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Katie: Welcome back to the BusinessMakers Overtime Show, heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com. We are here with a great segment two where we are listening to Russ Capper and Billy Ladin of Internet America talking about a great new product he is working on called PDQMeetings.
Russ: Tell us about the new thing that Internet America is doing now.
Billy: Today Internet America is providing, either through hosting or by sale of equipment, desktop video meeting or video conferencing that is, I think, phenomenal. It's up-close, personal, face-to-face meetings, ad hoc, when you want it, where you want it, from wherever you are, whether it's your office, your home, or on the beach. And we're really excited because our vision is that video is finally here for the masses, and more particularly, for business.
Russ: Okay, tell us what you're gonna call this new product.
Billy: Do you remember, Russ, that we started out with a company called PDQ.net?
Russ: How could I forget? (Laughter)
Billy: How Rudy T. gets to the internet.
Russ: Right.
Billy: As you may remember, in the '90s PDQ.net brought you high-quality internet service, primarily to the Houston market. Today PDQMeetings.net is bringing you high-quality, desktop video conferencing.
Russ: Okay. Well, tell us why you're excited about video now. I mean, it's been around for a while.
Billy: Yes, it has. I was actually involved in video conferencing in the early 1990s through PictureTel and Polycom, but at that time there were things missing that made it very difficult and very expensive to use video conferencing. First of all, there was not easy access, nor affordable access, to high-speed communications. Today the internet is everywhere: it's at home, it's in your business, it's affordable, it's fast, it's high quality. Secondly, in the early '90s, as good as they were, the microcomputer didn't have the processing power - not even near the processing power - it does today, in both graphics, memory, disk capacity, nor did it have built-in cameras - webcams, as well them - microphones, etc. So the computers are available. And then finally, today we have a combination of a recession and somewhat of a fear of terrorism, and those two make us very conscious of travel, the cost of travel, and the wear and tear on our bodies. So we've come into this industry at a time when we have easy availability of communications, great computers, and an economic need to use video meetings instead of traveling.
Russ: Okay. Well, I'm curious, what was it that triggered this idea?
Billy: In the spring of '09, our president and chief operating officer of Internet America was involved in a motorcycle accident and was gonna be laid up, had two surgeries, and out of commission for three to six months.
Russ: Whoa.
Billy: Now we're a small company, and we need that president and chief operating officer. You didn't want me to go back to work that hard, did you, and do both jobs?
Russ: Right.
Billy: And I really was perplexed. What should we do? But as usual, I'd been staying up with the development of the technology for video conferencing and I'd been testing a few products. And I said, "Oh, my gosh, cross your fingers. Maybe, just maybe, this would help us." And I went to work full time, finishing my research on video, and we came up with what we believed then, and we now know, is the absolute best desktop product you can get. It's a product by a company by the name of Vidyo, and we went ahead and rented a system, much like PDQMeetings does today. We rented a system and installed it in our president's home. And then while we were at it, we installed it in our people's houses and homes around Texas so that our president could talk to everyone over video. Interestingly, within a month of the deployment of the desktop video, our company was running as well, maybe better, than it was before. Why did that happen? First of all, our president no longer had to spend an hour driving to work in the mornings and an hour going home in the afternoons. We found he was there and available earlier in the morning, later in the afternoon. Now it happened because he was confined to a hospital bed at home -
Russ: Right, right.
Billy: He was always available!
Russ: Right. (Laughter) That is such a cool story, Billy. And I've got to tell you, as you well know, I've been using the product with the BusinessMakers staff, and it is very impressive to see everybody. We all know that body language is so important to communications, but it seems like that body language is so much more encapsulated in seeing somebody's facial expressions, and I find it to be totally productive. I describe it as a multiple-user Skype system. Is that pretty accurate?
