I am writing to you as I speak. The humor I interject is meant to soften so serious a subject and the sincerity is from the heart. Every word is from a man who has a mid-size Braille and large print production business and I’d like to share with you how I respect the integrity of Enabling Technologies and how much I depend on their embossers. I am doing this simply to thank them and hopefully to convince you to consider them when you need an embosser.

I was recruited into our industry in the spring of 1988. At Brooklyn College where I was employed in the computer department working on a project for a student who was blind and where I was attending college I showed representatives of Helen Keller Services for the Blind how I figured out how to hook up a Kurzweil Reading Machine to an IBM PC. I think it was an old 386, maybe a generation before that; I forget. After my demonstration I thanked them and started to leave. One of them, Ms. Enid Ford said, “We’d like to hire you on a part time basis. All we can afford to pay is $35 per hour, which is what we give our teachers. A new Kurzweil (a $36,000 optical character reading machine) was donated to us and we want you to show us how to use it.” I had just graduated college at age 41, with a wife and three children, struggling to make ends meet. When Ms. Ford said she was offering me a position at that salary I wanted to hug her. I was so grateful because it was the first time that I could see that a college degree just might help me support my family far better than I could have without it.

I went to work in the Hempstead, NY office one day a week. The current director became very ill and was placed on long-term disability. I was asked to take her place. Although I negotiated a salary that was less than $35 per hour, it was far greater than I ever thought I’d make. My first crisis was when our embosser malfunctioned. I had no idea of the importance our only embosser had until I saw the senior Braillists panicking over possible production delays. One of the managers told me the name of the company that repaired the machine so I called them. It was Enabling Technologies. Keep in mind that I was still feeling my way, learning the industry and learning how to work along side very senior women supervisors. I knew a lot was on the line to get this machine working.

After I spoke with someone at Enabling, they flew a technician from Florida to New York the next day. The only part of the story that is a little fuzzy to me is the name of the embosser. I think it was a Theil, but it could have been another very expensive embosser. The technician repaired the embosser, but told me that since it was producing Braille well beyond what it should have, other parts may break down and we’d be stuck again. Sure enough! A week or so later it stop working. Enabling sent another technician. He repaired it and within a few weeks it broke down again. A third time Enabling sent a technician and attempted to repair it, but I made the decision to purchase two Marathons. Back then they were $12,000 apiece. I vividly remember that number because I had to convince our president that I needed a fast, reliable embosser and another one as a back up rather than buying one extremely expensive machine. The main Marathon worked seemingly forever and before repairs were needed we began using the back up Marathon to increase summer production.

Here’s the point I’m trying to make. I was so taken by Enabling’s integrity, even at the risk of them taking a loss, that I became a lifelong customer. You can search the web and you’ll find a dozen or so Braille embosser manufacturers. If you are in our business a long time, you know that a few of the manufactures or distributors are just awful. Some are good, perhaps one or two are as trustworthy as Enabling. I don’t know who they are because for 17 years I have been a loyal customer to Enabling.

I don’t have millions of dollars to take a chance with an embosser manufacturer with which I am not familiar. I can’t afford to gamble with thousands of dollars on a single purchase. When I had to buy an embosser I needed to get it right the first time. For me there is no room for experimentation. I am not an agent of Enabling. I don’t get any breaks when I send one of my Juliet or Romoe embossers in for repairs. I only get honesty. I bought my first Juliet that the Lions Club paid $4,500 and donated it to us back in 1995 and I bought another one about a year ago as a back up. The one I bought in 1995 is still working. In 11 years it broke down four times. Within that time I scanned over a half-million textbook pages (on just one HP scanner – the secret is a great document feeder) and my old Juliet produced close to one million Braille pages (some of my work is large print, by the way.) I’m not sure what Enabling rates their embossers, but my guess is mine exceeded their life’s expectancy five-fold – maybe more. Now I hear that Enabling has even better embossers. I say that’s what I hear because my original embosser is still doing just fine and I have no need to purchase another one.

If you want to take a chance with another manufacturer, go ahead, but if I were to buy my first embosser or were considering a new manufacturer, I’d go with Enabling Technologies. I have never been disappointed. In 17 years I only had one complaint and since they value their customers, more so than most companies and I’m not just referring to those that service our industry, the matter was resolved immediately to my satisfaction.

I am writing this on April 20, 2006. A few weeks ago I came upon a Braille house that critiqued embosser manufacturers. This web source said that Enabling Technologies’ tech support does not answer their phones and a customer has to wait for them to call back. I personally never had a problem with this, but you might. Perhaps they may change that some day, but don’t let that minor inconvenience sway your decision. Believe me, they do call back and do resolve all problems. As a New Yorker I find their speech cadence a little on the slow side, but I imagine many of you may accept this more easily than I do. When I call occasionally I’m fretting over something at 78 rpm and they call back at 45 rpm. So I guess my only complaint is they talk too slowly.

My Braille business depends on them. I can’t just go to Staples and order an embosser. The market is limited and all of us have just one chance to make the right embosser purchase decision. There are so many factors. Braille quality, repairs, shipping, customer support, pricing – they’re all important concerns for managers who have to make career-altering decisions. I highly recommend Enabling. I believe your experience with them will be as fortunate as mine has been.

John Heller, President

Books for the Blind, Inc.