I’ve been thinking a little bit lately about the way the telecom industry has changed over the three decades since I started Genesis. To put it simply, it’s changed a lot. Earlier today I stumbled upon an old brochure of a phone system we sold when the company started in way back 1983:
The Econ-O-Key brought enterprise-level features to medium and small businesses in 1983.
On the back of that very impressive ad, they inform us that the Econ-o-key boasts high level features like speed dialing, speaker phone, three way conferencing, and “last number redial”. It’s fun to laugh at ads like this now, and at yourself a little for remembering how neat those phones were, and how much they really did boost productivity. (And that wood paneling sure added class, didn’t it!)
But once you get past the features, what struck me is the key words and phrases the Econ-o-key folks used to sell their system: “advanced”, “more efficiency”, “key features that help your people work with greater ease and speed”, “cost-efficient”, “increase productivity and growth”.
That sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Thirty years later, and even though the technology has advanced past “microprocessor-based, digitally controlled” being a big deal, the reason to stay current with communications remains the same: newer phone systems are just more efficient, allow greater productivity, and are more cost-effective. They really do make a difference, and that is as true in 2013 as it was thirty years ago.
Which brings me to the real point of this blog: just like feature-sets on individual phones exploded in the 80’s and 90’s, and VoIP and Unified Communications exploded in the 2000’s , what we’re seeing now is not just unified communications, but what I like to call total collaboration communications.
What exactly do I mean by that? Let me give an example.
Right now, we’re working on a proposal for a bank who approached us with a need that we’re seeing more frequently. What they asked, effectively, was that their phone system and audio conferencing be made to work together seamlessly with a video conferencing system that their customers could utilize as well for meetings with bankers. There was a unified approach with two integrated solutions and our installation engineering team, and the result was a solution that integrates the unique technologies of two separate solutions into one total collaboration communications solution. For those of us in the telecom industry, it was exciting to see something that a lot of telecom companies would consider impossible come to fruition.
Debra Schindler-Boultinghouse, President
For 2013 and beyond: that’s the new challenge. People expect what they saw in sci-fi movies in 2003 to be possible today (it’s been ten whole years, after all!) It’s our job to work to realize that communications technology in the business world. To tailor solutions.
So looking back, it’s true that the technology has moved far, far beyond the Econ-O-Key. But the solutions becoming possible only now, the possibilities that come along with total collaborative communications, are only going to continue to propel businesses towards ever-increased productivity and efficiency – and all without any terrible wood paneling, we can hope.
By Debra Schindler-Boultinghouse