What is RIDGIDConnect? Tell me!
I have had a few recent "ah ha" moments with customers recently. After walking them through RIDGIDConnect.com and explaining the relevance of some of our new products like the LT1000, they suddenly get it. I always wish I would ask them what they thought RIDGIDConnect.com was before we got on the phone, but I usually run over on time with them trying to touch the high points of what RIDGIDConnect.com can do. So, I decided to solicit some feedback here hoping to catch some readers with a minute to spare. ...C'mon, you must have one if you found this page at the end of the internet!
Please leave me feedback on what you think RIDGIDConnect.com is (right now, don't go research!). I want to get your perspectives based on our ads, what the site tells you, things you read in the press... I will throw in an hour of RIDGIDConnect training for someone on your team in addition to a 60 day free trial for the first few comments that I approve!
The LT1000 Joins the Product Line (aka Digital is Really Here NOW!)
Here is a common conversation I have had over the past few months...
Customer: "Burning DVDs just to upload them doesn't make sense to me. Isn't there a better way?"
Me: "Sure, just connect a microExplorer (microEXPLORER™ Digital Inspection Camera) to virtually any camera system you have via the digital adapter (SeeSnake® Digital Adaptor) and you are good to go."
Customer: "That is a cool add-on at the right price, but it just seems a bit clunky for everyday use."
People recognize this configuration as a stop gap; as they should. Well, the gap is closing now. The LT1000 is here! I have had the chance to use this in the field with some customers, and it is awesome!
The LT1000 is an interface that allows you to connect a laptop to your existing camera reels so that you can create digital reports in the field. When you purchase an LT1000, you will get a free copy of SeeSnake HQ. This software has tight integrations to RIDGIDConnect. This means you can start a report while you are doing the inspection (labeling, associating with a customer, making notes...) . When you are done you can have it upload directly to RIDGIDConnect from within the software.
When I was traveling last week I did a few jobs from outside of the office. I was able to tether my BlackBerry smartphone to the laptop and upload from the work truck. On another location we were able to get free wi-fi access. Later in the day, I was with a customer that had his own AirCard that worked like a charm. All of the videos were fairly short (few minutes) since we knew we were going to be uploading over a lower bandwidth connection. Since we knew that when we started, it wasn't a big deal. If we needed to record and send a longer job from the field like that we could have, it just would have taken a little longer. Uploading like this would still beat driving DVDs back to the office or to the customer. SeeSnake HQ would also let us save the report to upload later on. I just like to push the technology as much as I can from the field to make sure it really works ...and it does.
I hope to keep you better informed of what is going on with RIDGIDConnect and its related products in the future. I just had a very busy few weeks that kept me away. One of them was spent accepting an award on behalf of the development team here (http://www.attendwes.com/wla) .