A Note From The Boss:

EnGenius and AbleComm

Back around 1995, I was at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. This is where the big names like Panasonic and Sony and Microsoft show off their new toys and technologies.

I always try to save an hour or so to explore the CES low-rent district, the basement levels where newbies display their dreams.

I move through the aisles at high speed, scanning signs and displays and making instant judgments. If something seems promising, I grab a spec sheet, and maybe leave a business card, and move on.

Several months after the 1995 CES, I received a phone call from a friendly guy named Leo, who said that I had left my business card at his booth. Leo reminded me that his company made industrial-strength long-range cordless phones, and asked if I wanted to become a dealer.

Frankly, I didn't remember the booth or the product, but Leo seemed to really want our business; and the concept was interesting -- a cordless phone that could be used MILES away from its base. I ordered a sample and we soon became one of the first EnGenius dealers.

Leo's phone, the EnGenius SN900, was amazing. It really could go miles (much farther than the previous long-range champ from Panasonic), and had features like walkie-talkie operation and rugged construction that gave it important competitive advantages.

We sold a ton of them, and when the SN900 was replaced by the SN920, which added headset operation and other features, we sold a ton of them, too.

We've sold EnGenius phones for lots of different uses.

• We've sold them to farmers and cattle ranchers.

• We've sold them for oil fields and steel mills.

• We've sold them to summer camps and campus cops.

• We've sold them to people who can't get cellular service.

• We've sold them to construction companies and the Border Patrol.

• We've sold them to Microsoft and H-P and ISPs and furniture stores.

• We've sold them for warehouses, resorts, factories and car dealers.

• One of our customers owns a private island, a few miles away from a bigger island in Hawaii. On his little island, he has pineapples, a beach, a couple of dogs, a volcano, a cabin, and an EnGenius phone with a bunch of batteries -- which he takes back to the big island to recharge once a week. He called me once and said, "Mike, I'm talking to you from my lava field."

The SN920 was improved steadily over the years, but people wanted changes that could not simply be built-in or added-on; so the designers made a fresh start. The result is the new EnGenius DuraFon product line. It's AMAZING!

/Michael