ESF contracted with AT&T to revise its training materials design, development, and validation Guidelines. ESF used its own proprietary IDLS process as the basis for the revisions. The entire Bell System used these Guidelines for developing their own training materials.

ESF was contracted by AT&T to prepare its five-year plan to use the computer to assist in the training of its employees. The plan included the development of computer software and hardware.

In the middle of December, 1981, Head of Training at Mountain Bell called ESF requesting an immediate meeting at their Lakeland Center. Although Peter was conducting a workshop at another company, Mary flew out the next day to find out what the urgent request was about. It seemed that AT&T had requested Mountain Bell to coordinate a project to develop a Five-Year Plan for Computer-Based Training within AT&T. The Task Force had worked on the project for a year and had not been able to come up with any report they could submit by the deadline, January 2. They had a little over 3 weeks to complete the project with nothing in hand. They asked us if we could take over leadership of the Task Force and come up with the Five-Year Plan. Of course, we said yes.

Mary, who has the ability to see the whole picture immediately, gathered together the Task Force consisting of people who worked somewhere within the AT&T system as well as a few who were private consultants, and first looked at what they were currently doing (not much), and how they could best assist in the overall effort using the skills they had. Together they came up with five different areas that needed to be included in the report. Reviewing the strengths of each Task Force member, Mary assigned tasks to be completed within each area and gave tight deadlines to complete their tasks. Working right through the Christmas holidays, the Task Force completed the mission on December 31st and Peter and Mary presented the final report to the head of the Training Center. Mary did a one-page précis on January 1, and on January 2nd, 1982 the final report was sent to AT&T corporate.

The interesting part of this project was the cutting-edge ideas were never implemented because on January 8, 1982, AT&T agreed to a settlement of the antitrust suit proposed by the Justice Department. The settlement required the breakup of the Bell System which went into effect January 1984. This was the end of the monopoly that AT&T enjoyed since its origin.

In 1984, AT&T's Information Systems Services Division asked ESF to design, develop, and validate a self-instructional Initial Training Program for AT&T's national sales organization for marketing AT&T's Videotex System. NAPLPS (North American Presentation Level Protocol Syntax) is an international standard for Videotex service. NAPLPS, a graphics language for use originally with videotex services, was an incredibly advanced (for the time) method of incorporating graphics into text-based computers. AT&T was marketing a "Frame Creation System", which was being developed initially for the real estate industry to agents could show their clients homes throughout the area without leaving the comfort of their office. AT&T also announced a system that could convert photos and drawings into videotex frames in about 15 seconds, and a slide-maker peripheral unit for the AT&T Frame Creation System. The slide maker could provide visuals for meetings, training programs and sales presentations, and was priced at $3,500. The Frame Creation System worked similarly to a modern graphics tablet but weighed a ton (not literally) and cost over a hundred thousand dollars. Yet it was so exciting to imagine that a product like this was on the horizon and might eventually filter down to individual users.

Modules in the Program included:

• Videotex Applications:
• Banking and Insurance
• Publishing, Advertising and Direct Marketing
• Sales Strategies
• Product Knowledge of Videotex System:
• ISO Levels 1-5
• ISO Level 6, Section 1
• ISO Level 6, Section 2
• Selling Products:
• Personal Styles of Buying and Selling FSC
• Plan Sales Presentations
• Sales Presentations Techniques: Listening, Observing, Questioning
• The Sales Cycle
• Leasing Programs

Later in 1984, AT&T requested ESF to develop a second self-instructional training program for the Technical Service Representatives to teach them all the technical aspects of installing and servicing the videotex systems. A portion of the program was delivered via the videotex system. This was the first training program in the country delivered via videotex. At this point, there were less than ten Technical Service Representatives in the country.