Broadband service provider Qwest
Communications International Inc. Wednesday signed a $40 million,
three-year deal with medical transcription service provider MedQuist Inc.
The agreement calls for Qwest to provide dedicated and
switched voice services, and dedicated Internet access frame relay
networking services to MedQuist .
Roger Attick, Qwest senior vice president of alternate channel markets,
said MedQuist needs scalable, robust connectivity for data and voice communications.
“Just as physicians rely on accurate, timely transcription services from
MedQuist, MedQuist relies on Qwest for the highest quality and most
reliable Internet, data and voice services,” Attick said.
With more than 2,300 clients, MedQuist will rely on Qwest’s nationwide
fiber-optic network to deliver its state-of-the-art transcription services.
Established in 1973, MedQuist has grown from a handful of employees in two
offices to a leading operate out of 70 service centers with 8,000
professional transcriptionists nationwide.
David A. Cohen, MedQuist chairman and chief executive officer, said the
firm has experienced significant growth for the past several years and
needed to extend its communication capabilities.
“To keep up with this growth, we need to work with a company that can
quickly scale with our ever-increasing demand for voice and data services,”
Cohen said. “Qwest has met that challenge with our prior contract and is
our carrier of choice for these new services.”
MedQuist already has more than 100 dedicated circuits and thousands of
voice and 800 lines from Qwest in operation. The new agreement is an
extension of the two company’s existing business relationship.