Tellme was a pioneering voice-technology company best known for building large-scale speech-recognition and voice-services platforms that provided directory assistance, voice-driven information retrieval and related telephony services; it was acquired by Microsoft in 2007 and its technology and operations were folded into Microsoft's speech and voice-services efforts[1].
High‑Level Overview
- Concise summary: Tellme built telephony-based speech-recognition services and voice portals that let callers retrieve information, use voice-driven directory assistance and interact with web data by phone; its platform was used by major carriers and enterprises and processed billions of calls annually before being bought by Microsoft in 2007[1].
- Impact on the startup/tech ecosystem: As an early, large-scale commercial deployment of voice services, Tellme demonstrated the viability of speech-as-a-service at telco scale, influenced enterprise IVR offerings, and helped catalyze later investments in cloud-based speech APIs and voice assistants by proving high-volume transaction economics for voice services[1].
Origin Story
- Founding and founders: Tellme was founded in 1999 by former Netscape executives (including Angus Davis, who had worked as a product manager on the Netscape browser); the company grew around web-to-voice and telephony search concepts developed in the late 1990s dot‑com era[1].
- Early trajectory and pivotal moments: Tellme focused on speech recognition and voice directory-assistance services and secured major carrier and enterprise customers (AT&T, Verizon, Merrill Lynch, FedEx among those reported), scaling to handle billions of calls annually—an operational scale that drew Microsoft’s acquisition interest and led to Microsoft purchasing Tellme in 2007 to bolster its speech and services strategy[1].
Core Differentiators
- Large-scale telephony operations: Proven ability to operate voice services at the “billions of calls” scale, demonstrating robust operational and billing models for speech transactions[1].
- Carrier and enterprise integrations: Direct commercial relationships with major carriers and large enterprises for directory assistance and information services[1].
- Early mover in speech-as-a-service: One of the first companies to commercialize speech recognition and voice portals as a service, marrying web data retrieval with telephony interfaces[1].
Role in the Broader Tech Landscape
- Trend alignment: Tellme rode the early wave of turning speech recognition into a scalable commercial service and a bridge between telephony and web data, anticipating today’s voice assistants and cloud speech APIs[1].
- Timing and market forces: In the mid‑2000s, carriers and enterprises wanted automated, voice-driven customer-service channels and per‑transaction service models—Tellme’s model matched that need and attracted large partners and an acquirer looking to expand speech capabilities into software+services[1].
- Influence: By proving voice services could be commercially viable at scale, Tellme influenced both telco IVR strategies and later cloud-based speech platforms developed by major tech companies[1].
Quick Take & Future Outlook (historical forward look at acquisition time)
- What happened next: Microsoft acquired Tellme in 2007 to expand its speech platform and embed voice capabilities across its services and partner ecosystem[1].
- Longer-term influence: Tellme’s commercial deployments and technology contributed to the maturation of speech services inside large platform companies, helping shape subsequent investments in voice assistants, cloud speech APIs and enterprise IVR modernization[1].
Sources used: press coverage of Microsoft’s 2007 acquisition of Tellme and reporting on Tellme’s business and scale prior to acquisition[1].
