From Beginnings to Breakthroughs: An Inventor's Career Path

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Alek's educational and career path in electrical engineering, including the breakthroughs that led him to create an intelligent auto-dialing system was the result of deep determination.

The accidental discovery of what became known as Caller ID technology and its significance in the telecommunications industry.

Do you ever think about what you’d do without caller ID? 

Would you ever answer the phone without knowing who was calling? 

Aside from the convenience such provides, caller ID today presents many benefits for people-to-people and business-to-customers communications through the use of mobile devices 'on the go'. 

Text messaging, WhatsApp, Messenger, Skype, and other mobile communications originally relied solely on Caller ID while today may include email addresses and other information.

Since 94% of unidentified calls go unanswered, outbound call centers representing reputable businesses, rely on the latest technology to display their branded name/caller ID on the cell phones of their customers.  

Admittedly, we all take Caller ID for granted these days, but in reality, people have been using different forms of  “identification” throughout the ages.  

First Jobs    

Alek's inaugural venture post-Ga Tech led him to Simons Eastern in Decatur, Georgia – a prominent Industrial Engineering firm renowned for its intricate designs, equipment specification prowess, and contributions to Paper Mill construction. Amidst this industrious environment, Alek's innate creativity found its stage.

Immersed in the captivating world of industrial instrumentations, he encountered a symphony of solenoid valves, flow measuring devices, computer-controlled instruments, and a symposium of motors. Alek's imaginative spirit effortlessly intertwined with the technical intricacies, infusing his work with a touch of artistic ingenuity.

His creative flair expanded further as he undertook the art of facility lighting design. 

From bustling manufacturing areas to tranquil office and dining spaces, Alek's vision radiated through his meticulous calibration of lumens, each ray curated to cast the perfect illumination upon the tasks at hand. This bespoke approach painted a canvas of both productivity and ambiance.

Alek's quest for creativity and innovation traversed into the realm of motor dynamics. With an artist's precision, he mastered the art of sizing and selecting an eclectic medley of motor types, aligning each choice harmoniously with the unique tapestry of fabrication processes. 

His creative intellect breathed life into the mechanical, orchestrating a symphony of motion and functionality.

Lanier Business Products-

In another chapter of Alek's journey, he engaged in discussions with Lanier Business Products. 

The prospect of delving into cutting-edge electronic designs ignited his creative fervor. Despite his strong affinity for the realm of innovation that awaited him there, Alek, in his youthful and relatively unseasoned state, made the difficult choice to decline their enticing offer. 

The reason lay in the balance sheet, as Lanier's proposal fell short by $2,000 annually compared to Simons Eastern's offering. 

National Cash Register (NCR) - 

Experiencing a sense of ennui after just a few months amidst the somewhat monotonous routine at Simons Eastern, Alek's burgeoning creative drive led him to explore opportunities in the realm of electronics design. 

A beacon of promise appeared in the form of an advertisement by NCR, which sought designers adept not only in their craft but also well-versed in the intricacies of Intel's microprocessors. A call to NCR's offices in Columbia, South Carolina, set the wheels in motion, resulting in an invitation for an interview.

During the flight from Atlanta to Columbia, Alek delved into Intel's brochure detailing the capabilities of the 8008 microprocessor, eagerly immersing himself in a subject he had only recently encountered. 

His enthusiasm was palpable as he studied the technical nuances.

The interview itself was a dynamic exchange, with Alek responding thoughtfully to a barrage of inquiries. His knowledge and insights in the realm of microprocessors left an indelible impression, prompting an immediate and unexpected job offer for the role of an electronic designer.

Yet, as the sands of time flowed, Alek's penchant for innovation couldn't find solace within the bureaucratic constraints and the protracted pace that characterized NCR's endeavors. 

The intricate dance of bringing Point of Sales terminals, or electronic Cash Registers, to the market became a prolonged affair, testing Alek's patience and stirring a growing restlessness.

Alek's designs, unique in their reliability and efficiency, often escaped the need for subsequent modifications, corrections, or the fabrication of new printed circuit boards – a testament to his skill. 

However, this success came at a cost, as he found himself in a paradoxical position, spending idle hours awaiting the convergence of other designers' work with the final assembly and production phases. 

The frustration reached a tipping point, leading Alek to realize that this stasis was no longer tenable.

Century Data Products 

Once the conviction took root in Alek's mind that NCR no longer held the promise he sought, his enterprising spirit and innate initiative guided him toward a fresh opportunity. 

Consultations with his wife Halina ( by now his daughter Juliette was born ), as well as discussions with his parents and Atlanta-dwelling cousins, helped shape his course.

Among those cousins, Michal played a pivotal role. Spotting an enticing advertisement within the pages of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he directed Alek's attention to Century Data Products – a company seeking an electronic designer equipped with a profound understanding of NCR Electronic Cash Registers and microprocessors.

