Alan
Smartening up your company with an Owl-making effective communication the norm inside and out
This is the kind of product that when you understand what it can do, you realize it meets a need that your company has -- but likely no one realized. I purchased this product in my capacity as General Counsel for a group of small construction companies. I happen to also have a background in documentary work and video. In our group, typically, some of the most significant issues would be discussed amongst company heads, often with me, at the end of the work day. The major stakeholder in the companies recently moved further away and began to leave the office earlier. Those early evening in-person meetings on critical issues essentially stopped and it became a potential disaster -- losing critical communication on key matters. The absence from the office also meant that it took much more time to communicate with each person individually. The Owl reopens that kind of communication avenue. Audio calls are simply not as effective, as natural or as comfortable. You often don't know who's talking. Even ordinary video calls are just not nearly as direct as calls using the Owl which enables people to see clearly who is saying what -- not to mention how important body language and expression is in communication. Physical parts of communication are not lost when using the Owl since the video directly tracks each speaker. For me, as legal counsel, I want my company heads, often including me, to have effective communication in order for them to effectively solve problems. There are only so many hours in the day. They can accomplish in 20 minutes of an Owl call what possibly days of back and forth emails, Whatsapp or voice messages can. As General Counsel, you realize that better, more effective communication, often in a team setting, will avoid a problem or law suit winding up on your desk. If the Owl avoids a single law suit, its more than worth its money but it is so much more. As an afterthought, but a very important one, construction (as many businesses) is literally a day-to-day affair where a good job over weeks can go sour with a problem or work stoppage any given day. This is certainly the same in many other businesses whether it is a film production or care of a patient by a medical team. Our companies would also work in teams and if a problem comes up, there is nothing more effective than to have the two or three person team on the project, get on a video call and communicate directly with the client about the problem and how they will solve it. It is so valuable to have what the Owl provides. It enables each person on the team to be seen by the client individually, look directly at them and give the client the sense of confidence and responsiveness to that client's need. Often doing a great job in response to a problem is not enough. Communicating effectively and reassuring them in a meaningful way through a problem is just as important. The Owl is a truly unique tool that accomplishes this task. I have done research on alternatives where there is tracking of the speaker. There are a few good ones but here are their problems. All cost in the thousands of dollars to start.They are also technically much more complex. They require things like expensive microphone arrays with several expensive mics and multiple cameras. Unless you have a person dedicated to the technical aspects of set up of those systems, they are intended for use in a single location. In contrast, the Owl is so incredibly simple it can be taken from one room or location to another and set up anywhere with an AC power source instantly. I am not generally someone who writes reviews. And that is not to say that I don't think that there are tweaks that could improve this product. But taking it just as it is, it does an excellent job on video and audio and is outstanding in tracking the speaker and rendering a close-up in real time. Just for the record, I didn't get a promotional Owl for myself or our company. I wish I did, but I didn't. I do know how important effective communication is in business and how often it is absent. The Owl can bring that level of communication to situations you may never have even thought about. Multi-party visual communications with the Owl can shrink the time it would otherwise take to solve problems and gives people the opportunity to do it in what really is the only way we really feel most comfortable doing it --- eye to eye.