Our
Story
Founded in 1996 by three telecom industry marketing
innovators, i800® was
created to develop better ways to route web traffic and
deliver customized information over the Internet.
The founders were key players in the creation of
MCI's intelligent 800 Service -- the first 800 Service
product set that successfully challenged AT&T's 800
Service monopoly.
The i800 business concept was driven by the conviction that
the Internet needed intelligent routing capabilities
similar to the telecom network routing features then
available to business users of 800 Service. Enabling the
Internet to route custom content based on user location,
time of day, day of week, and dynamic traffic volume was
the i800 founding vision.
In 1996, many business experts then doubted that this new
thing, "the Internet" would really change the way products
could be sold. i800's founders clearly saw that most of the
products and services then being provided via 800 Service
could be, and would be, better sold over the Internet.
Strange as it sounds today, ten years ago this idea was
controversial.
The i800 motto, "The New Way To Use The
Internet"®, describes our core belief that,
whatever the state-of-art in Internet technology,
what's most important to both business and personal
users is the ability to get practical things done via
the Internet. The Internet succeeds best when it
provides useful tools to meet existing needs.
Many hours were invested (or perhaps wasted) in explaining
to venture funders how billions of dollars were already
being spent providing hotel and airline reservations and
ticket sales, providing customer service information, and
entertainment services via 800 Service. Explaining that the
Internet was not a techie fad and that the services then
being provided via 800 Service would naturally migrate to
the Internet.
The i800 "elevator speech" included the memorable phrase,
"The Internet is not a pet rock."
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