A decision was made – Alek embarked on a journey back to Atlanta, where he engaged in a transformative encounter with Joe Nairon, the founder and owner of Century Data Products. In a compelling display of recognition, Joe extended an offer that nearly doubled the salary Alek had been accustomed to.

Enthusiastically, Joe introduced Alek to the intricacies of his business operations, painting a vivid picture of a collaborative team comprising engineers and technicians. 

Yet, as time unfolded, Alek discovered that these initial portrayals were not entirely aligned with reality. His workdays expanded to a staggering 18 hours, encompassing the gamut of responsibilities from conceptualization and design to prototype construction, software development, and meticulous testing. 

The very prototypes that emerged from his creative mind and skilled hands eventually evolved into refined PCB assemblies – the culmination of tireless effort.

The scope of his role stretched further as Alek embarked on journeys to customer sites, installing the solutions he had meticulously crafted. Engaging in direct communication with clients, he ensured that their expectations were not just met, but exceeded. The process demanded a keen ear for customer needs, often involving listening to inputs, suggestions, and even requests for alterations.

Through this demanding yet rewarding role, Alek's knowledge soared exponentially. Each challenge surmounted, each solution realized, and each customer interaction refined his prowess. 

At a mere 26 years old, he found himself equipped with unwavering confidence – a belief that he could tackle any design project and navigate it to triumphant fruition.

In the tapestry of his career, this chapter shone as a testament to Alek's unyielding creative vision and audacious initiative, forging a legacy that would continue to inspire and drive him forward.

Solid State Systems -

Within the bustling realm of Century Data Products, Alek's daily toil was both a crucible of exhaustion and a wellspring of enthrallment. For a young and relatively inexperienced electrical engineer whose academic roots lay in the fundamentals of electronics at Ga Tech, this dynamic environment served as a fertile ground for the seeds of entrepreneurship to take root and flourish.

While Alek's dedication to his family remained paramount, the burden of home responsibilities and the care of his daughter Julie weighed heavily on his wife Halina. Fueled by a mere four to five hours of sleep each night, Alek recognized the need for change, not only for his own well-being but also to safeguard the balance of his familial duties.

Engaging in the exchange of ideas with fellow engineers at seminars, Alek's thirst for knowledge led him to the doorstep of Solid State Systems. 

This enterprise, guided by the expertise of two former Lockheed employees, specialized in the complete spectrum of Public Branch XChange telephone systems – from design to manufacturing, sales, and installation services.

Following an interview with Joe Meachaffe, a co-owner of Solid State Systems, Alek's potential shone brightly, prompting an immediate offer of employment. With the company based in Marietta, Georgia, Alek embarked on a journey to secure a comfortable dwelling in proximity to his workplace, a testament to his unwavering commitment.

At the outset, Alek's role involved immersing himself in the intricate workings of telephone systems, gradually unraveling their complexities. 

Amidst this learning curve, a scientific endeavor beckoned – the formulation of mathematical models to elucidate the internal circuitry of analog telephone sets. These seemingly unassuming devices, bereft of electronic components but boasting passive elements like resistors, capacitors, inductors, and acoustic components, facilitated communication, serving as a conduit for speech and auditory perception.

With his foundation laid, Alek delved into the heart of innovation. 

His expertise evolved, allowing him to craft an electronic desktop telephone set, replete with an LED display that elegantly divulged each dialed digit. As his prowess expanded, Alek was entrusted with a pioneering endeavor – designing a novel telephone network. 

Unlike the direct wiring connections of yore, this network resembled today's Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) configurations, with phones interconnected in a loop, a single connection to the PBX orchestrating a symphony of multiplexed voice communication, shedding the encumbrance of multiple wires.

Collaborating with individuals like Jim Crooks and Jim Owen, who would later join him at Melita International, Alek's visionary strides contributed not only to the evolution of telephone systems but also to the realm of patents, etching his name alongside their inventive contributions.

This chapter in Alek's journey stood as a testament to his unyielding determination, his budding entrepreneurial spirit, and his fervent pursuit of innovation, poised to leave an indelible mark on the technological landscape.

Lockheed

As the year 1979 unfolded, Alek's path took an intriguing turn, revealing the early stages of an entrepreneurial endeavor slowly unfurling. With a determination to pursue his Master's in Electrical Engineering at Ga Tech, Alek's academic pursuits, which had commenced in Columbia, South Carolina, were set to continue. 

The prospect of Lockheed providing educational support for employees pursuing higher studies presented an enticing opportunity – a chance to balance learning with his commitment to the company, working during unconventional hours like weekends and evenings.

Amidst the bustling ambiance of a seminar, Alek's destiny is interwoven with that of a director from Lockheed, setting the stage for a pivotal interaction. 

Discovering Alek's background as a Jewish immigrant from Poland, the director extended an invitation to explore research and development prospects within the aerospace domain. 

Though Alek's journey had led him to the shores of the United States, his status as a non-citizen, armed only with a recent 'green card,' bore the echoes of political complexities rooted in his family's escape from communist Poland.

