The Origin of Voicemail

There are more voicemail boxes in the United States than there are citizens. Voicemail seems like it has been around forever, but it is relatively new invention. The origin of voicemail is somewhat unclear. There are several businesses and individuals that have staked their claim as the inventors of voicemail. It is widely regarded that the voicemail system was simultaneously invented, in one form or another, by several different parties. The voicemail as we know it is a combination of features contributed by several telephony innovators.

One such innovator was Scott Jones. At the tender age of 25, Scott -founded his first company, Boston Technology, Inc. Within a year he invented his voicemail system at 26 years of age. Boston Technology took advantage of the deregulation and divestiture of Bell Telephone to enter the tightly knit world of telecommunications. Other versions have Dr. Steven J. Boies of IBM as the inventor of the technology. Credit has also been given to Stan Kugell and Edward McCreight of Xerox, as well as Gene Richeson, Ken Oshman, Walter Loewenstern and Robert Maxfield from ROLM. Jay Stoffer or Delphi Communications also deserves partial credit for the invention.

Voicemail is the next step from the answering machine in the evolution of the telephone. When telephone answering machines became prevalent there were limitations to its features. These limitations included a lack of message privacy. When a caller would reach an office’s machine, they could only leave a message to one particular box. With the advent of voicemail, these same callers could leave specific messages for individuals as opposed to the general mailbox. In addition telephone answering machines were very limited in the ability to access messages off premise. The ease of voicemail in retrieving messages has been one of the most convenient features. Answering Machines would run into issues of wear and tear on the tape recording devices.

Voice messaging systems are operated using an onsite voicemail or an offsite provider, such as a telephone company or private voice company. Internally run systems, while extremely flexible are costly and difficult to maintain. By using an external voicemail provider, a company is able to reduce costs and headaches that are associated with voicemail. By eliminating an in house voicemail and choosing an external provider based system, a company eliminates many headaches. The need for management upgrades are no longer a company’s responsibility. The upkeep of an external voicemail network is run the responsibility of the network personnel.

Voicemail is now very commonplace in today’s business environment. There are some variations between voicemail providers, but most voice messaging systems are very similar in nature. Today’s voicemail systems are very simple to set up and easy use. The end user is able to record an outgoing message. These messages usually include basic information, such as a greeting and additional methods information and instructions. When calls sent to voicemail, the caller hears this greeting prior to having the opportunity to record a message for the user. To listen to messages, the end user accesses the voicemail system via a pass code. After each new message is listened to, the end user has the option to save or delete the message. The user can also replay the message prior to listening to the next stored voice message.