Michael McKibben
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Michael McKibben is the Chairman & Founder of Leader Technologies® founded in 1997 in Columbus, Ohio. Leader® set out to develop new technologies for large-scale web-based collaboration. This work resulted in numerous patents pending and the award of Leader's first patent U.S. Patent No. 7,139,761 in late 2006. On July 28, 2010 Leader won a jury verdict against Facebook for literal infringement of Leader's patent, although certain other aspects of the patent were ruled invalid due to early commercial activity. Leader is asking the court to set aside these rulings for lack of Facebook evidence. Decisions are pending.
The first of Leader's Web 2.0 inventions to be commercialized was Leader Phone® audio conferencing services. Leader applied true web-based approaches to an old and stodgy industry--yet a much-needed business communications service. Without realizing it initially, Leader inventions had revolutionized teleconferencing. An Apple iPhone app will be released soon.
Another Leader innovation is Leader Alert® mass-scale emergency notification using any combination of voice, email and SMS media. This service was born after 911 as Homeland Security leaders were seeking new and better ways to alert large numbers of people quickly. Universities and secondary schools are now using Leader Alert® in ever-greater numbers as a means of parent and staff notification during emergencies like lock-downs and even non-emergencies like announcing the return of field trip buses is delayed four hours.
Leader's flagship platform which Facebook has been adjudged to be literally infringing is Leader2Leader®. Leader is currently focused on enterprise applications of the technology for enterprise social networking.
Emerging from the Leader v. Facebook trial is the news that Leader's innovations dramatically pre-date Facebook's start in February 2004. The jury findings are that each and every element of Leader's invention is being literally infringed by Facebook.
Mike is the father of six and the husband of author and writer Nancy McKibben. His children include oldest daughter Carrie now an interior designer, son Max a cum laude Harvard biology graduate currently in his 3rd year of medical school and twice an Ivy League football champion, daughter Susanna a summa cum laude De Paul graduate currently with BorderLinks in Tucson, daughter Holly a just-graduated cum laude Ohio State nursing graduate and NCAA Fencing Champion, daughter Rose in her second year of university and son Justin in his third year of high school.
Recent Activity
Audio conferencing is one of those vital business services where looks can be deceiving. Most services use out-dated equipment with features that haven't improved in more than a decade or more. More than a dozen services now offer iPhone apps, but most are little more than a web page tied to an ancient piece of equipment. The lure is often some form of "free conferencing." Many simply arbitrage local access numbers—essentially using participants' iPhones as roaming devices.
Unscheduled conference calls that were impossible before, are now possible New iPhone audio conferencing apps have introduced Call Now! group calling. This feature dispenses with the hassle and expense of setting up a conventional conference call by eliminating the need to schedule a call, send out dial-in numbers and PINs, wait for stragglers, etc. With iPhone Call now! you simply select the people you want on the conference call and and tap Call Now! Your participants are called instantly.
An effective conference call is like any other meeting -- to be professional and respectful of the participants' time; it needs good preparation, solid execution and timely follow-up. Historically, conference calls had to be organized around the limitations of audio conferencing technology. Traditional Ma Bell gave you simply a dial-in number and a PIN. You were on your own for all other organizational aspects of your call. Web 2.0 gives you 16 dimensions of productivity.
The devil is in the details with regard to managing enterprise audio conferencing. Conventional wisdom says belt-tightening is a good thing, and when an employee comes to a CFO with "cost savings," he is often named "employee of the month." So, when an employee proposes to cut the audio conferencing budget by using a "free" or cut-rate service, it sounds great on the surface. However, a closer look reveals such proposals to be Neanderthal. They're two steps backward instead of one step forward.
The term "web conferencing" is confusing. Most technology people know what it means, but the average user does not. Users generally understand "conferencing," but the "web" adjective is confusing because the "web" is a complex and ever-changing subject. It has gotten even more confusing with the advent of telephone over Internet, also called "voice over Internet protocol" or "VoIP." Adding further to this confusion are current good-luck-you're-on-your-own "free conference call" offers. More>
Our virtual society opens new opportunities for speakers and educators with audio conferencing-based program technology. In today's fast-paced social and business climate, convincing prospective participants to set aside a whole day for a seminar is challenging. It is also expensive and time consuming. Consider interspersing your face-to-face programs with audio conferencing-based programs instead. Here are some of the key attributes of an audio conferencing-based program.
My company, Leader Technologies, provided the only working first responder communication system during the months after Hurricane Katrina. This bird's eye view of the largest natural disaster in the history of the United States taught us many important lessons. If we learn these lessons, then perhaps we can lessen the suffering and loss of life in future disasters. We were somewhat surprised at how central a role audio conferencing played in large-scale disaster response collaboration.
Wake up people. It's the 21st century! Audio conferencing is experiencing a Renaissance in enabling new technologies, especially for the medium and small business. It has traditionally been the domain of Fortune 500 companies for one simple reason-Ma Bell managed it from large call centers dedicated to supporting its large customers. The features offered were minimal-dial-in number and PIN and a few basic handset controls. You really don't have to settle for the same-old-same-old any longer.
Until recently "innovation" was not a word associated with audio conferencing. The only innovation has been in some "free" pricing. However, the hallmark of true innovation is greater productivity, and "free" doesn't advance that cause. It has seen very little change since its introduction in the 1980's because Ma Bell had it tucked away in its far flung call centers. Just enough engineering was done to offer some basic services, but everything else was done manually and users paid a premium.
What do you need to know about Web 2.0 audio conferencing? How is it different than your crusty old dial-in number a PIN you've been carrying around in your wallet or purse?
