Soon, Steve was trying to find his way. He was pulled in two directions, the marketing and graphics in the Yellow Pages advertising and the technology. I pushed him away from the marketing. It was too crucial to me. So, he naturally gravitated toward the equipment. At the time, the only piece of technology we had was a rickety old copier we used to create bills. It would be a few years before all of this would change. We didn’t realize that we would be at the center of the computer telephony revolution in just a few years. Having someone in place to support the new equipment became a vital part of our going-forward plans. A few years after owning the company, the switchboards were designated as end-of-life; Bellsouth was planning on ending support. We were forced to make a decision. Our trade maga- zines offered some solutions. We could buy our own switchboards or purchase some of the new gadgets being invented. We faced a critical deci- sion with a limited budget. Having worked a few years with the switch- boards turned out to be invaluable to running this business when it became computerized. We were well-grounded in the industry. For instance, we knew that one agent could just about handle 100 clients, a very important metric. The larger landscape was changing, too. In January 1982, a consent decree mandated by the U.S. courts broke up AT&T. In the process, Bell- South was created as our local phone provider; AT&T became a long-distance provider; West ern Electric spun out as an equipment suppli- er; and Bell Labs, a research center. For the
Lois Cornwall and Joan Harrell Lois and Joan worked for the comapny over 50 years 1976 first time in history, competition was fostered in the communications market. Hundreds of new companies were formed. All of those new companies had ideas other than switchboards that would take us to places we never imagined. We’ve been riding the crest of that wave for over 30 years!
Ding-a-Ling Answering Service 1975
389
Made with FlippingBook. PDF to flipbook with ease