Sign of small biz success Brooklyn Company's software helps deaf people communicate with speaking world From: Abilities Buzz - 12/2007 Lore Croghan reports in the December 3 issue of The New York Daily News that in a small office cubicle in a Sunset Park, Brooklyn, factory, a startup sells a product with big potential for deaf people. It's software that works in real time, turning spoken English into text and sign language that a deaf person can view on a computer screen. The interpreter doing the signing appears on video that looks like a live feed of a translator at work. In fact, it's a series of video clips the patented software strings together. For two-way communication, the deaf person types responses and a computer-generated voice speaks the typed words. Oscar-winner Marlee Matlin wept during an episode of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" she hosted last year when she was shown how the device made by iCommunicator would enable a blind father and his deaf son to converse without an interpreter. "Technology will bring the family closer together," the deaf actress said on the show - a big boost for iCommunicator's sales. The company has just one full-time employee. But it's not the typical under funded business venture. "There's no scrounging for working capital," said Steve Bruner, 40, the vice president of sales and marketing. It belongs to 71-year-old former chiropractor turned serial entrepreneur Leonard Feldman, his son Daniel, and their partners Robert Notine and Larry Brown. They own five businesses, all housed in a cluster of industrial buildings on the Sunset Park waterfront. The biggest one is 20-year-old ProFoot, which competes profitably against foot care giant Dr. Scholl's with products like orthotics and toe bandages. Annual revenues are $30 million to $40 million. "Our combined companies have made money every year," Daniel Feldman, 37, said. They bought iCommunicator in 2005 for an undisclosed sum from Teltronics, a Sarasota, Fla., maker of telephone switching systems. They were introduced to iCommunicator by Jeff Klare, their partner in consulting business Hire Disability Solutions. A client of Klare's, the city Department of Small Business Services, had a sign-language interpreter who didn't show up and asked for a reliable alternative. Klare discovered iCommunicator, and the city agency ordered five kits. "ICommunicator is unique," said Dan Hubbell of Microsoft's Assistive Technology Vendor Program, in which iCommunicator participates. "It's the only company we work with that does computerized sign-language translation." Michael Takemura, who created Hewlett-Packard's Assistive Technology Vendor Program, often includes iCommunicator in his company's booth at trade shows and conferences. He also hands out case studies about iCommunicator. Schools and colleges, government agencies and businesses are more likely buyers than individuals because iCommunicator kits, which include a wireless microphone and keyboard, are $6,499. Annual product-support agreements are an additional $495. The software was originally developed for use in classroom settings at the urging of Bradenton, FL mom Virginia Greene and her son Morgan, who is deaf. Virginia Greene is the interpreter who appears in iCommunicator's signing videos. Bruner declined to give sales figures, but said iCommunicator is making progress and is going to break even this year for the first time since its product launch in 2000. "We're pretty confident we're on to something," Leonard Feldman said. "We started slow but we're picking up speed. And that's all we care about." Links: Company's software helps deaf people communicate with speaking world http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2007/12/03/2007-12-03_companys_software_helps_deaf_people_comm.html?ref=rss iCommunicator http://www.icommunicator.com/productinfo/