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Tom Lindsay (aka TL) attended St. John’s University in Minnesota and returned to Madison with a Business degree. TL was working at M&I Bank and planned to participate in their Manager’s Program to stay with the company long-term and eventually become a bank president. However, TL was hanging out with his friend, Tom Curtin, when Tom mentioned that his dad had started “a great little business.” He explained that his dad was brilliant with the electronics side of the business, but he didn’t enjoy dealing with the money side. Tom encouraged TL to talk to his dad (Amtelco’s founder, Bill Curtin II or Mr. C) and “help him out a little bit” with the financial side.
“Anybody who knew Mr. C will understand how this works,” said TL. “I went into his office, spent some time with him, and walked out. I got into my car and said to myself, ‘What the heck did I just do?!’ I accepted a job with Mr. C for less money but with the promise of an opportunity to be a part of something special. Mr. C had that way about him. The way he had that smile and with his optimism, you could never say no.”
TL began his long career with Amtelco in June 1978 as the manager of the Accounting Department. As the company grew, so did TL’s experience with every department within Amtelco. In fact, TL established each department and did the initial hiring for them.
After running the Accounting Department for a few years, TL moved into Finance because Amtelco began having large deals, and financing had to be involved. “Back in those days, we didn’t have computers,” explained TL. “When a prospect came in, I brought my notepad and pencil. They started talking while I took notes about what the prospect needed. We then stood up, shook hands, and he left. That was the order – notes on a piece of paper and a handshake. That’s how it was in the old days.”
As Amtelco’s customer base grew, the company needed to hire support people to better serve their customers. TL established and managed the company’s Service Department. He hired Jody LaLuzerne, Amtelco’s current Field Engineering Director, back in September of 1987. TL remembered, “I did Jody’s first performance appraisal. Back then, we went through categories with checkboxes to rate an employee’s performance from poor to excellent. I marked Jody as ‘satisfactory’ on all of the boxes. It was his first year, and he was doing fine. Jody wasn’t pleased with the ‘mid-level’ rating and has NEVER forgotten that. Over the years, when I call Jody up for help with something, Jody will respond, ‘Well, as a person with satisfactory knowledge, I would have to say…'”
By the early 2000s, TL had managed the Field Engineering Department for 15 years and even the Software Department before hiring Kevin Beale, Amtelco’s current Vice President of Software Development. At that time, Joe Everly, Amtelco’s CEO, approached TL and asked if he wanted to try out Sales. “I thought, ‘Sure, why not? I already work with all the customers and have done almost everything else in the company. I might as well try sales.’” TL gradually transitioned away from the Field Engineering Department and into a sales role and has stayed in sales ever since. TL has been a sales manager with Amtelco for the last several years and won the company’s TAS Salesperson of the Year award 10 times!
TL and Senior Software Engineer Dan Cropp received the Amtelco “Hall of Famers” award in 2023. When the two were receiving their awards, Dan looked over at TL and said, “I just remembered—you were the one who hired me!” Over the years, TL has received numerous awards, but the recognition he is most proud of is being honored during the 2024 National Amtelco Equipment Owners (NAEO) convention.
The most significant change TL has observed during his time in the teleservices industry is technology. When TL began his career in the late 1970s, operators used switchboards and wrote down messages. Amtelco developed the Video III answering service system, which presented calls on video consoles while operators took messages on paper and inserted them into stackable carousels with 100 slots per level. Next came EVE (Electronic Video Exchange) – the first paperless messaging system, followed by scripting and the revolutionary Intelligent Series. “Everything we’ve done is based on progressive technology and providing more tools for the operator so they can better serve their callers,” said TL.
The recent move to remote operators is the second biggest change TL has experienced. However, this wasn’t a new idea for Amtelco. TL explained, “Mr. C had a vision for remote operators years ago, during our time with EVE. We featured an island with a palm tree at conferences for a few years. The impression Mr. C was trying to convey is that you can be remote and still work on a system. That was 40 years ago! Mr. C was very much ahead of his time. Sometimes, it took technology decades to catch up with him.”
TL has been instrumental in Amtelco’s success and history. Thank you, TL, for your guidance, wit, camaraderie, and friendship. Congratulations on your retirement!
Fun Facts:
- During retirement, TL looks forward to spending more time at his condo in Door County, Wisconsin. He is also looking forward to being a “snowbird” and wintering in Arizona.
- TL is planning to travel more, including a trip to Ambergris Caye, a small island off the coast of Belize known for its golf cart-based transportation.
- TL hired Laura Alt as a trainer, who later became a documentation writer. Laura and Jody LaLuzerne often worked together on the PC-MX personal computer-based answering service system. Laura and Jody would later marry in 1993 and have two sons, each of whom has been an intern for Amtelco. Laura LaLuzerne is now a marketing coordinator for Amtelco. TL can add being a matchmaker as part of his achievements at Amtelco.
