Gold`s Electronic TeleSpan

Reprinted from
Elliot
Gold’s
Electronic TeleSpan
The authoritative source for teleconferencing news and analysis
May 15, 2006 • Volume 26, Number 18
Copyright 2006 by TeleSpan Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.
Freedom Calls links families with their loved ones in Iraq
What do you do after you’ve spent 25 years on Wall Street as a lawyer, been a successful
investment banker and venture capitalist, and started up two Internet service companies
yourself? Well, if you’re John Harlow II, you follow your passion, and form a not-for-profit,
501(c)(3) public charity called Freedom Calls, and allow families across America to talk to their
loved ones who are serving in Iraq, using some of the technologies you saw from your office on
Wall Street. You focus on videoconferencing. Then you round up all your friends (like Tandberg
and Polycom, and have them contribute equipment and software and get others (like FedEx) to
deliver the equipment for free to families. Then, to wrap it up, you get others in technology, like
AT&T, Motorola, Raytheon, Vontage, and a long list of others, to help out in getting calls from
the U.S. to Iraq. With all of their help, you offer a free videoconferencing service that connects
family members in the States with their loved ones serving in Iraq.
Why would you do this?
“I heard stories of soldiers with $7,000 cell phone bills from keeping in touch with their
families,” said John. “I thought it was wrong to commercially exploit military families in this
fashion. I believe that the American people should provide communication services free of
charge to military families that are making sacrifices on our behalf.”
As a result, Freedom Calls helps families make an average of 1,000 free videoconferences a
month.
To celebrate Mother’s Day, we decided to interview a few of the mothers who have used
Freedom Calls. Their stories speak for themselves.
John Harlow II ([email protected])
Trudy Perrone uses videoconferencing to see her children, wherever in the world they are
Omaha, Nebraska
Trudy Perrone is a retired teacher in Omaha, Nebraska, but still spends two days a week
working as a teacher’s aide in schools not far from where she taught, and where her three sons
and daughter attended school. It’s just a short distance from her home to the schools to visit
with the children there. Visiting her own children, on the other hand, requires that she travel a
bit further. That’s because two of her sons are serving in Iraq, and her daughter is living in the
Ukraine. But distance means nothing when you have a broadband connection, a Webcam, and
videoconferencing software on your home PC.
“We just use Instant Messaging on our computer to see if they’re online,” said Trudy, who is 68
years old.* “And if they are, we just turn our cameras on and hold a long videoconference with
them.”
At one point, their daughter told Trudy and her husband, Frank, that their son-in-law had fallen
Published by TeleSpan Publishing Corporation, 50 West Palm Street, Altadena CA 91001, +1-626-797-5482
Reprinted from
Elliot
Gold’s
Electronic TeleSpan
The authoritative source for teleconferencing news and analysis
May 15, 2006 • Volume 26, Number 18
during a paintballing episode. “We got an e-mail telling
us that John had fallen,” said Trudy. “John’s parents had a
camera, but didn’t know how to install it. Frank just turned
on our instant messaging, got online with them, and told
them how to install it.”
In the past when Trudy’s children (who are all in their 40s)
traveled, she used the “old fashioned” telephone to call
them. “When my daughter was in Germany, in 1993, it was
expensive to call her by phone or even to e-mail her,” said
Trudy. “We had some very expensive phone bills…whoa
were they big! Now we’re able to talk to them via video in
the Ukraine, for free.”
Two of Trudy and Frank Perrone’s three sons, Phillip and
Christopher, are career members of the Nebraska National Guard, having served for 20-plus
years. Phillip, who is 45 years old, joined when he was 18, and Christopher joined in his mid20s. Phillip was getting close to retiring from the Guard a year ago, but wanted to do a tour
of Iraq before he retired. When Christopher heard that, he decided to join his brother so both
could serve at the same time. They arrived together in Iraq around Thanksgiving last year. After
getting a Webcam from Freedom Calls, as well as the Polycom PVX software , the Perrones have
had weekly, sometimes more frequent, videoconferences between Nebraska and Iraq.
The calls are vivid, to say the least. On one call, Trudy noticed that Philip, who is a marathon
runner and an avid softball player, had been out in the sun too long.
