Today’s post is the first of a two-part conversation series with Anandh Maistry, General Manager for SpinVox AsiaPac…
Anandh, it seems you have lived all over the world – growing up in Sydney and working in Singapore, London, Beijing and Portland before returning to Australia. With so many diverse cultures I imagine you took with you some amazing experiences from all these places.
I started my travels fairly early in life. I was born in Durban, South Africa and immigrated to Australia in 1981. I’ve long had an interest in understanding the dynamics that shape different cultures around the world and I’ve been fortunate to explore this interest first-hand, living and working in some of the best cities in the world.
What were some of the most interesting business and cultural experiences you encountered?
Having worked in such varied business cultures it’s been really interesting to learn and experience how each culture works in its own unique way. Asia, for example, has a very distinctive business culture, and one very different to that of the USA or Europe. It’s expressed in many ways – such as simple rules like when to shake hands, how to address people, presenting credentials, punctuality, dress, etc. Learning and understanding these differences and similarities has played a key part in shaping who I am today both as a business leader and an individual.
And of all these places, is there a favorite? Your hometown Sydney perhaps?
There are two places that are dearer to me than the others, the first is Sydney, it is my home which has given me more than I can ever repay. I still get goose bumps every time I touch down in Sydney. And the second is Portland, as it was my entrée into the USA and also where my daughter was born.
So, what brought you to SpinVox?
The technology behind the service was the first hook – as it’s not very often an exciting new service comes about that has such global mass market relevancy. I also looked at SpinVox from a consumer perspective, especially as one who has had to deal with copious voicemails each day. The SpinVox proposition was to convert these voicemails and present them to me in text form, giving me the freedom and the ability to manage these according to the priority I allocated. So simple – and yet so needed!
And, having spent the last decade addressing customer demands for Unified Communications it’s clear that there is a need for much more innovation in this category. Logically, the next leap in unified messaging is voice-to-text which allows a more efficient handling of information files – which for today’s enterprise worker is a task growing at an exponential rate.
So not only did I find the service personally compelling and clearly relevant to a broad range of users regardless of profession or geography and, with so many carriers around the globe already offering the service-I knew this was a company and service I wanted to help further grow around the world.
…..Stay tuned to this blog tomorrow for Part 2 in the conversation series with Anandh and spotlight on SpinVox in Australia…
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