Intervoice: Twenty Years of Innovation

In 1983, two electronics entrepreneurs, Dan Hammond and Michael Tessarowicz, sought to bridge the gap between man and machine when they founded Intervoice. The two had built an early interactive voice response system on the newly introduced IBM personal computer. Although many people were skeptical of the PC’s power, Hammond and Tessarowicz believed the small but powerful machines could serve as the basis for a voice company. They were right. Twenty years later, Intervoice had become a world leader in interactive voice technology. It provides the voice recognition systems used by banks, airlines, government, mobile communications providers, and others. Lavishly illustrated, Intervoice: Twenty Years of Innovation, by Richard F. Hubbard and Jeffrey L. Rodengen, tells a story of corporate discipline and what it takes to survive in one of the world’s most competitive industries.