Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
Thank you, sir. We will now conduct the question-and-answer session. (Operator instructions) And our first question comes from the line of Mike Weinstein with JPMorgan. Please go ahead.
Mike Weinstein – JP Morgan
Good afternoon, guys.
Fred Moll
Hi, Mike.
Gary Restani
Hi, Mike.
Steve Van Dick
Hi, Mike.
Mike Weinstein – JP Morgan
Hi there. So, what everybody's going to want here is to get some comfort with your visibility on the back half of the year. You shipped and recognized revenues on 16 systems in the first half of the year. You're saying that you feel confident that you can ship 28 to 34 in the back half of the year. So, help people to understand a little bit about your degree of visibility on the business and on the demand picture. I know you guys aren't reporting a backlog or an order book at this point, but how good is your visibility on the back half? And help us understand it.
Fred Moll
So, Mike, I think– and I hope we weren't too redundant in the prepared text about how we have a very good feeling about the demand for the Sensei System and that we think reiterating our guidance is very appropriate based on the conditions we're seeing, based on the enthusiasm for the product, and our general outlook for the second half of 2008.
Mike Weinstein – JP Morgan
Talk, Fred, for a minute about the time from the hospital discussion in placing an order to actually the placement of the unit.
Fred Moll
So – it varies. And then, I think, again, we tried to emphasize that what we are seeing is very consistent with early stage of this sort of business, the lumpiness of the orders and the unpredictability of the timelines associated from initial expression of interest to closing of an order. And so, we've talked about in the past, we can go through that process in less than six months but, certainly, most often it's a six-month or more process, and that we’re – it's fairly unpredictable. Having said that, we feel very confident that from the amount of interest in the product, from the number of processes that we've started with clinicians who have expressed strong interest, we feel very comfortable that, again, the guidance is appropriate and we're going to be successful in getting to our goal in 2008.
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