Yet, undeterred by these intricacies, the director assured Alek of his commitment to securing a role should he express interest. The confluence of past and present resonated within Alek's heart, a tapestry woven from his family's flight from communism and his own aspirations for innovation.

Subsequently, an interview with Lockheed's R&D department materialized, culminating in an offer that beckoned Alek into a realm of profound significance. Engaged in multifaceted projects, his endeavors extended to the design of a monitoring system for the L1011 aircraft. 

This system, a marvel of engineering prowess, was calibrated to detect vibrations, identify potential wing cracks, and ascertain the balance of turbine rotors – a testament to Alek's capacity to contribute to cutting-edge aviation technology.

Amidst these endeavors, Alek having introduced his brother-in-law, Ben Feldgajer to Lockhead, same as previously at Solid State Systems, found himself again, for the third time collaborating alongside Ben. Both were hand-picked by top management for a special assignment that spanned the domain of aeronautics – a project that ingeniously enabled the C130 aircraft to traverse the expanse of tarmac, landing and lifting with impeccable precision over a distance equivalent to no more than three times the length of the airplane itself.

In these seminal moments, the seeds of Alek's entrepreneurial spirit began to sprout, nourished by his unwavering dedication, his fortitude as an immigrant, and his relentless pursuit of innovation, at that moment, within the aerospace realm.

[Side NOTE 1] In a curious twist of fate, 1979 saw John Lucas introducing an answering machine into Alek's household, with an intriguing request: a modification that would enable outgoing calls. What ensued was nothing short of innovative brilliance. Alek's ingenuity transcended mere modifications, giving rise to an entirely novel system, intelligent telephone call processing solutions, and, the birth of the Call Centers Industry.

[Side NOTE 2] While working at Solid State Systems, Alek’s boss stated their company didn’t know how to build an automated telephone call processing solution for Emergency Dispatching, at Wisconsin Public Services — as they only designed and installed business telephone systems. Yet, the young engineer from Poland asked if he could try to come up with a solution on his own time. “My boss said, ‘Alek, it is impossible, There are no signals indicating a person answered their phone', he recalls". .But he was not deterred. “When you say the word ‘impossible’, forget it, it’s gonna be possible.”, Alek continues.
 

Alek discussed this project's details with a director of Wisconsin Public Services and together agreed on its terms.

He retreated to his newly constructed home in Marietta, Georgia, and worked every day and night after returning from working at Lockheed and Ga Tech where he studied for a Masters in Electrical Engineering. More work at home, burning candles on both sides every evening into early mornings, assembling his creations, testing software and hardware of the solution that would eventually recognize if someone answered a phone call, and then alert an operator to come on the line. After just a couple of months, Alek returned to Wisconsin with the working prototype, but the answer detection he devised failed to work.

He moved his system to the Wisconsin Telephone Company's (TELCO) location for further testing of direct phone lines instead of at the Emergency Center - behind a PBX phone system. While looking at the oscilloscope screen hooked up to a telephone line with a touch-tone phone, it suddenly began to ring while the oscilloscope was displaying modulated signals, though only during the time the phone was ringing. This of course was an incoming call that had nothing to do with what Alek was there for, i.e., attempting to explain the lack of 'inductive spike' when an outgoing phone call was being answered. 

He later discovered, after demodulating the waves,  that what he saw on the oscilloscope represented a telephone number. 

“I said, ‘What in the world is this?’” Alek took bits of time and focused on this new mystery. “I started playing around with this phone instrument,  making more calls to it and from different external numbers,” he says.  "What I uncovered was that when the phone was actually ringing, the phone number of the person calling was being transmitted concurrently.  
 

And I said, ‘How come nobody’s using this?’”
 

This was the beginning of caller ID discovery and all the technology that followed. Nobody was using it back then because phones didn't have displays yet. (Remember when a telephone was merely a device with a rotary dial and a receiver? Man, I’m old!)

Alek formed Melita International, named after his sister, in the early '80s, and landed their first major call center sale. 

Fingerhut (remember them?) used the system to connect with existing customers, not to make unsolicited pitches. 

American Express used Alek’s technology to track down people who weren’t paying their credit card debt. 

Blood banks wanted the system to automate calls searching for donors. 

The Los Angeles Unified School District made a huge investment in Melita, using its “Sprintel” technology to notify parents of truant students.

 “We made quite a bit of money,” he remembers. 

“We never borrowed money.”

These and many other Melita innovations gave birth to and established the Call Centers Industry as we know it today around the globe..

 “Our technology started selling at the speed of light,” Alek says, landing new accounts in dozens of countries. 

The American magazine "Forbes" compared Alek to Thomas Edison and Alexander Bell because of his 50+ patented inventions. As sales grew, he and his colleagues invented more technologies, while Alek co-wrote a book on predictive dialing in 1996. “The harder I worked, the luckier I became.”