“Phillip, your nose is bright red!” she told him over the videoconference.
“Oh,” he said, “I just came in from playing softball.”
“Want me to send you some sunblock?” asked Trudy.
“It’s almost like they’re sitting across the table from you,”
said Trudy. “It makes you feel almost like they’re there
with you; it’s like a little family gathering. It’s wonderful,
absolutely amazing!”
The Perrones do try to keep the calls “light,” considering
where their sons are, but Trudy said that occasionally, family
business does have to be covered, especially between Phillip
and his college-age daughter. “The most serious call was
*I pointed out Trudy’s age because I want you readers to know that you don’t have to be a teenager
or a young techno to install videoconferencing anymore. In today’s newsletter, note the number of
us in our 60s and older, who have adopted these technologies for use from our homes, hint, hint!
Young Trudy and her young husband, Frank (who is 69), are both avid cyclists, by the way. “We
ride the BRAN (Bike Ride Across Nebraska ) every June !” Trudy pointed out to me in an e-mail.
2
Reprinted from
Elliot
Gold’s
Electronic TeleSpan
The authoritative source for teleconferencing news and analysis
May 15, 2006 • Volume 26, Number 18
when my granddaughter wanted to get an apartment,” said Trudy. “She’s a college student and
she had to talk to dad about that. We were all on the videoconference, and I didn’t think it was
going to fly. But she had to talk to him about that, so we all left the room while they talked.”
Trudy couldn’t say enough about the support she and her family get from Freedom Calls, John
Harlow, and his staff. “I just really appreciate Freedom Calls,” said Trudy. “We could have
afforded to go out and buy this camera, but Chris’s wife heard about Freedom Calls and said,
‘I’m getting this camera for free.’ Next thing we know, Chris was able to see his twin girls on
their fifth birthday. Freedom Calls is a wonderful organization. We’re very appreciative.”
Trudy Perrone ([email protected])
Thousands of miles can’t keep one mother’s son from being a best man at her other son’s
wedding
Janet Foye, Lawrenceburg, Kentucky
Marine Corporal Daniel Foye was in the midst of his second tour of Iraq
when he was invited not only to attend his brother Tim’s wedding, but to be
his best man. Easy—just do it over a videoconference.
“It was wonderful,” said Janet Foye, Daniel’s mother. “Tim was married on
April 28, and while Daniel couldn’t get dressed up, he ended up being not
only the best man during the wedding ceremony, but was able to attend the
wedding for four hours from Iraq. The whole family got to see Daniel. We
had people come in who hadn’t seen Daniel for years. It was just awesome.
I wanted to touch him, he’s so far away. Daniel said to me, ‘Mom, I just
wanted to walk right out of the screen to be with you.’ It was so real.”
If it wasn’t enough to attend the wedding via
videoconference, Freedom Calls arranged for
Daniel and a half-dozen other soldiers in Iraq
to attend this year’s Kentucky Derby over a
videoconference.
Janet Foye ([email protected])
3
Reprinted from
Elliot
Gold’s
Electronic TeleSpan
The authoritative source for teleconferencing news and analysis
May 15, 2006 • Volume 26, Number 18
Maida Marinaro sees and signs with her son Derek over video and instant messaging
Maida and Robert Marinaro raised their three children to adulthood, quietly. Both Maida and
Robert are deaf, but got their messages across, conveying all emotions, through signing.
When their daughter Sabrina moved to New York from their home in East Stroudsburg,
Pennsylvania, Maida and Robert learned about the Sorenson VRS videophone, which links
those who are deaf to those they want to talk to*, using an interpreter signing over video. So
when son Derek moved to Iraq, Maida and Robert simply got another videophone, this time
from Freedom Calls, so they could speak with their son during his tour in Iraq.
“Last summer we felt sad and strange not being able to
celebrate Derek’s 23rd birthday because he’s in Iraq,”
said Maida in an e-mail to TeleSpan. “But to our big
thrill, Mr. Harlow made it happen by providing us with
videoconferencing via Freedom Calls Foundation so we
could sign happy birthday to our dear son Derek, with a
cake and all, over a Webcam last September 4th. It was our
very first videoconference with Derek, and he’s really so
delighted for us to do that.”
