Wealshire of Bloomington, a dementia and Alzheimer’s care facility, was special-ly designed using an aging-in-place con-cept: its campus’ unique modular design is personalized by households, tailored to meet the needs of all four stages of de-mentia.

Known as the largest Alzheimer’s care fa-cility of its kind in the country, Wealshire of Bloomington offers the latest innova-tions in enhanced care.

Technology by Advanced Wireless Com-munications has contributed toward their expert care. Wealshire recently added an AWC wireless nurse call system that was integrated into an existing system,

AWC call boxes, and Kenwood ProTalk TK-3230 two-way radios.

“Our response time is much better, and it gives families satisfaction and reassur-ance their family member has a way of getting help if they need it,” said Arlyce Severson, director of operations and care at Wealshire of Bloomington.

“We can respond quickly and efficiently,” said Severson. “Overall these are better products for us, and it was pretty much a seamless transition. The staff likes it, and it’s easy to use.”

“For those that want to be independent, this system enables a sense of autono-my,” said Severson, speaking of the

Volume Three Third Quarter 2014

Wireless resource

contents

Innovation Keyto Wealshire of Bloomington

Innovation Key to Wealshire of Bloomington.....................................1-2

Advanced Wireless Announces Retirement of CEO and New Partners..............................2 and 4

Grocery Chain Reduces Risk from Spills ............... 3

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©2014 Advanced Wireless Com-munications. All rights reserved.

continued on page 2

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residents in the early stages of Alzhei-mer’s that don’t need as much constant monitoring but can certainly call when needs arise.

Because there are different house-holds at Wealshire, different channels have also been set up to alert just the staff needed for that area of the cam-pus, eliminating mass communications when unnecessary and thus helping to keep labor costs under control. Staff can also communicate with each other through this technology if more assis-

tance is required.

“It provides security for all involved – the resident, their family and our staff, knowing help can be reached at any given time,” added Severson.

As Wealshire continues to provide “residents the opportunity to live with pride and dignity and in a community of well-being,” innovations in technology are essential as with Advanced Wire-less Communications, who is support-ing them along the way.

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Wireless Resource Newsletter www.AdvancedWireless.com

Advanced Wireless AnnouncesRetirement of CEO and New Partners

Advanced Wireless Communications (AWC) announces the retirement of Ben Coons, CEO, as of September 30, 2013, and that new partners have joined the company.

Ben Coons founded AWC in 1992, along with his son Ken Coons, who will continue as the company’s President and majority owner. “Ben enjoyed his tenure at AWC and is amazed that the company grew from a start-up to a multi-million dollar company,” says Ken Coons. “Ben has been instrumental

in building the company from a small handful of customers to the thousands of locations and businesses who use our products today.”

The CEO’s departure opened the opportunity to take on new busi-ness owners and management team members. This new team comes from Rebound Enterprises LLC, Northfield, Minn., and the appointments include:

• Brett Reese has been named AWC’s chairman of the board. He also

serves as Rebound Enterprise’s man-aging principal and chairman of the board, founding the investment and advisory company 25 years ago.

• Jon Bergquist has been named AWC’s chief operating officer. Bergquist has 30 years experience in manufacturing, including engineering, sales, operations, quality, and finance.

• Bob Reese has been named AWC’s chief financial officer. He has more than 29 years experience in

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When Brown’s Super Stores Inc. – a conglomerate of 10 ShopRite super-markets in the Philadelphia region – needed to resolve how they handled spills in their stores, they contacted their Advanced Wireless Communica-tions representative.

It was important to ShopRite man-agement that they find a solution that would allow store employees to han-dle spills quickly and efficiently without having to leave the site of the spill to get assistance with clean-up. When Lou DeCenzi, ShopRite’s director of loss prevention, safety and POS oper-ations, met with his Advanced Wireless representative, they discussed the pos-sible solutions.

Until the meeting with the representa-tive, the store’s employees would han-dle spills by posting a wet floor sign and leave the area of the spill to report it, or they would have to wait for a fellow employee to walk by to communicate information to management about the spill. This process was less than ideal as there were delays in reporting and, at times, spills were left unattended.

As a solution, the Advanced Wireless Communications representative rec-ommended that the store’s manage-ment post four-button wireless trans-mitters in strategic areas in order to

notify the clean-up crew of spills, main-taining the store’s control and safety. The Instant Assistant® system offers communication between a custom call box to a two-way radio, wireless phone, pager or public address system. The system can be custom-designed of-fering instant communication between strategically placed call boxes to the appropriate personnel. The system al-lows for immediate response times to potentially dangerous spills, reducing liability and creating a safer shopping environment for the store’s custom-ers and employees. The system also provides up-to-the-minute activity and performance reports, allowing users to evaluate the system’s use and effec-tiveness.

“We purchased a transmitter for each aisle of the store, two for the produce areas, two for the meat aisle and one for each department, including dairy, frozen, and the front of the store,” says DeCenzi. “The four-button transmitters allow our employees who discover a spill to remain in the area, preventing a potential slip or fall.”

Each button on the transmitter com-municates a unique need: 1) wet spill, 2) dry spill, 3) manager, and 4) clear. Once installed, the wireless communi-cations staff offered on-site training to

30 ShopRite associates as well as on-going follow-up training.

“The transmitters have allowed us to cut our reaction time in half,” says DeCenzi. “We had a great experience working with Advanced Wireless Com-munications. The installation and the sales team stayed with the store until the employees were comfortable using the equipment. They also continuously checked in with the stores after the in-stallation.”

ShopRite is now considering future purchases of similar devices for its Shop From Home Department.

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(800) 475-5852 Wireless Resource Newsletter

Grocery Chain Reduces Risk from Spills

public and private accounting.In addition to these appointments, Rick Bowles has been named Vice President of Sales. As President Ken Coons will now focus more on product development and making strategic decisions to forward AWC’s mission.

“Rebound Enterprises and AWC are both businesses with strong Northfield connections,” says Jon Bergquist. “About two years ago, Ken Coons and Brett Reese had their first con-versation regarding the potential of Rebound participating in some man-ner to coincide with Ben’s retirement. Rebound brings a broad base of successful sales and manufacturing experience to AWC as well as equity, working capital, and focus.”

The collaboration’s immediate agen-da is to ramp up customer service

initiatives, revamp some key products, and achieve higher levels of growth by adding two to four additional regional sales staff.

Advanced Wireless Communications is a leader in the design and integra-

tion of wireless communications solu-tions. The company focuses on provid-ing reliable and cost effective on-site communications to retail, health care, education, and manufacturing compa-nies throughout the U.S.

AWC Announces Retirement of CEO and New Partners

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20809 Kensington Blvd.Lakeville, MN 55044-8353

(952) 469-5400Toll Free: (800) 475-5852www.advancedwireless.com

Wireless Resource Newsletter www.AdvancedWireless.com

Pictured from left to right: Ken Coons, Bob Reese, and Jon Bergquist