Date: Monday, January 30, 2023

Time: 12:30 p.m. - 1:20 p.m.

Location: Van Leer, WC240

Speaker: Aleksander Szlam

Speaker’s Title: Retired

Speaker’s Affiliation: Former Chairman and CEO of Melita International, Inc.

Seminar Title: Genesis of CallerID and Call Centers

Abstract: 
Before mid 1980’s – primitive, analog telephone sets without displays were used for voice communications between friends, family, and businesses. People did not know who was calling them and why. Company’s personnel receiving phone calls had to inquire and validate who was calling by going through many security steps. Placing outbound phone calls to its customers, company’s agents wasted large amounts of time having to listen to busy, no answer, and bad/changed phone number type signals and announcements. On average, a company’s customer services personnel were wasting over 85 percent of their time. Businesses had to employ lots of extra personnel due to these high inefficiencies. It all changed forever with the introductions of CallerID and Call Centers solutions. Here is the story...

Biographical Sketch of the Speaker:
Aleksander Szlam was the Chairman and CEO of Melita International, Inc., a corporation he founded in 1983 and later sold in 2003. Mr. Szlam and wife Halina took the company out of their garage and evolved it into publicly traded, profitable and debt-free global leader. The innovations and business solutions laid the foundation for the Call Center Industry, with company’s presence in nearly 45 countries. 

As a prolific inventor, Mr. Szlam’s name is associated with over 150 innovations and patents throughout the world, including solutions based on “Caller ID” and the various technologies upon which global Call Center Industry and mobile communications are based today. 

Born in Poland, Mr. Szlam immigrated to the United States in 1970 and studied at the Georgia Institute of Technology obtaining bachelor and master degrees in electrical engineering. 

For his efforts as an inventor and entrepreneur, Mr. Szlam was inducted to Call Center Magazine’s Hall of Fame in December 2021, received “Life time Achievement” award by TMC and Customer Interaction Solutions magazine in May 2006, was named the “Pioneer in the Industry” by Call Center magazine in August 1997 and was named Inc. Magazine's 1991 Entrepreneur of the Year, Southern Region. He resides with his wife Halina in Johns Creek, Georgia and has two children and four grandchildren.