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Real Walk-Around Videos Are Now Easy, Fast and Affordable

Mike, I realize it's probably been a couple of months since we've been in touch, but I just noticed this comment and realized that we've got a ton of new functionality since we last spoke (automatic fully-formatted HTML email, automatic texting to mobile numbers, etc.
 
Contact us if you're interested in seeing how our product has evolved!
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Real Walk-Around Videos Are Now Easy, Fast and Affordable

In mid 2007 I finally registered the domain AutoVideoQuote.com because having been the ISM for about 7 years at that time, I thought video was a great idea - despite not too many auto pros at the time being in agreement with me, including some DR people. But I saw the need early for personalized video responses to set oneself apart, and video is simply like nothing else, the next best thing to being there. After looking at the architecture behind this new product, it's exactly what I envisioned, but never got going myself. Perhaps we can partner up - who wouldn't love to send out AutoVideoQuotes? Nobody else is! This is why I love the car business, so many great minds constantly at work.
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Real Walk-Around Videos Are Now Easy, Fast and Affordable

Hey Mike,
It's all good. As we discussed, we're focused on making the process as simple and easy as possible. We have begun integrations with other automotive platforms as well, so keep an eye out for those. Good discussion and if you have other ideas for us, please send them along. We're building a platform for auto dealers, so the more input from the industry, the better.
-Len
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Real Walk-Around Videos Are Now Easy, Fast and Affordable

Hey Mike,
It's all good. As we discussed, we're focused on making video as simple and easy as possible. We have begun integrations with other automotive platforms as well, so keep an eye out for those. Good discussion and if you have other ideas for us, please send them along. We're building a platform auto dealers so the more input from the industry, the better.
-Len
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Real Walk-Around Videos Are Now Easy, Fast and Affordable

mcampo2501
Len,
 
Let me again say that I like your product.  I like what you're doing, and I do see the value in what you are offering.  As it stands, I can upload videos to any number of free services like screencast.  They allow for private hosting and give me the ability to simply send a link to a customer in an email so there is no embedding.  Youtube has it's downside, but files can be made private there as well.  Your platform does provide extra branding and the ability to create a personal relationship with the customer by putting his/her picture beside the video.  There are many things I like about your product.  In fact, your product is the only one I'm aware of that is even attempting to do something like this.  Simply put, I like where you're heading, but I think it's a little clumsy at the moment and it's not quite there yet.  Maybe it's me.  This is one man's opinion.  I know you talk to many dealers, and if I'm the odd man out then then I'll just have to wait for someone to create a product that is more in line with what I'm looking for. 
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Real Walk-Around Videos Are Now Easy, Fast and Affordable

Hi Mike (@mcampo2501),
I appreciate the time you spent with me on the phone yesterday. Interesting comments, but I'd respectfully disagree with your assessment that you can do most of this yourself and that the only thing you're getting for your monthly investment is the mobile upload. You're leaving out the simplification of sending the videos to your customers, the dealership and sales rep branded communication, the moderation, etc. 
 
For example, how are you sending the video? If you're embedding it in an email, then there is a good chance it won't be received by the recipient (the file size is way too big). How do you personalize each email for each of your reps so that the video is embedded in it and it looks like a video postcard? Where do you host the video if you're not just sending embedded via email? If you're putting it on YouTube, you know that your competitors are advertising against you and you're sending your customers away from your dealership. How are you tracking that the video was viewed? There is no way to do the above unless you have a platform that hosts and serves the videos, like Authntk.
 
It really is as easy as having the salesperson shoot the video and hit submit. From there, the sales manager is alerted via email to review the video and then they can approve it and can email the link to the prospect. Quality control is a requirement for many of the dealers we've talked to.
 
The point of Authntk is that we want to make the process super simple, and we'll continue to evolve and enhance our platform to that end. Editing is another whole issue and to your point, something that no BDC agent or salesperson is going to do. 
In my experience, prospects don't expect fully polished, studio production quality video. I believe that they just want to see the vehicle and have some kind of information on the salesperson who they'll be meeting so that when they walk in to the dealership, they feel like they've already met. Relationships really do sell more vehicles.
Len Ostroff
CEO, Authntk (www.walkaroundvideos.com)
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Real Walk-Around Videos Are Now Easy, Fast and Affordable

mcampo2501
I really like the concept here of simplifying video communication.  I recently spoke with the good folks at Autntk and feel like there's something there, but I don't get the feeling there's a finished product yet.  If I already have a webcam and am making my own video in windows movie maker, the only thing I'm getting for my monthly investment is the ability to shoot with my mobile device and have a more instant upload to the streaming service.  Yes, the player is a nice touch, and the reporting is valuable.  But if I want to do any editing, I'm going to have to download the video and upload again when I'm done.  This process is basically the same as what I'm able to do now, for free.  The way I see this being successful, is if it worked like Jing.   Shoot your video and instantly get a link back to insert into your email.  If the BDC agent or salesperson has to do anything more than shoot the video, they're simply not going to use it as much as they should.  In short, this is a service that has a lot of value and dealers need.  This specific solution needs a little more polish and needs to further simplify the process before it makes sense to spend any money on.  I'm anxious to see how this product evolves. 
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Contact At Once! Named One of America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies

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Contact At Once! Named One of America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies - Inc. Magazine Ranks Company for Second Straight Year

ATLANTA, GA. August 22, 2012 – Contact At Once!, the software company that pioneered live chat in online advertising, today announced that it has again been named to Inc. Magazine’s Annual List of America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies.  It is the second year in a row the company has been ranked in the Inc. 500|5000, marking 3-year growth rates of 693% and 416%, respectively.  Contact At Once! ranked in the top three of Georgia software companies making the 2012 Inc. 500|5000 list.

Contact At Once! live chat and mobile texting products are used by over 10,000 companies to generate incremental leads from their own websites and connect to some of the world’s busiest online marketplaces.  Advertising sites such as Autotrader.com, Cars.com and Apartments.com embed Contact At Once! live chat in ads to help their customers increase conversions.  Businesses that use Contact At Once! say they typically experience a 25% increase in the number of connections with website visitors.

“It’s an honor to be named as one of Inc. Magazine’s fastest growing private companies and we’re especially pleased to have made the list two years in a row,” says Marc Hayes, Contact At Once! founder and EVP, Strategy.  “Sustaining the aggressive growth trajectory necessary to stay on the list is validation of a sound product innovation plan and a healthy market opportunity.”

In a stagnant economic environment, median growth rate of 2012 Inc. 500|5000 companies remains an impressive 97 percent. The companies on this year’s list report having created over 400,000 jobs in the past three years and aggregate revenue among the honorees reached $299 billion.

Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found atwww.inc.com/5000.

ABOUT CONTACT AT ONCE!
Contact At Once! pioneered the use of live chat in advertising, enabling more connections between online shoppers and businesses.  More than 10,000 customers rely on Contact At Once! to drive incremental leads from their websites and increase the return on advertising investments.  For more information, visit www.contactatonce.com.

About Inc.
Founded in 1979 and acquired in 2005 by Mansueto Ventures, Inc. is the only major brand dedicated exclusively to owners and managers of growing private companies, with the aim to deliver real solutions for today’s innovative company builders.  Total monthly audience reach for the brand has grown significantly from 2,000,000 in 2010 to over 6,000,000 today.
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