Elite teams get better with age: Chicago Bears – Boston Celtics – IAT SmartDial

Dave Rudd

Get ready because I’m going to ramble off several interesting facts!

Wikipedia states that “1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year that started on a Wednesday, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. It was the 1986^th year of the Common Era, the 986^th year of the 2^nd millennium, the 86^th year of the 20^th century, and the 7^th year of the 1980s.”

1986 Historical Facts:

• Chernobyl nuclear accident in Russia
• Space shuttle Challenger exploded seconds after launch
• Median household income (adjusted to current dollars) was $24,897
• Unemployment hit a high of 7%
• Cost of a first-class stamp was $0.22
• William H. Rehnquist was approved as Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court
• U.S. Federal spending was $990.34 billion
• Sports Champions:  Chicago Bears – Super Bowl; NY Mets – World Series; Boston Celtics – NBA; Penn St. – NCAA Football; Boris Becker – Wimbledon
• The FOX network was created and featured ONLY 10 hours of prime-time programming a week
• Nintendo video games were introduced in the U.S.
• “Out of Africa” won Best Picture at the Academy Awards
• “We are the World” by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie won Song of the Year at the Grammy Awards

1986—what an exciting year!  BUT the most significant event to occur was the birth of IAT SmartDial. Since 1986, IAT (Information Access Technology, Inc.) has introduced a myriad of products and services. Here are a few: SmoothTalk, Client Hotline, SmartCollect, SmartTalk, SmartDial, SmartVoice, SmartDial1986, SmartCollect Pro, CT Center and CT Impact.

Besides having fantastic clients within the ARM Industry, we’ve been blessed with some great clients outside the credit and collection definition, including CSC Comtech, McDonell Douglas, Bay State Health Care, LA Pierce College, University of Utah, Sandoz, Wrigley and Dynix/Ameritech.

As an IAT employee for 22 years, it has been fun watching many of you grow up in this industry. You learned the “tips and tricks” of the industry while running early versions of the SmartDial products. Those valuable lessons and skills helped you become the industry experts and agency owners of today. Thanks for representing the industry and IAT well.

IAT SmartDial, I wish you a happy 26^th birthday! I fully expect the future to be as exciting and fun filled as the last past quarter century has been.