Bootstrapping from Colombia: Connecting Our Users
The goal of Lenguajero is to connect Spanish and English speakers so that they can have online conversations that will improve their ability to speak the language they are learning. With this goal in mind we knew that we needed to a simple, effective way to put our members in touch with one another.
We kicked around the idea that our members would connect using Skype, and we would simply design our site to help the members find language learners interested in the same topics they were. We would then help members arrange a time for a conversation, and give out Skype usernames when two people had agreed to have a conversation. Needless to say that idea seemed pretty chintzy.
What we really wanted was a way to integrate all of this directly into the site so that it could all be done in real time and without having to arrange conversations asynchronously. We searched for companies who were building video chat apps that could be integrated into our site, but there was only one company we found doing it well, and, of equal importance to us, making it available for free – San Francisco based start-up TokBox.
With TokBox the integration into our site was pretty straightforward. When a Lenguajero member calls another member, we send a request to TokBox (see the TokBox API) to initiate a call and then display to all members on the call the TokBox embed with the call id. It’s that easy to connect our members without them having to download any software at all.
If you have a decent highspeed connection the call quality using TokBox is fantastic, though it seems to degrade poorly as your connection speed goes down. We spent the two nights before launch testing the site from a cheap hotel room in Oaxaca, Mexico with a poor internet connection. The quality was pretty bad and we were really worried that we may have made a terrible mistake!
Fortunately, since then we have since found a reliable internet connection, and our calls have all been fantastic. The video component has been one of the best features for us. Our members are practicing communicating in a second language, and being able to see facial features is an incredibly important component of this process.
TokBox has been a fantastic addition to our website, with one drawback. Since TokBox is a start-up, we are running the risk that at some point in time they may be forced to shut down. If that were to happen our site would come grinding to a halt. So for now we’re living on the edge, and hoping that they continue to provide us with this great service.
In our first two days members from: United States, Canada, Spain, Mexico, El Salvador, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Uruguay, Chile, Peru, and Argentina have all connected for Spanish and English conversations using TokBox.
Natalie sipping coffee while her intercambio partner from Uruguay drinks mate.
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