Before the Dawn of IP Telephony - Part 13Tears from words of appreciation (March 1999)
These contents translated a serialization article carried by ITPro IP telephony ONLINE published by Nikkei Business Publications, Inc. Jump to the original (Japanese).
Shinji Usuba
General Manager
eSound Venture Unit
Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd
Despite the preparation for the shipment of large-capacity VoIP gateway BV2000, the team must now simultaneously develop a product for Europe.
Shipment judgment of BV2000 for large-scale application was held at the end of March 1999. Shipment judgment is conducted based on a strict standard. Products that do not meet this shipping standard simply do not pass. Obviously, our situation of having to develop two models at once held no meaning to the shipment judgment personnel. Our accomplishment was made possible by the team members who did more than one can possibly manage under tremendous burden. I want to thank each and every member who believed in the possibilities of this product and worked to the end.
Fig. 1 Example of a network using BV2000
We successfully passed the shipment judgment and were able to meet the deadline for the first customer. BV2000 was later used as the trunk line for a large-scale network (Fig. 1).
At the end of April, one month later, VoIP gateway products for Europe were shipped. But during the first product shipment judgment, some of the requirements could not be met.
I still remember the words of the personnel in charge of shipment judgment after failing the judgment. He said, "The level of product development accomplished in such short time is extremely surprising. The design capability of your development team is assessed very highly. It's a pity I can't pass you."
Photo 1 : BS1200E, our first product for Europe
Shipment judgment personnel bear responsibility of customers in terms of product quality. It is extremely rare to receive such comments and we were very surprised. These became the words of appreciation for all of the members participating in the development. BS1200E later cleared the indicated checkpoints and passed the shipment judgment. And our first VoIP gateway product "BS1200E" with a BRI interface for Europe was born (photo 1).
We also received high appraisal in Europe for the quality of our VoIP gateway products with the shipment of BS1200E. In a French magazine, the superior voice quality was rated highly and the BS1220E received a recommendation. I was truly happy to see our product receiving such high rating among the overseas vendors in the market. This was because I felt that establishing voice quality was the key to the widespread adoption of VoIP. I was certain that there was no mistake in the direction we were headed and that we would receive an even higher rating if we completed the development of the core technology.
Transfer to an affiliated company
However, I was no longer the leader of the development team by the time BV2000 and BS1200E were judged for shipment and the article assessing BS1200E in Europe was published. In early March 1999, I was given an order to transfer to an affiliated company.
Once again, I was separated from the development of VoIP gateway. I would be lying if I were to say I didn't find the transfer shocking. VoIP gateway was just getting started. I was intermixed with emotions of wanting to raise it on my own, my beliefs and the self-pride for the results I have produced.
As a company, it is a basic rule for assigning the most suitable person from an overall viewpoint. The feelings of an individual are irrelevant. I understood this, but it was shocking nevertheless.
Normally, one is transferred to the new workplace immediately upon handing over operations once an order for a transfer is given. However, I was allowed to stay until the shipment judgment of BV2000. I was approached with the notice of transfer during the middle of February. I did not tell the team members about my transfer at the beginning of March during the remaining three weeks. At the time, my supervisor approached me with an idea to take the development members with me, but I kindly refused.
I have always said that VoIP is the key of future voice communication and that it was crucial to continuously make improvements and believe in this technology. Hence, I wanted the members with the same frame of mind to continue working in this field. The best solution was to leave the team members with the same belief as they were. Otherwise the superb performance of the team would be lost. Furthermore, I wanted to leave the future of VoIP gateway in the care of these members. So in March, I left all of the team members and headed to the affiliated company (currently OKICOMTEC).
My attendance at the shipment judgment of BS1200E mentioned above was therefore after the transfer. Honestly speaking, sense of loneliness engulfed me as I attended. Under such circumstances, the words of the shipment judgment personnel were comforting and my eyes filled with tears.
My main mission at the affiliated company was to transfer products developed at Oki Electric Industry. As a result, I was involved in the development of new VoIP products in this new position.
There was still dispute concerning the future of VoIP at OKI. Despite the strong commitment of the top management, some of the field workers doubted the marketability. My stay at the affiliated company lasted for four years. But I had not imagined the product development I would experience as pure coincidence before my transfer.
... To be continued
