Arlene Harris (inventor) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Arlene Harris
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| Born | June 6, 1948 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
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| Occupation | Entrepreneur Inventor |
| Employer | Dyna LLC |
| Known for | Dyna LLC Wrethink GreatCall |
| Title | Founder and CEO of Dyna LLC |
| Spouse(s) |
Martin Cooper
(m. 1991) |
Arlene Joy Harris (born June 6, 1948) is a super smart inventor and business leader. She has created many new things in the world of wireless technology. She is known as a pioneer in mobile and wireless services.
Arlene Harris is the president and co-founder of Dyna LLC. This company helps new technology businesses get started. In May 2007, she became the first woman to join the Wireless Hall of Fame. She was also added to the Consumer Technology Hall of Fame in 2017.
Arlene has started and built several successful companies. She holds many patents for her wireless inventions. Her companies helped create the first prepaid cell phone service. They also made the first automatic wireless management systems. A famous product she helped create is the Jitterbug phone. This phone was designed to be easy to use for everyone.
Arlene Harris's Career Journey
Arlene Harris was born and grew up in Los Angeles. She started her career very young, at just 12 years old! She worked as a mobile telephone operator for her family's business. This company was called Industrial Communications Systems (ICS), Inc.
What Arlene is Doing Now (2018–Present)
Don Norman Design Award Arlene Harris is a founding director of the Don Norman Design Award (DNDA). This award celebrates great design.
Wrethink Arlene is currently working on a new company called Wrethink. This company focuses on keeping your personal information private online. It also helps families organize and manage their digital lives.
Wrethinking Foundation Arlene and her husband, Martin Cooper, started the Wrethinking Foundation. This foundation helps new technology companies and charities. It supports groups that want to make a positive social impact. One group it helps is the Internet Safety Labs (ISL). ISL works to make sure software and devices are safe for users.
Accessible Wireless In 2001, Arlene bought a company called Accessible Wireless. This helped her offer phone services for people who didn't use their phones very often. It was important for her next big idea, GreatCall.
GreatCall, Inc. Arlene Harris started GreatCall to help Best Buy enter the connected health market. She led the creation of the Jitterbug phone with Samsung. The Jitterbug was made for people who found technology tricky, like older adults.
The Jitterbug phone was a big hit!
- The New York Times called it one of the "Top 10" technology ideas of 2006.
- It was a finalist at a big tech show called the Consumer Electronics Show.
- Reader's Digest named it one of its "Top 100 Products."
In 2007, GreatCall won the Andrew Seybold Choice Award for "Best New Company." In 2008, it won the Stevie Award for "Best Small Business." GreatCall was later bought by Best Buy in 2018.
In 2009, GreatCall also bought Mobiwatch. This company made mobile emergency alert systems. This helped GreatCall offer more connected health solutions.
Wireless History Foundation Arlene Harris helped start the Wireless History Foundation in 2008. This group works to save and share the history of the wireless industry. Arlene is still on its board of directors.
Arlene's Work in the 1990s
In 1994, Arlene started SOS Wireless Communications. This company created a special phone and services. It was designed for urgent calls, mainly for older Americans.
Arlene's Work in the 1980s
In 1981, Arlene led ICS to create the first wireless health application. It was called Life Page. This program gave pagers to patients waiting for organ transplants.
Under Arlene's leadership, ICS became the largest paging system in the world for one city. ICS was also one of the first businesses to use computer systems to manage customer accounts. Today, we call this Customer Relationship Management (CRM).
ICS also supported the first wholesale wireless service in 1972. This meant they sold services to other companies, who then sold them to customers. This idea was so successful that the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) made it a rule for cellular services in 1982.
In 1983, Arlene co-founded Cellular Business Systems, Inc. (CBSI). At CBSI, she helped create a billing and customer management service. CBSI also developed the first automatic systems to activate cell phones. These systems are now used worldwide to turn on new phones instantly.
Arlene also helped create rules for how cell phone companies would charge customers who used their phones on other networks. This led to the Cellular Inter-carrier Billing Exchange Record (CIBER). This system is still used in the cell phone industry today.
In 1986, Arlene started Subscriber Computing, Inc. This company built systems for the biggest paging companies. They also created the first systems that combined billing for cell phone and internet services.
In 1988, Subscriber Computing, Inc. made it possible for people with low or no credit to get cell phone service. This is what we now call "prepaid" cellular service. Prepaid phones became very popular, especially in countries where it was hard to get credit. Arlene's team also used similar ideas to stop cell phone fraud. This helped companies avoid losing money from stolen airtime.
Also in 1986, Arlene founded Cellular Pay Phone, Inc. (CPPI). Here, she created her first patented invention. It was a special cell phone and a system to manage it. This allowed CPPI to be the first company to offer cell phone service with automatic credit card payments. This system was used for pay cellphones in public places like limousines and trains.
In 1986, Arlene launched Dyna LLC in Chicago. Later, she moved it to California. Dyna LLC helps new ideas grow and supports young companies and inventors.
See also
In Spanish: Arlene Harris (inventora) para niños
