Date Posted:
01/28/2011
Title:
Interview with Sean Belanger, CEO
Summary:
Discussion comparing the Z4 Mobile for PC and Mac to the Sorenson ntouch product
Body:
How does the Sorenson ntouch compare to the Z4 Mobile for the PC?
It is good to see Sorenson developing a soft video phone product for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing market. The Sorenson ntouch product is a good start but it has several product deficiencies. The lack of video mail capability for point-to-point calls on the Sorenson ntouch is a major miss. The Sorenson ntouch also lacks a text overlay capability which slows the call down and can require the Deaf user to repeat numbers.
What are the significant difference between the Z4 Mobile and the Sorenson ntouch?
The Z4 Mobile product has been in the market for over 9 months and has been an outstanding product. Z4 Mobile has taken market share from Sorenson and was the reason behind the development of Sorenson ntouch. The Z4 Mobile does several things the Sorenson ntouch lacks. First, you can leave video mail on point-to-point calls or any video call for that matter. Next, Z4 Mobile will alert you to when you have an inbound call by sending a text to your phone or pager. The Sorenson ntouch also lacks the ability to have text overlay function. The Sorenson ntouch does not appear to support DTMF dialing so the deaf user can’t input credit card numbers and other confidential information themselves but rather depend on the interpreter. The Sorenson ntouch also does not have a Mac or mobile version of the product thereby limiting the choice for the Deaf user.
Why do you think it took Sorenson so long to develop the Sorenson ntouch product?
Sorenson has been harvesting the revenues generated by VP-200 product and was very content forcing a single solution on to the Deaf and Hard of hearing market. We believe the Sorenson ntouch was developed in response to the Z4 mobile and the impact it is having on the Sorenson base. Sorenson developed the Sorenson ntouch to slow the significant market penetration by ZVRS products. The Sorenson ntouch is a good start, but many features need to be added to make the Sorenson ntouch a viable product.