Jane Barbe - The voice on the line.

 

 .

Jane Barbe, with a voice  that was was familiar to the millions of telephone users across the country, died July 18 of complications from cancer at the age of 74.

 Anyone that  dialed a wrong number or had to "please listen to the following options" in a voice mail system was treated to the sound of  Mrs. Barbe's voice.

Mrs. Barbe was indeed THE the queen of telephone recordings...

During her unusual 40-year career, she articulated immortal lines including "At the tone, the time will be 7:22 and 40 seconds," "I'm sorry, the number you have dialed is no longer in service," and "Please press one for more options."

She held a record of being on  90 percent of "intercept messages" -- the recording played as an error message when something is wrong with a phone number -- and 60 percent of automated time - temperature announcements over the telephone..

"You hear my voice in more than 1,000 cities in the United States, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, South America, Canada. . . . Vocally, I get around," she told the Chicago Sun-Times years ago.

People wrote her letters, some saying they called a certain number to hear her voice when they were lonely. When she appeared at business conventions, sometimes hundreds of people would line up for her autograph.

She will be missed, but her voice shall continue on.....  EAS