questions - “What do we have? …What do we need? …. How do we get there?

Through the Community Broadband Resources program (http://www.blandinfoundation.com/html/public_bb_cbr.cfm), I will be helping them understand the current offerings from incumbent providers and the telecom needs of their business community and residents. While I work on getting information from the providers, the community leaders will be out visiting with the businesses. We will be able to pull this information together, have some informed meetings with the providers then talk about next steps.

The following day, I was able to participate in a consultant selection process for a community FTTP feasibility study. This community has been working for some time to get to this point. They have talked extensively with their incumbent providers and potential competitive providers. They have worked through the Blandin Foundation Get Broadband program (http://www.blandinfoundation.org/bsite/bbsite.html) to inform community members and businesses about the importance of broadband for economic development and quality of life. They have their local governments, school district and municipal utilities working together to identify future needs for bandwidth and technology applications. This community is seeking the definitive information necessary to make informed decisions about their next steps.

Each community is unique and has their own set of decision making factors and priorities. What is not unique is the need to bring community leaders together around the issue of broadband and technology. It is clear that communities that work aggressively on both sides of the equation – ensuring high quality services and building demand and technology sophistication – will emerge on the positive side of the digital divide and new economy. Community Broadband Resources (CBR) is designed to provide communities with the assistance they need when they need it. Go online to the Blandin website (www.blandinfoundation.org), find out the details and apply for the type of assistance that would move your community forward. While making progress is sometimes hard, the CBR online application process is quick and simple! I look forward to working with you!

HCO Project Update

Home and Community Options, Inc.

Light Speed Grant Recipient

Project Update March 21, 2008

Peter Walsh, Project Coordinator

We have had an exciting couple of weeks as we have been wiring one of our residences with a plethora electronic security and remote monitoring devices.  The men at the residence are really excited and look forward to the day when they will not need a night staff on the premise.  This is really a big deal for them as it impacts directly on their sense of self and independence. 

We will be in the testing phase for some time as we work out the bugs and develop our intervention protocols.  Surprisingly one of the biggest challenges has been full duplex IP audio.  There are not very many options to provide at-the-moment dialog.  For example to get a response to the query “Are you alright?” in places where an IP camera is not allowed such as bedrooms and bathrooms.  We have located a solution and will begin testing it this week.

Our employee training is starting to catch on.  The word is out that the classes are very beneficial and we now have waiting lists for the next round of classes that start this week.  So we may decide to offer a couple more sessions to accommodate the increased interest.  I think one of the responses from one of our former foot draggers speaks volumes:  “You know that if we are really going be able to take advantage of this system everyone is going to have to be up to speed.”  We may be approaching the downhill slope and all because of our Light Speed Grant!!  Thank you Blandin!

Windom Update - Student PPTs on Cable

Thanks to Dan Olsen, Director of Operations from Windomnet for sending us a report from the Windomnet project:

The first item to be activated is an informational channel on the local city owned cable system. Students create a power point presentation and then FTP the presentation to the server located at the cable headend. This is then displayed on a local cable channel. Open source software was used to produce the power point. In the near future this server will be moved to the high school and used as part of the overall video learning and information system.

Fiber optic splicing has begun for the the interconnect from the Windom areas high school to the City Of Windom Network Operations Center (Noc) and the headend. This will allow for Ethernet transport to the Noc, and live video streaming to the headend.

ISPs Say the Broadband Glass if Half Full

The US Internet Industry Association (UIIA) recently published a study (by David McClure) that paints a pretty rosy picture of broadband in the US.

Here’s a quick view of the report from the UIIA themselves in a letter to Congresswomen Pelosi:

It is a status report on how well we cover the nation’s rural areas with broadband Internet services, and I believe it will surprise you, for three reasons:

1. Most of what we think we know about broadband deployment is based on old data, bad data or deliberate distortions of the data.
2. We now have broadband available in at least one form for virtually every household and business in America – and we have achieved this in the shortest deployment time of any new technology in human history.

It’s not the regulation of broadband networks that needs to be a national priority, but rather solving issues that keep people from subscribing to the services that are available to them.The big point they are making is that deployment isn’t the problem – adoption is the problem. I think I remember hearing this in the 1990’s when I worked for an ISP. The problem was always take rate.

Here is their quick take on public policy:

Little Crow Telemedia Network Update

The IP VCR has been used many times since we installed it.

We recorded our Veterans Day connection to Iraq to “bring home” by video a local pastor.

We have used to record training sessions for Erate, Online Testing and Financial training.

It has become an expected thing for us to record videoconferencing session for anybody to watch later, what a great great tool!

