Jane Barbe (pronounced ˈbÉ'ɹ.bi BAR-bee; July 29, 1928 â€" July 18,
2003) was an American voice actress and singer. She was known as the
"Time Lady" for the recordings she made for the Bell System and other
phone companies. The ubiquity of her recordings eventually made her a
pop-culture figure, and her death drew national attention.Barbe was
born Millicent Jane Schneider in Winter Haven, Florida, and raised in
Atlanta, Georgia. She studied drama at the University of Georgia.After
graduating, Barbe worked as a copywriter, though due to her poor
spelling, she opted to read her first commercial out loud to her boss
instead of submitting it in writing. He asked her to record the
commercial herself. In 1963, she began recording messages for the
Audichron Company, announcing time, temperature and weather, as well
as recordings for early voice mail systems. In the 1970s and 1980s,
she regularly recorded the intercept messages used when a number is
disconnected or number dial errors, and started sharing recording
duties with AT&T voice Pat Fleet in 1981, who eventually took over
Barbe's role.Barbe was selected to be the first voice on the Octel
Communications voice mail systems and retained that role for many
years. Her voice was used on all the prompts (which numbered in the
thousands). People often referred to the voice on Octel systems as
"Jane", and Barbe and her husband John were named honorary life
employees of Octel in 1992. Over 150 million people used Octel systems
prior to the company being acquired in 1997 by Lucent Technologies. By
2000, Barbe's voice was heard by about 300 million people each week.
Through the years, Barbe's voice became well-known through the phone
companies' use of her recordings, as well as her messages recorded for
customized greetings for various corporations who bought Octel voice
mail systems. The time announcements she recorded for NBS (now NIST)
are still used on radio station WWVH. Her voice was also heard on
hotel wake up calls and commercial elevator messages.
2003) was an American voice actress and singer. She was known as the
"Time Lady" for the recordings she made for the Bell System and other
phone companies. The ubiquity of her recordings eventually made her a
pop-culture figure, and her death drew national attention.Barbe was
born Millicent Jane Schneider in Winter Haven, Florida, and raised in
Atlanta, Georgia. She studied drama at the University of Georgia.After
graduating, Barbe worked as a copywriter, though due to her poor
spelling, she opted to read her first commercial out loud to her boss
instead of submitting it in writing. He asked her to record the
commercial herself. In 1963, she began recording messages for the
Audichron Company, announcing time, temperature and weather, as well
as recordings for early voice mail systems. In the 1970s and 1980s,
she regularly recorded the intercept messages used when a number is
disconnected or number dial errors, and started sharing recording
duties with AT&T voice Pat Fleet in 1981, who eventually took over
Barbe's role.Barbe was selected to be the first voice on the Octel
Communications voice mail systems and retained that role for many
years. Her voice was used on all the prompts (which numbered in the
thousands). People often referred to the voice on Octel systems as
"Jane", and Barbe and her husband John were named honorary life
employees of Octel in 1992. Over 150 million people used Octel systems
prior to the company being acquired in 1997 by Lucent Technologies. By
2000, Barbe's voice was heard by about 300 million people each week.
Through the years, Barbe's voice became well-known through the phone
companies' use of her recordings, as well as her messages recorded for
customized greetings for various corporations who bought Octel voice
mail systems. The time announcements she recorded for NBS (now NIST)
are still used on radio station WWVH. Her voice was also heard on
hotel wake up calls and commercial elevator messages.
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