As we spoke, I could tell by the glint in his eye and his body language that Michael L. Weiss, chief executive of Frontier Financial Advisors LLC, is a helluva salesman. The fact that he was several miles away was just a technicality.
Welcome to the era of the free video call.
No, this isn't science fiction. It is actually a pretty mundane use of readily available technology.
Specifically, it was a video call carried out over the Internet using a service called SightSpeed.
Mr. Weiss, whose New York-based registered investment advisory firm has more than $20 million in assets under management, has used SightSpeed, a product of SightSpeed Inc. in Berkeley, Calif., for more than a year. He uses it in combination with a PC-screen-sharing-service called gotomeeting.com (a product of Citrix Systems Inc. in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), to make PowerPoint presentations to clients — or potential clients.
"From a business perspective, there's nothing like being able to look someone in the eye," Mr. Weiss said.
"SightSpeed is a simple piece of technology that's easy to use," he said.
The technology helps gain the trust and confidence of clients without requiring them to make a visit to the firm's offices, Mr. Weiss said.
While using SightSpeed is simple, the underlying technology is anything but.
As a technology reporter and editor, I have spent years covering the company and its competitors and dissecting what makes them all tick.
The key differentiator between SightSpeed and its competitors is the video compression algorithm that the company has engineered. It allows for full-motion 30-frames-per-second video streamed over the Internet.
Anything less than 30 frames a second makes video look disjointed and jumpy. The company's competitors all work at 15 frames per second.
That isn't to say that the technology is perfect. A lot can happen to video transmitted across the Internet, and at the best of times it moves in fits and starts.
Although SightSpeed is clearly the best free Internet video calling service, two competitors have a lot to offer, as well.
One is a startup called ooVoo LLC in New York, which boasts the slickest online interface of the lot. The other is Skype Technologies SA, a well-known company based in Luxembourg, which offers the widest array of features, including a smooth voicemail, a dedicated phone number and highly competitive international calling rates.
"The thing about these products is that they have to be drop-dead easy to use," said SightSpeed's chief executive Peter D. Csathy. "There are currently 30,000 businesses using us today, many of them small businesses."
I interviewed Mr. Csathy, as I have many times before, using his service. I was in New York and he was in San Diego. All that was required was a broadband connection, an inexpensive webcam (typically $30 to $50) and a free download of the software.
Both SightSpeed and Skype provide additional features, such as multiparty conference calls, for a modest monthly or annual fee.
Skype has had small- and medium-sized business offerings for two years. Initially, the offerings received mixed reviews from readers, who complained about its administrative features, but I am told that these have since been rectified.
Mr. Csathy said that SightSpeed will roll out an offering aimed at small businesses over the next month. For $20 a month, the service will provide unlimited video calling, multiparty conferencing for up to four participants, file sharing, unlimited video mail and centralized user management.
The last feature allows an administrator in your firm to set up and manage the service, manage user licenses and purchase call minutes. SightSpeed will also provide live, face-to-face video and voice support.
Scott Levy, founder of Aria Structured Investments in Suffolk, England, has used Skype for a couple of years and said he will continue to do so. "We even give away small microphones to our clients, so they can get over the technology 'hurdle' that some perceive," he said.
But others are skeptical.
"It really depends on your client base," said Oliver Tutt, an adviser and managing director with Randall Financial Group LLC in Providence, R.I.
"I would say 60% of my clients use e-mail regularly," he said. "But far fewer are adept at using the web or have broadband connections, or would feel comfortable with something that progressive."
That said, "if you have a practice with a high percentage of people who are comfortable with technology and geographically dispersed, it could make sense," Mr. Tutt added.
Davis D. Janowski can be reached at [email protected].
