About ERT
ERT are a global data and technology company that help minimise risk and uncertainty in clinical trials. As one of the world’s leading providers of electronic Patient Reported Outcomes (ePRO) solutions, ERT have built a global reputation for clinical expertise, capturing data of the highest integrity, and delivery of over 95% protocol compliance — regardless of a patient’s technological expertise or age.
Challenge
With a long-standing history of accurately capturing large quantities of clinical data, ERT understood the need for resilient, cost-effective, and secure wireless connectivity. However, due to a rapidly growing user base, it became logistically difficult to monitor SIM-connected devices, with little leverage of controlling SIM estates.
Over time, other problems also became apparent: such as the difficulty in managing bills on a monthly basis, the occasional misuse of data SIM cards resulting in exceptionally high costs, and incumbent providers being limited to providing a singular network.
On top of this, even customer service was being impacted. There became an evident inability to quickly respond to network problems, meaning the effectiveness of ePRO wasn’t as strong as it could be — the service was essentially being undermined by connectivity issues.
Solution
It became quickly apparent that more resilient, cost-effective and secure wireless connectivity was required — so we provided ERT with a bespoke suite of tailored solutions designed to deliver a one-stop connectivity platform across multiple networks.
Using our SIMPro middleware as the heart of the solution, ERT were able to utilise a bespoke platform to manage their entire SIM estate. This enabled them to have full, transparent access and control of their estate, giving them a thorough, manageable overview of their data usage amidst their growing user base.
An additional benefit of SIMPro was that it gave ERT access to accurate real-time reports on individual SIM actions. This allowed the teams to pinpoint individual usage trends, and to identify any unusual activity with the aim of reducing possible fraudulent data usage.
We also helped ERT’s connectivity transition to becoming network agnostic, which provided them with a choice of national and international networks, including a number of roaming SIM options, so that every trial, no matter what continent it took place, was able to have data transferred securely and cost-effectively.
Outcome
As a result of their newly adopted connectivity services and use of SIMPro, ERT were able to benefit from a host of more efficient, cost-effective processes. The issues with customer service subsided, the ability to identify and monitor unusual SIM activity reduced any negative cost impact this historically had, and network tariffs were improved due to our consolidated purchasing strength.
What’s more, as data security is essential in healthcare, ERT benefited extensively from operating fixed IP over our secure private APN — taking away the risks associated with running important clinical trials over public networks.
Ultimately, the connectivity issues that had originally affected their ePRO services had been resolved, and essential business processes had been made more efficient and reliable.
If you’re interested in learning more about our SIM Connectivity services, more information can be found here. Alternatively, please get in touch with us directly.
Wireless Logic has quickly become an intrinsic partner delivering a reliable, solutions-focused service. Their approach to roaming, network and other related issues gives us immediate answers – long gone are the days of having to work with a multi-layered customer service team who are not prepared to respond effectively to connection issues. By working with the Wireless Logic account team, they are able to cut through the layers of red tape within networks and address challenges to agreed time scales. It’s time and money saved. Feedback from patients taking part in our trials has improved. This partnership is giving ERT a uniquely competitive edge.