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As a telecommunications entrepreneur, Donald McKersie envisions marketing a product that will provide a face-to-face link from one phone caller to another.
McKersie, 70, is chairman of First Telecommunications Corp. He foresees a telephone system where the people on each end of the conversation can appear live on the monitor.
The technology, McKersie claims, is here Adapting to the change, however, will take a little more time.
"It will be more than just a telephone in a few years," he said. "Video is coming where you'll have a terminal, a computer and a screen on the computer with Windows software where you can exchange documents and edit and see each other over the phone. The technology is here today, but it's a matter of converting what you have today that will take time.
"It's what makes equipment obsolete. That's why you don't see rotary dial telephones nowadays."
When McKersie left his position as marketing director for TPI's West Michigan district and ventured into his own telecommunications business with his son in 1981, the start-up company had very little overhead. The father-and-son team had less than $1,000 in inventory and set up shop in an abandoned building once known as the Wurzburg's Appliance Store at 66 Ottawa Ave. NW. Margaret McKersie--Don's spouse,...