OREANDA-NEWS. CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE: CTL) today announced that Youth Dynamics, a nonprofit mental and behavioral health agency for Montana kids and families, implemented Managed Office, CenturyLink's fully managed voice and data networking service, at its 22 Montana locations to improve connectivity, increase productivity, decrease costs and consolidate its technology services under a single provider.

Youth Dynamics and its 500 employees provide a wide continuum of behavioral health therapies and services for young people in hundreds of rural Montana communities that typically lack local access to specialized health care services.

To help employees stay reachable and productive when they are in the office, on the road or working off site, Youth Dynamics needed a modern phone system. Managed Office includes Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), which provides a secure, reliable calling environment with robust calling features. CenturyLink's advanced network security features help Youth Dynamics keep client confidentiality an utmost priority and comply with patient privacy protection laws and other regulations.

"To provide the best possible care for children and teens with behavioral or mental health issues, our clinicians need to stay connected wherever they are working throughout our vast and often remote statewide service footprint," said Vicki Lapp, IT manager, Youth Dynamics. "VoIP from CenturyLink helps us serve patients more efficiently because it's simple to make calls from the desktop and it's easy to access and share time-sensitive voicemail messages about patient care plans. We are getting more out of our network, and at the same time it is much easier to administer from an IT standpoint."

Youth Dynamics sought a reliable, statewide technology provider to fully manage its entire network, a move that would eliminate time-consuming work managing multiple provider contracts and paying multiple bills. When it isn't cost-effective to employ IT personnel in multiple satellite offices, CenturyLink's team manages the complete IT and phone system at all locations for its Managed Office customers.

"Our network is powerful and secure so we can launch new video conferencing services, and advanced telemedicine capabilities promise to improve access to care while reducing costs for many of our patients," Lapp said. "Leveraging technology to drive future growth and success is part of Youth Dynamics's strategic plan, and it's important to have a technology adviser such as CenturyLink in our corner."

Youth Dynamics reduced its operating costs with Managed Office. A low monthly price for phone and network administration allows Youth Dynamics to easily predict and manage its IT budget. Upgrades for software and equipment are included, so unexpected capital expenses no longer hurt the nonprofit's bottom line.

"CenturyLink's managed services philosophy is to unburden our customers from the tedious but necessary work of day-to-day IT administration," said Thuy Ha, director, product management, business solutions, CenturyLink. "We're excited to do what we know best – network management – so the Youth Dynamics teams can focus where they are needed, and that is delivering innovative patient care and helping the youth of Montana reach their full potential and live happy, healthy lives."