Bernard Walsh - Hot Irishman
This company has gone from being about 40pc to 90pc export-based in five years.
ENTREPRENEURS
Garrett Gill and Ian Macdougald
Askme Touchscreens
Using the latest technology, Askme Touchscreens provides up-to-the-minute information on sights, tours, restaurants, leisure, travel, entertainment, music and shopping.
Askme Touchscreens’s technology also allows the user to send the information directly to their mobile phone or e-mail at no cost.
Since it started trading in 2008, Askme Touchscreens has installed over 75 digital information touchscreens in the lobbies of hotels, hostels, language schools and other public locations. The company plans to have over 200 touch-screens installed by 2010 with revenues coming from site rentals and screen advertising.
User-friendly design
The touchscreens’ user-friendly design makes it easy to access the database of listings which is updated remotely through 3G. Askme’s listings are supplemented by high-quality video, audio and slideshows, allowing users to get a feel for the attraction/listing before they set out.
The system also lets the user send themselves info at no cost about the particular attraction, eg location and booking number from the touch-screen to their mobile phone via SMS messaging or e-mail.
Since the launch, hotel groups in Dublin have removed brochures and installed the Askme Touchscreens as the sole method of delivering information in an environmentally friendly way.
Getting started
Garrett Gill and Ian Macdougald set up the company with the help of a grant from Fingal County Enterprise Board and further investment from private investors. The pair have over 30 years’ combined experience in the top end of their particular field of tourism and technology.
Product success
“The product has really taken off, and we are delighted with the feedback,” says Gill, company director. “It costs the venues nothing to install the screens and yet they have an instant, up-to-the-minute information portal for the benefit of their customers. We are in the process of installing Askme Touchscreens in eight Café Sol outlets around Dublin providing information on what’s on in cinema, theatre and so on, so you can see that the information is not just specifically targeted at tourists – the opportunities are endless.”
Experience
Gill set up the first off-the-beaten-track tour company in Dublin in 1995 called ‘Over the Top Tours’, offering day tours to Wicklow, Glendalough and the Boyne Valley. The company has grown from running one to eight buses with a staff of over 15 and is now one of the biggest day-trip operators out of Dublin.
Macdougald set up his own business within the DVD authoring, interactive and broadcast industry in 2003. He has developed, authored and produced projects ranging from A-list titles for U2 and The Rolling Stones and Channel 4’s Deal or No Deal to interactive gaming, touchscreen and educational projects.
