Dennis C. Hayes invented the PC modem in 1977, establishing the critical
technology that allowed today's online and Internet industries to emerge and grow.
He sold the first Hayes modem products to computer
hobbyists in April of 1977 and founded D.C. Hayes Associates, Inc., the company known
today as Hayes Corp., in January of 1978. Hayes quality and innovation resulted in
performance enhancements and cost reductions that led the industry in the conversion from
leased line modems to intelligent dial modems - the PC Modem.
When he started the company, Hayes already had more
than ten years experience working with large and small computer systems,
telecommunications, manufacturing and electronic product development. While attending the
Georgia Institute of Technology, Hayes participated in a co-op program working for
AT&T Long Lines. Later, he joined Financial Data Sciences where he worked on systems
using the first four-bit microprocessor. After concluding his studies at Georgia Tech,
Hayes worked for National Data Corporation where he developed microcomputer-based systems
to interconnect networks. Hayes attended the School of Management and Strategic Studies at
the Western Behavior Sciences Institute.
D.C. Hayes Associates was founded on a dining room
table in Hayes' home, where he started with a modest $5000 investment and boot-strapped
the company to become the leader in the industry. The first products were modem boards for
the S-100 bus and then for the Apple II computers. Solving the interface problems to allow
any computer using a standard serial port to control the modem functions with software, he
invented the Hayes Standard AT command set introducing the first PC modem in June 1981.
The Hayes Smartmodem quickly became the standard by
which modem compatibility was measured and the company grew rapidly. In more than twenty
years as Chairman of Hayes, he led the company as a visionary who saw the opportunity for
the development of PC communications and the virtual workplace.
After successfully guiding the company through a merger
that resulted in a new, publicly-owned Hayes Corporation, Dennis C. Hayes retired as
Chairman in late1998 to pursue other industry interests, among these his chairmanship of
the Association of Online Professionals.
A native of Spartanburg, South Carolina, Hayes is also
active in other community and industry associations. He served as a founder and Co Chair
of the Public Policy Committee of CompTIA, the Computing Technology Industry Association,
Founding Chairman of the Georgia High Tech Alliance, and founding Board Member of the
Georgia Center for Advanced Telecommunications Technology. Hayes is one of four initial
inductees into Georgia's Technology Hall of Fame. He currently is Chairman of the Association of Online Professionals, which merged
with the US Internet Industry Association, where he is an officer and owner of the Whiskey
Rock bar in suburban Atlanta. |
