Helping deaf callers connect <\/p>\n
A communications startup takes aim at a multimillion-dollar market. <\/p>\n
By Jonathan Blum <\/p>\n
September 15, 2008: 9:03 AM EDT <\/p>\n
(Fortune Small Business) — Jason Yeh wanted to build a communication
\ndevice that at least 10% of the U.S. population would be eager to use.
\nEarly adopters would include Jason, 24, and his father, John, 61, who
\nhad just sold the family software company. The Yehs could tap into
\nfederal funding that would cover most operating costs and launch the
\ncompany with a modest $1.5 million in startup capital. They had access
\nto cheap skilled labor. And they could avoid pricey market research,
\nbecause they knew their market intimately. <\/p>\n
John and Jason – like all their employees and many of their potential
\ncustomers – are deaf. <\/p>\n
In summer 2005, Jason dropped out of the prestigious Gallaudet
\nUniversity in Washington, D.C., which educates deaf and
\nhearing-impaired students. The father-and-son team set up Viable in a
\nnearby suburb. Its products include the first videophone designed,
\nengineered, sold, and distributed entirely by (and to) the deaf and
\nhard of hearing. <\/p>\n
Phone communication for the deaf has been possible since the 1960s,
\nbut for many years it was a laborious and little-used process
\ninvolving teletype machines. In 1995 a new technology called video
\nrelay services (VRS) arrived. A deaf person with a videocamera would
\nplace a video call to a sign-language interpreter, who then called a
\nhearing person. <\/p>\n
VRS became a big business in 2002, when the FCC began collecting a
\nmonthly fee from phone users to pay for VRS cameras and interpreters
\n(you may have noticed the charge on your telecom bill). <\/p>\n
That fund now collects $800 million a year – and has spawned a flurry
\nof VRS startups. The change has been revolutionary. <\/p>\n
“For my parents these were literally the first long-range
\nconversations they’d ever had,” says Anthony Mowl, Viable’s assistant
\nvice president for business development. “There was a lot of crying on
\nthose calls.” <\/p>\n
Sorenson Communications, a giant video company based in Salt Lake
\nCity, released the first commercial VRS device, the VP-100, in 2000.
\nThe videocamera, which worked with most PCs or TVs, was given free to
\ndeaf people, enabling video relay conversations for anyone with a fast
\nbroadband connection. Sorenson currently claims about 70% of the VRS
\nmarket. <\/p>\n
But the Yehs spotted a weakness in Sorenson’s business model: The
\ncompany is run by the hearing. An office of deaf workers would
\nunderstand the market better. Says John: “We saw room for a new type
\nof technology company.” <\/p>\n
They started by providing better VRS services, recruiting top
\ninterpreters, and offering above-market wages. The FCC pays VRS
\nproviders about $6 a minute for calls, but the meter starts ticking
\nonly once the interpreter connects both callers. So Viable invested in
\nspeedy servers and software that would get the VRS sessions up and
\nrunning as fast as possible. <\/p>\n
Next, the Yehs formed a 20-person gadget team – headed by Jason and
\nhis college buddy Larwin Berke – to develop a dream line of products
\nto rival Sorenson’s VP-100 and its successors. The result was the
\nVPAD, a $699 videoconferencing device that launched in January. Rather
\nthan tying the videocamera to a PC or TV like its rivals, the VPAD
\nincorporates its camera and screen into a sleek, portable,
\nWi-Fi-enabled unit with very few buttons. <\/p>\n
“We found that we don’t need a feature-rich device,” says Berke. <\/p>\n
Inside Viable’s immaculate (and very quiet) headquarters, mirrors at
\nevery hallway corner prevent accidental collisions. But not everything
\nhas gone smoothly. Early VPADs were buggy, testers reported, and did
\nnot play well with the web. Viable engineers claim to have ironed out
\nmost of those wrinkles. The company has racked up $7.5 million in
\nrevenue so far this year. It now boasts 95 employees. <\/p>\n
So is Viable … viable? “I want them to succeed,” says T. Alan
\nHurwitz, president of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf in
\nRochester, N.Y. But, given the competition, “it will be a challenge.”
\nStill, Viable’s staff face challenges every day. And as far as the
\nYehs are concerned, their rivals are impaired by hearing. <\/p>\n
Share your thoughts on the disabilities boom in our discussion forum.<\/p>\n
Opening New Worlds gallery: Check out these gadgets developed for the
\ndisabled that have gone mainstream. <\/p>\n
A buzz about honey: A disabled son’s obsession spawns a thriving
\nfamily business. <\/p>\n
Vision quest: How an entrepreneur turned a potentially crippling
\ndisability to his advantage. <\/p>\n
Source:
\nhttp:\/\/money.cnn.com\/2008\/09\/11\/smallbusiness\/helping_deaf_callers_connect.fsb\/index.htm<\/p>\n
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Helping deaf callers connect A communications startup takes aim at a multimillion-dollar market. By Jonathan Blum September 15, 2008: 9:03 AM EDT (Fortune Small Business) — Jason Yeh wanted to build a communication device that at least 10% of the…<\/p>\n