When COVID-19 began spreading across Oklahoma, IMMY recognized an urgent need.
The Norman-based laboratory had the expertise, equipment and people to help address the growing shortage of COVID testing. The team quickly formed IMMYLabs, developed its own registration system and created drive-thru testing operations capable of collecting samples from more than 100 patients per hour.
Demand grew rapidly.
Thousands of patients were registering for tests and accessing results through IMMYLabs’ systems each day. Eventually, the volume became more than their existing internet connection could handle.
The result was complete system crashes.
When that happened, patients could not register for testing and results could not be accessed until the system recovered.
IMMYLabs’ IT team identified connectivity as the problem.
OEC Fiber worked quickly to bring fiber service to the facility, install the necessary infrastructure and get the laboratory connected.
The difference was immediate.
After moving to OEC Fiber, IMMYLabs reported that its system stopped experiencing the crashes that had disrupted testing and result delivery.
That reliability was put to the test during one of the busiest periods of the pandemic.
In the week before Thanksgiving, IMMYLabs tested and reported results for more than 32,000 patients.
Not a single system crash occurred.
For an organization processing thousands of registrations, laboratory results and patient communications, reliable connectivity had become much more than an operational convenience. It was part of the infrastructure required to keep testing available to the community.
IMMYLabs went on to become an important resource for Oklahomans navigating the pandemic, providing testing and later vaccinations through an operation built around speed, accessibility and efficiency. The organization continues to point to its work during COVID-19 as an important part of its history.
At the height of that response, OEC Fiber’s role was straightforward: make sure connectivity wasn’t what stood in the way.
Dr. Sean Bauman, president and CEO of IMMY and IMMYLabs, summed up his experience a little more enthusiastically:
“OEC Fiber freaking rocks! The only problem I have is that I don’t have it at my house.”
During a period when every test and every result mattered, the numbers told the story.
More than 32,000 patients served in one week. Zero system crashes.
Sometimes reliable business internet keeps work moving. Sometimes the work is much bigger than that.
