M2M provider Zipit Wireless is looking to boost its messaging service by offering it as an app as well as adding a VoIP capability to the existing service. Both announcements are targeted at the healthcare sector and are offered exclusively by Verizon Wireless.

Zipit’s messaging service is now available to smartphone and tablet users (via the app) as well as through its existing device (pictured). Both options are compliant with federal HIPAA and Hitech privacy standards and are interoperable with one another. The company says both are secure and work on a real-time basis making them suited to healthcare.

The app is available for both iOS and Android devices and offers the same basic functionality and communications features as the Zipit device, says the company. Functionality includes continuous alerts similar to a traditional pager and two-way communications with other Zipit users.

In addition the new VoIP feature means users of the Zipit device can make and receive phone calls with one another when connected to an internally managed Wi-Fi network, for instance in a hospital or other healthcare site.