Since then, Maida has kept in constant contact with
Derek over e-mail, AOL’s Instant Messaging (AOL-IM)
and videoconferencing. “Thanks to today’s wonderful
technology, we contact each other anytime we want to,”
said Maida. “Without them, we would be wondering
with deep concern over Derek’s daily [situation] in
Iraq—we would go crazy!”
The family even used videoconferencing to bring
Derek into a Thanksgiving celebration, where 20
family members and friends, including his maternal
grandparents, were physically present. “We decided
to have videoconferencing on Thanksgiving to make
Derek feel closer to home, especially on the holiday,
so he won’t be that homesick in a way,” said Maida.
To say that Maida likes to talk to her son over videoconferencing is a major understatement.
“Can’t really describe how we feel, but it’s really a joy—it’s like giving a birth to Derek himself
all over again,” said Maida in an e-mail to TeleSpan. “It sure makes us feel so good to see our
son in one piece on Webcam—a real peace of mind for us!!! And yet, we’re still worried about
his and his troops’ welfare!!! What other parents hear from their military children by phoning
is a bit different from us—we depend on videoconferencing to ‘see’ our son to communicate—
that’s what makes us so unique!”
* For a story on the Sorenson videophone, see the June 20, 2005 edition of Electronic TeleSpan, pp.
1-4.
4
Reprinted from
Elliot
Gold’s
Electronic TeleSpan
The authoritative source for teleconferencing news and analysis
May 15, 2006 • Volume 26, Number 18
In Texas, moms and grandmoms use videoconferencing
Patty Vannoy, Lubbock, Texas
Patty Vannoy’s 21-year-old son, Sean, is a Corporal in the Marines. Through AT&T, Patty and
her entire family got to visit with Sean over video while he was in Iraq. “It’s one thing to be able
to hear his voice, the few times he was able to call by phone,” said Patty. “But as a parent, to be
able to see your child and know he’s okay…that makes the world of difference.”
Patty and her husband attended the video call, and
so did Sean’s brother, Zakk, who had to drive nearly
10 hours to see Sean for 20 minutes. “Zakk lives
in Houston,” said Patty. “He drove all the way to
Lubbock with his wife and two daughters, Emma
and Abby, in order to see Sean on video. He wanted
to see that he was okay. Sean had never seen Emma,
his youngest niece, so they held her up for Sean
to see her on the videoconference. Abby, my other
granddaughter, who is two and a half years old,
actually climbed up on the table where the camera
and screen were, and began touching the screen. It’s
hard to put into words what happened. To her, she
was touching Sean.”
For their second videoconference, Patty invited Sean’s two grandmothers, both of whom are 85.
“They had been through World War II and remembered that they had to wait weeks and weeks
for letters from their loved ones. They couldn’t wait to get home and tell all their friends. My
mother lives in a retirement village.”
The most exciting time for the Vannoy family, though, came when they watched another family
use the videoconferencing system before they went in to visit with Sean.
“At the same time we were there, a young family was there as well,” said Patty. “The husband
was in Iraq and his wife was there to visit. They were, oh, 21, 22 years old. His wife had their
baby boy with her, who was, oh, about a year old. While daddy was on the TV they put the
baby on the big table [in front of the camera], and the baby got up and walked. It was the first
time he walked. ‘Look, look, he’s walking for his dad!’ his wife shouted. The AT&T* guys
helped put the table right up where daddy could see his baby son walk. Sure, she could have
written that in a letter to her husband, but seeing it on the TV made all the difference in the
world.”
Patty Vannoy ([email protected])
*Patty made a point of thanking the people at AT&T who let Freedom Calls use their videoconferencing
equipment and room for the calls to Iraq. “We went down to AT&T offices to use it,” said Patty. “It was
a wonderful experience. The AT&T people go the extra mile, going around their own work schedules
to help. There’s a woman here, I swear she tucks in those boys down in Iraq each night. The AT&T
employees meet you in the parking lot, they bring you in, they have food for you, even the retired
employees are there that day to help the families. They really uplifted our sprits. It was a wonderful
5