Lakewood Health System update

Our telemonitoring equipment project is going well!  Last week, we invited American Telecare Inc for a product demonstration.  American Telecare is a Minnesota company specializing in video-based home telemonitoring equipment.  Currently, Medical Assistance will reimburse for a skilled nurse visit completed by video.  The video equipment is similar to a webcam but the picture quality is amazingly clear even with regular POTS (regular telephone service).  In the future, with the expansion of broadband technology service areas, it will make the ability to communicate and assess the needs of our clients by video almost as easy as in person.  American Telecare has remote monitoring equipment (like BP cuff, scale, oximeter for assessing daily vital signs) and even a stethescope for the nurse to listen to the patient’s heart and lung sounds. 

This month, I will be scheduling the last two telemonitoring manufacturers we are interested in.  With this information, we will be able to make our purchase decision soon.

Lakewood Health System update

Telemedicine update: Our agency has had two equipment distributors visit in January to showcase their products.  We have found the research from other providers who have already incorporated telemonitoring into their health care system to be very encouraging.  The rates of re-hospitalizations for clients who had daily telemonitoring decreased by more than 50% for one Home Care agency.  The research indicates that patients have improved disease management with daily monitoring of vital signs.  Many of the vendors have designed disease specific questions a client can answer daily to assist the nurse in evaluating symptoms.  Any abnormal or problematic symptoms can be reported promptly to the client’s physician to see if there are any changes in care that would need to be made.  We have found that the vendors are incorporating video capabilities, interfacing their system with common Home Care documentation software as well as creating health monitoring equipment powered by Blue Tooth technology.   We have two more vendors scheduled to complete a site visit in February and hope to make a purchase decision by March.   

Blandin Foundation announces Community Broadband Resource Program

Thanks to Becky LaPlant for sending on the exciting news from Blandin Foundation on the Community Broadband Resource Program…

Blandin Foundation announces Community Broadband Resource Program Initiative will help rural communities connect to broadband’s worldwide advantages Grand Rapids, MN—(February 15, 200 Blandin Foundation is pleased to announce the Community Broadband Resource Program (CBR). This newly created program offers technical and business consulting services to rural communities interested in researching, developing or advancing broadband capacity. Participating communities receive services at no charge.

CBR is the most recent program addition to Blandin Foundation’s Broadband Initiative, which also includes the “Get Broadband” and “LightSpeed” grant programs, the Blandin on Broadband blog and the Open Networks Feasibility Fund. The initiative is guided by a 16-member Strategy Board representing a broad range of private and public perspectives.

In designing this program, Blandin Foundation has applied its broadband experience gained from working with leadership in 29 rural communities.

Customized approach

“Blandin Foundation’s Community Broadband Resource Program is unique in the state,” says Bill Coleman, project leader for the program. “This program will be customized for each community because when it comes to broadband decision-making, we know that no two communities have the same set of challenges or priorities.

“While some communities may already have committed resources and know what they want to do, others may not really understand broadband capabilities and don’t know where to start,” Coleman says.

“Our job is to facilitate the good work that community leaders are capable of doing. We help identify and clarify key community priorities, involve project stakeholders and assist community leaders in developing their plans and understanding their planning needs–whatever would help them move forward to the next step.”

Light Speed Project Update

Home and Community Options, Inc, Winona, Minnesota  Peter Walsh, Project Coordinator. 

First the good news:  We have a FTTH connection at our main office!  This blog is being posted at “Light Speed”!  We are trying to be patient waiting for additional sites to be hooked up but the weather just has not helped.  The severe cold has caused all kinds of headaches for HBCI and their technicians have been busy keeping customers connected.  Our project is too far down the triage list to expect priority treatment.  So we are learning to be patient.

 

So this begins our lesson in barriers.  We knew going in that there would be barriers but we didn’t know what they would be.  Of course if we knew what they were going to be we could have anticipated them and been a bit proactive.  But that is the nature of many barriers; they crop up when you least expect them.  We were somewhat surprised to learn that a fair number of our staff are not ready to implement some of the advanced uses of Outlook and Excel and that we needed to offer some additional training for them.  Then we were surprised how much that training was going to cost, so we hunted around and found an independent Microsoft Trainer who is willing work with us.  Now we are endeavoring to put together a training room that we will not have to tear down after every class.  A tenant has just moved out of some of our space and we are commandeering that until it is rented.  This will enable us to set up a formal training center that we can use for a month or so to provide hands-on-training for our staff.

 

We are making good headway with our Remote Monitoring project and have begun wiring our first house.  We hope to begin installing cameras and security sensors next week.  Then it will be an extended period of testing and monitoring the reliability of the system. And, I’m sure we will encounter a few new barriers to overcome. (See blog entry “Obstacles to Remote Monitoring” by Dennis Theede, Executive Director, Home and Community Options, Inc.)