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Originally published on 06/13/2002
A new communications medium rarely replaces an entrenched one. Email did not replace the telephone. Instant messaging will not replace email. Nothing beats a good yell. Given a choice, people generally pick an appropriate communications method based on the delivery needs and content of their message.
Fast Facts:
Vocera
www.vocera.com |
| CEO |
Julie Shimer. Last job: VP and GM of residential connectivity group for 3Com
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| HQ |
Cupertino, CA
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| Founded |
March 2000
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| Employees |
32
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| Market |
Instant communications
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| Funding |
$20M in three rounds. Latest lead investor: Venrock.
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| Profitable? |
Projected in Q3 2002, based on 180 installations
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This was the framework in my mind when I talked with Julie Shimer and Robert Shostak, CEO and CTO of the startup Vocera. This interesting company has developed a Star Trek-like "communicator badge." Designed for organizations like hospitals, the badge communicates via wireless LAN to a Vocera server, which does voice recognition and acts as communications hub. After pressing the device's single button, a nurse, for example, can say, "Get me Dr. Smith," and the system can immediately open a full-duplex voice channel to Dr. Smith's badge. This kind of quick, voice-based messaging could be useful in many business circumstances.
Everything runs through a server, so more voice-enabled services are possible, like group broadcasts or fully computer-driven responses. It's Nextel Direct Connect meets Instant Messenger meets walkie-talkie, but the hardware is smaller, and the service offers more customizability and no cellular bills -- although only within the range of corporate 802.11b hubs (an earlier prototype relied on Bluetooth).
The business model is straightforward: Vocera sells servers. The badges are part of the package, but the real revenues are in selling communications platforms to corporations. Julie Shimer sees a potential market of 25 million workers, worth about $350 each (based on what hospitals will pay).
Vocera's challenge is to figure out how to either compete or partner with the cellular carriers as they layer in more services and network technologies. However, the company's focus and technological head start positions it well should customers find real uses for this new communications mode.
- Rafe Needleman
email: rafe-needleman@catchoday.com
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