Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I have got idea from the situation I am now in. I live in the US while my family is located in Europe. Many times I was thinking that it would be so nice to have a dinner with my parents from time to time. But the problem is that I they are so far away from me, 8 hours to fly across the Atlantic. So here is my idea... There are video conference systems which are widely used in business. Why not to use them to be in touch with parents and relatives living in other countries?

Technically it looks as follows. One of the existing video conference systems is installed in my apartment in the US and in the apartment of my parents in Europe. It must be a big monitor in a living room, video camera and a loud-speaking system that allows you to talk from any place of the room. This will creates an effect of physical presence - you can see and hear your family members all the time while you are in the room. It means that you can chat, have dinner or just spend time together with your family.

There might be expensive or affordable solutions based on one of the existing video conference system and Internet connection. The company that provides this service will specifically market it as a system for people who live away from their families. There also will be delivery and support of this service in different countries and in different languages.

The technology behind this idea is well known and widely used but it mostly targets business/corporate clients. Nobody markets this service at this angle.

I appreciate your comments and suggestion regarding my idea.

michael.j2ee@gmail.com

Michael,

I just launched a web site that serves this exact purpose. It`s called Kickabout, and the URL is http://www.kick-about.com/. I encourage you to take a look. It runs in your web browser and there is no software to download (other than Flash Player) and it is platform independent.

One of the problems you will encounter with the time zone issue is you and those you wish to chat with may not even be awake at the same time. Kickabout handles this by allowing you to record messages so the other party can play them when they choose. Plus, the added benefit is that the messages are threaded and persisted, so you can play them over again, which is something you generally cannot do with live video.

Take a look and let me know what you think.

Thanks,

Steve Brown
MYLE Software - Software that Makes Your Life Easier

Steve,

My idea is close to your service, but the difference is that I don`t want to use a PC.

There are a lot of systems like that when you use a computer, you can use Skype or any other system, even for free.

The disadvantage of this is that you have to have your computer turned on. But, my mother, for example, doesn`t know how to use a computer at all.

My idea is to provide service that will be as simple as TV. You come home, press a button and can see, talk and spend time with your family that is far away from you. 

Hi, I just saw your post and thought I’d chime in.

While I can certainly appreciate the logic behind your idea, I’m not sure what will be harder (i) get your mom a nice little laptop, perhaps along with a Video Professor DVD to teach her the essentials on how to use the Internet (e.g. Skype), or (ii) to convince her to spend thousands of dollars or Euros on a standalone system.

I know that there are so-called workaround solutions, for instance emails that are routed directly to a wireless printer or fax machine rather than to a traditional inbox. But in the event you’re looking at this beyond just communicating with your mom, I’m not sure the market is big enough to support such a service offering – especially given the significant investment on the user side.

I also know that Microsoft has a solution that hooks up with your TV and although I think this is just a bare bone Web browsing console, you might want to look into that.

Good Luck!


Mark



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Jackson Steiner
http://www.JacksonSteiner.com

Advanced Document Design for entrepreneurs, intermediaries, and the financial services industry.
http://www.Publications.FastVentures.com

 Hi!

Here is more comprehensive description of my idea: 
http://videoconferencingforfamiliesabroad.blogspot.com/

I was thinking of using Polycom equipment, which is quite expensive though. 
Less expansive solution can be based on a videophone device connected to a TV and a web camera.

This service will be on demand by people from other countries who live and work in the US. Some of them, for example, high qualified workers can definitely afford it.

There are a lot of companies that currently provide videoconferencing, I was thinking to start with reselling one of the existing services targeting specific customers. 

I appreciate any comments and advices regarding this.

Thank you
michael.ntcp@gmail.com