Answer Machine Inventor Dies

The man who invented the telephone answering machine has died, aged 92. Joseph James Zimmerman Jr. invented the machine back in 1948 and patented it the following year.

The first answermachine was a box that lifted the earpiece from the telephone cradle. A later upgrade included a control unit with a 78rpm record player inside. When the phone handset was lifted, the record played back a greeting while a wire recorder could record a 30 second greeting. The wire needed replacing each time it was used.

In a 1949 interview, Zimmermann said he got the idea for the device when he owned an air conditioning and heating company and couldn't afford a secretary to take his phone calls.

Zimmermann was born in Milwaukee, USA in 1912. He held a degree in electrical engineering from Marquette University."

Posted to the site on 15th April 2004