TSSG's Miguel Ponce De Leon, who developed the Kodacall system.
Kodacall, a new spin-out company from the WIT-based Telecommunication Software & Systems Group (TSSG), has already been introduced by CarBuyersGuide (www.cgb. ie) as a free phone from web browser service. The call is free of charge to consumers and their phone number is not displayed to car sellers.
Researcher and inventor at TSSG Miguel Ponce de Leon developed the idea after being made aware of the gap in the market by a number of mobile providers.
His endeavours were supported by TSSG, Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialisation Fund and WIT’s Technology Transfer Office.
“Social networking is still about typing messages to each other but there are many times when people want an immediate interaction, to talk to someone and I haven’t seen a breakthrough in this area for voice,” Miguel explained.
Kodacall’s technology will first be released into the classifieds market, though there are plans to make it available to a wider customer base eventually.
“I was presenting at the Enterprise Ireland ‘Big Ideas Showcase’ last year which offers inventors the opportunity to pitch their technologies to venture capitalists and angel investors when I realised I had the skills to take the product to market myself,” he continued.
“At this stage in my career, I also feel I have a responsibility to create jobs in the south east and increase WIT and TSSG’s profile on an international level.
“I’m very aware that my focus now has to change significantly from development of the technology, to development of my business.
“It is not a safe bet, by any stretch of the imagination. However, we have at least one business in Ireland willing to pay some money for its use and I can see a number of international opportunities, so I’m going to get out there to see. Sitting in my office, talking about it or writing papers about it will not prove or disprove my theory. I want to see if businesses are willing to integrate and pay for such a service.”
Over the past five years, TSSG has delivered innovative solutions to over 110 Irish companies, and has created 11 spin out companies in the south east, including the award-winning FeedHenry, a ground-breaking mobile cloud platform company and ZolkC, a leading provider of mobile technology for international visitor attractions.
