• Enhance safety for trams and passengers • Deliver an innovative passenger experience • Improve operational efficiency with better insight

Enjoy a beer on the upper Texas Gulf Coast, and you can probably thank Del Papa Distributing Company. Founded more than a century ago, the company today distributes 10 million cases of beer annually, from 30 suppliers. More than 375 employees work at headquarters in Texas City and two other distribution centers. The family-owned company has a simple aim: to be a great beer distribution company. So when Del Papa set out to build a new 27-acre headquarters, company leaders thought about how technology could contribute to its greatness. “We wanted the new distribution center to have a single, secure network we could use for physical security, communications, collaboration, and even monitoring the temperature of our inventory,” says Steve Holtsclaw, Manager of Information Systems for Del Papa. The old building, in contrast, had separate networks for voice, data, video, and physical security. Separate networks were expensive and got in the way of business. For example, personnel could only monitor video surveillance cameras from certain workstations. And Wi-Fi performance in the warehouse area wasn’t reliable enough for the voice-activated order-picking system.

VITAS sees mobile technology as the key to better connecting patients and caregivers. “Mobile technology will allow us to communicate information and route caregivers quickly and efficiently,” says Patrick Hale, senior vice-president and CIO at VITAS. “But before attempting revolutionary work, we needed to lay down the infrastructure.”Due to fast growth, the company lacked a strong, consolidated network. By standardizing on Cisco network and communication solutions, VITAS gains the stability and visibility that it needs to introduce new applications that bring together patients, families, and top-quality healthcare services.