 |
|
||
|
Main Business Activity - Innovative mobile phone and internet technology directory enquiries service Project Outline - Developed peer-to-peer help desk system to help people help each other The Directionless Enquiries team wanted to take their technology ideas and turn them into a business. Specifically, they had developed a technology proof of concept for an innovative directory enquiries service. Needing additional knowledge and expertise to take it to the next level, they joined the project, which worked on developing the concept to prototype stage and looked at potential markets. The idea for Directionless Enquiries grew out of the work Saul Albert and his colleague Mikey Weinkove were doing in 2004 as part of an organisation called ‘Let The People Speak’. They produced ‘Talkeoke’ a mobile talk show a little like a karaoke machine, designed to break the ice at civic functions, like planning meetings. “It lands like a flying saucer wherever people need an excuse to talk to each other”, says Saul. “The idea is that when people participate in something, they become intelligent, responsible and engaged”, he says. “It’s all about taking function’s provided for us and socialising them, making them engaging and fun”. The Directionless team is currently working on their open source, peer-to-peer help desk system that helps people to help each other. For the price of a local call people are able to call in a query from the street in exchange for answering other people’s calls online. There are no answering machines in sight and all the calls are answered by people who know the area you’re calling about. Saul recognises that turning an exciting idea into a successful venture is quite a challenge. “We’re trying to make it into a business on its own merits”, he says. “Before we started our collaboration we’d built a proof-of-concept but we hadn’t worked out how we’d make money out of it”. Says Saul. “We had developed VOIP (voice over internet protocol) technology and could see an application for a peer-to-peer call centre, we just needed help developing our concept”. The team worked with the Slade School of Arts at the University College London and through their collaboration realised they needed something that could scale up to become a larger commercial platform. They decided to develop a web based facility for B2B customers who want to integrate VOIP with social networking sites. Meaning that the visitors to their website can access mailing lists, blogs and wikis with a phone call. One pre-condition to developing this idea was that it must integrate the functionality required for Skype, the market leader in internet phones. “There are still a lot of people who don’t like using the internet to access public information”, says Saul. “This is a way of using telephones instead”. Saul is full of praise for the project saying, “The collaboration has been the best part of the project for me. Thanks to the project we can take an enormous leap in terms of developing a high quality application”. Saul and the team now have a working prototype with Skype built in and are keen to test the market. “We want to test the platform, develop the business model and branding. The next step is to get 100 users involved at an event”. The project has also been a catalyst for helping the team identify other potential sources of revenue such as consultancy services. They have already secured a contract from the RSA (Royal Society for the Atrts) to develop a network that supports a mentoring scheme staffed by some of their fellows. “Where we’ve got to is only the beginning”, concludes Saul. |
secure log in - register here
Directionless Enquiries
KNOWLEDGE CONNECT is a London Development Agency and ERDF funded programme delivered by ANGLE plc and Winning Moves Ltd.
