The Vocera Badge

According to Vocera Communications, a company out of Cupertino, California, a hospital in the UK is introducing “an innovative system that allows its staff to contact each other instantly anywhere in the hospital through a voice activated, wearable badge.” In other words, a new, instantaneous, Star Trek inspired voice activated way for nurses to bother doctors.
Here’s the technology, explained by the company:

The Vocera Communications System is a breakthrough wireless platform that provides hands-free, voice communication throughout any 802.11b networked building or campus. Vocera is designed to increase business productivity, teamwork, and customer service levels. The system enables fluid, instant voice conversations among team members, across groups, and throughout an organization of mobile professionals. The Vocera Communications System is made up of two elements: the Vocera System Software and the Vocera Communications Badge.
Vocera System Software runs on a standard Windows server and houses the centralized system intelligence: the call manager, user manager, and connection manager programs as well as the Nuance speech recognition software and various databases.
The Vocera Communications Badge is a wearable device that weighs less than two ounces and can easily be clipped to a shirt pocket or worn on a lanyard. It enables instant two-way voice conversation without the need to remember a phone number or manipulate a handset.
The Vocera Communications Badge is controlled using natural spoken commands. To initiate a conversation with Jim and Mary, for example, the user would simply say, “Conference Jim Anderson and Mary Guscia.” In addition, when a live conversation is not necessary, text messages and alerts can be sent to the LCD screen on the back of the Vocera Communications Badge.

The press release…
Vocera Communications company page…
(hat tip: Gizmodo)