{"681373":{"#nid":"681373","#data":{"type":"event","title":"ECE Seminar | Genesis of CallerID and Call Centers","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETitle:\u003C\/strong\u003E Genesis of CallerID and Call Centers\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESpeaker:\u003C\/strong\u003E Aleksander Szlam (BSEE \u201974, MSEE \u201980), Business Consultant\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDate:\u003C\/strong\u003E Monday, March 31, 2025\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETime:\u003C\/strong\u003E 12:30 p.m.-1:20 p.m.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbstract:\u003C\/strong\u003E Before mid 1980\u2019s \u2013 primitive, analog telephone sets without displays were used for voice communications between friends, family and businesses. People were unable to see who was calling and why. Company\u2019s personnel receiving phone calls had to inquire and validate callers through many security steps. Placing outgoing phone calls to customers, agents wasted vast amount of time listening to busy, no answer signals, bad\/changed phone number announcements\u2026On the average, agents spent 85% of unproductive time trying to reach customers. Businesses employed much extra personnel due to the high inefficiencies\u2026\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt all changed forever with the introduction of CallerID and Call Centers intelligent solutions \u2026Here is a brief story\u2026\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBio:\u003C\/strong\u003E Alek Szlam was the Chairman and CEO of Melita International, Inc., a corporation he founded in 1983. He and wife Halina took the company out of their garage and evolved it into publicly traded, profitable debt-free global leader. The innovations and business solutions laid foundation for the Call Center Industry, with installations in over 40 countries.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProlific inventor, Alek\u2019s name is associated with over 150 innovations and patents throughout the world, including solutions based on \u201cCaller ID\u201d, \u201cPredictive Dialing\u201d and the various technologies upon which global Call Center Industry and mobile messaging are based today.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBorn in Poland, Alek\u2019s family immigrated to the United States, arriving in Atlanta, April of 1970 where he studied at the Georgia Institute of Technology obtaining bachelor and master degrees in electrical engineering.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor his efforts as an inventor and entrepreneur, Alek was inducted to Call Center Magazine\u2019s Hall of Fame in December 2021, received \u201cLife time Achievement\u201d award by TMC and Customer Interaction Solutions magazine in May 2006, was named the \u201cPioneer in the Industry\u201d by Call Center magazine in August 1997 and was named Inc. Magazine\u0027s 1991 Entrepreneur of the Year, Southern Region.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe resides with wife Halina in Johns Creek, Georgia and have two children and four grandchildren.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJoin ECE graduate and business consultant Alek Szlam for a talk about the early days of CallerID and call centers.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Join ECE graduate and business consultant Alek Szlam for a talk about the early days of CallerID and call centers."}],"uid":"36558","created_gmt":"2025-03-26 14:40:28","changed_gmt":"2025-03-26 14:50:31","author":"zwiniecki3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2025-03-31T12:30:00-04:00","event_time_end":"2025-03-31T13:20:00-04:00","event_time_end_last":"2025-03-31T13:20:00-04:00","gmt_time_start":"2025-03-31 16:30:00","gmt_time_end":"2025-03-31 17:20:00","gmt_time_end_last":"2025-03-31 17:20:00","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"location":"Van Leer Building, C241","extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1255","name":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"5617","name":"ECE Student Seminar"},{"id":"41241","name":"career building"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}