Billy: Russ, that's fairly accurate; however, it's not only a multi-user, multi-person, up to 50 people Skype, it's far, far superior video. It's like the best video you could imagine, and yet it comes from your laptop or your desktop computer. You don't have to go buy expensive, $25,000.00, $100,000.00 systems and put them in a conference room and then reserve that conference room. It's on your desk or in your home when you want it. All you need is a computer that has either a built-in webcam and microphone, or you can put an external one that you buy it for very little money. I think that video meetings, video conferencing - whatever you want to call it - is now available and affordable. And in the next five years I personally believe it's gonna become a very important way that we communicate.
It reminds me - in 1977 when I had just formed Computer Craft, and I was working with Steve Jobs from Apple Computer, 'cause we were an Apple only dealer in those days - Steve was sitting in my kitchen and we were working hard on the Apple II. And he said to me, "Billy, one day this is gonna be a more common appliance than your kitchen telephone." I didn't disbelieve him, but I can't tell you that I understood at that time. And you look at it today: there are more microcomputers than there are telephones by a mile. It's my prediction, it's my feeling, that video is gonna become a very major source of communications, all of us are gonna be using it.
Russ: Now tell me where you go from here, Billy. From my calculations, this is Chapter Five in the Billy Ladin serial entrepreneurial world. I mean, after all these other things - pagers, cell phones, internet, PCs - my goodness. Do you have confidence that this one's gonna just take off?
Billy: Russ, your listeners have to see it for themselves. It's not what you think of as a traditional video conferencing. It's on your desktop or on your notebook, up close and personal, big faces. The communications is dramatically improved. You can get into video meetings in either of two ways. We'll host it for you - it's inexpensive and you can get going for next to nothing. Or we can install equipment in your offices. Go to PDQMeetings.net.
Russ: Okay.
Billy: That's the URL. Learn from our website, and then if you're interested, call our seven-day a week support center. And you can learn more about it, or they can get you online right there while you're talking to us. Try it for yourself and find out.
Esther: What a great interview, he is so passionate.
Katie: He really is. And that is really going to help this product take off...
Esther: And we used the product ourselfs, so we know its wonderful.
Katie: We do. I mean, we use it regularly and I have to say it is really nice that we do not have to get out of our house at the end of the day, meet some where is person figure out all of our schedules. I mean it is all of us on the screen and the sound is great. We sound like a commercial right now and in fact you will hear our voices on the commercials because we love it.
Esther: We do, we are totally on board with PDQ Meetings, its such a great tool.
Katie: It is.
Esther: Now stay tuned in for another Business Survival Tip with Carl Kleimann of Odyssey One Source.
Carl: Hello business owners this is Carl Kleimann from Odyssey One Source with another Business Survival Tip. You know, it is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that the purpose of a business is to make money. Effective leaders know that the purpose of any business is to create value; value for customers and value for shareholders. And while it may be possible to make money in the short run without creating much value, in the long-run, it is unsustainable.
This simple but powerful concept has sparked a formidable focus for some of today's most notable organizations. Apple is one of my favorite examples. If you have ever interacted with an Apple employee at one of their genius bars, then you have experienced value creation. And their products have not just enhanced but have revolutionized the way that we listen to music and the way that we depend upon our cell phones. With my iPod, my music is always with me. And with my iPhone, I can control my home DVR, log my workout routine, and find the nearest ATM or restaurant. Apple brings me unprecedented value and in exchange, I am extremely loyal.
So, is everyone on your team focused on value creation? Don't leave this to chance. Have a formula for measuring the value that your organization creates and make sure that everyone on your team knows that formula. Reward employees when they achieve the desired outcomes. And never allow employees to confuse value with good service. Good service is expected. Value on the other hand is the net impact that you have on your customer relative to the next best alternative they have for acquiring the product or service that you provide. Once you get your employees aligned around this concept, you will experience teamwork at a whole new level.
I am Carl Kleimann and this has been another Business Survival Tip by Odyssey One Source, ranked as the number one Professional Employer Organization three years running by the Black Book of Outsourcing. For more information on this and other issues affecting employers, please visit www.odysseyonesource.com.
Esther: You're listening to the BusinessMakers Overtime show heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com. Stay tuned in for segment three - Special Features.