VNS has chosen the Fujitsu Stylistic 500 as their hand- held platform. The Apple Computer Company has donated an Apple Newton and lent a Macintosh to program the Newton. Handling the phone and cables, turning the equipment on in the correct order, and making adjustments to the communications parameters on the fly have made the method unusable by those without sufficient computer training. CDPD, while it requires more complex initial setup and is available only in limited areas, appears to require less knowledge to keep it running once it has been installed correctly. Our experience has been that CDPD requires higher signal strength to work than does circuit-switched cellular.
Power management remains a problem for both methods.
One physician on the project, who does happen to have sufficient computer training, is currently exploiting circuit-switched cellular communications to manage a suite of operating rooms. We will attempt to use CDPD communications for the VNS application. We have not yet made a decision about mode of wireless telecommunication for the DOH application. Security We have implemented both DES and IDEA private-key encryption methods.