Blink Connect

Waiting could soon become a thing of the past. A new Canadian technology venture, called Blink Connect, seeks to eliminate “waiting-line frustration” with the use of a Web-based text messaging system. Rather than sit in a doctor’s waiting room or pace a restaurant parking lot, patrons receive a text message exactly when it’s their turn. Blink Connect also acts as an automatic Day-timer, says the company—providing clients with text reminders leading up to their appointments. According to company CEO Harry Battu, Blink Connect has an ancillary benefit as well. “I don’t know about you,” he says, “but I’d rather not go to the doctor’s office to get better and catch something even worse from the person sitting next to me.” The company has already licensed its service to a number of downtown Toronto restaurants, and plans to expand in the next few months. “Restaurants are just the beginning,” says Battu, “and the medical and salon sectors are the future.”