Lees Secretarial Service opened as a public stenographer service in Mission, Kansas in 1956. The primary business was the secretarial support needs of clients. Through an early version of Southwestern Bells "call director" system we answered the telephones of 10 customers located in the same building. These customers had "hardwire extensions" from their office to ours. In 1959, a need existed for a live telephone answering service with full messaging capability. 1960 brought the installation of non-automated hardwire "switchboard" equipment. This equipment allowed customers in the Northeast Johnson County area to have an extension of their telephones on our switchboard so we could answer when they were away. The initial 8 AM to Midnight service was expanded to 24 hours, seven days a week in 1962. In 1976, the company relocated to a company owned facility designed to accommodate the growing business. The business grew by "word of mouth" from customers familiar with the record of service. The business was incorporated and the name changed to AnswerPro Limited in 1986. Almost 50 years later the company is owned and managed by the second generation of the original owners and serving clients throughout the metropolitan area from a call center designed to meet 21st century needs, handling over a million call transactions annually. The companys primary business competence is screening calls and filtering messages through a live operator/agent. New services are added to broaden the company image as a center for small business communication. People are our business, we cultivate them carefully, and view them as life-long associations. AnswerPro strategy is to energize a broad base of clients, small and large, representing diverse business interests to minimize market and economic changes from a single business or industry. Generating a profit by managing resources, products and activities to meet the needs of a changing marketplace while maintaining customer loyalty and increasing market penetration. We operate with little or no debt, managing operations to sustain us through economic cycles. It is necessary to grow at a pace one can manage, too much or too little can be detrimental. To achieve adequate profit margins we make choices targeted toward improving our method of delivering and expanding our range of services. Timing is crucial; one of our biggest challenges was deciding when to upgrade equipment to keep up with technology. We want to stay at the front of the technology without being the first to adopt new technology for technologys sake. Businesses can wait too long to upgrade or leap too quickly; either can be fatal. We must contend with the aging infrastructure of our location and insure uninterrupted service for our clients emergency needs. Our employees are the basis for our success. We are "people answering people." All of our employees have a high level of direct customer contact, their competence and understanding of this role is fundamental. If we do not deliver premier levels of service, the customer will not perceive adequate value for their service.