Voice of the Internet’s First Conversational AI Platform

Darby Bailey
McDonough Ph.D. — Communication

Creator of The Digital Sidewalk.
Tellme Networks — $3.5B+ ecosystem value.

Ph.D. Communication, Regent University
MBA Information Technology, Western Governors University
Graduate Certificate Info Systems, U of Utah Eccles School of Business
B.A. Creative Writing, Antioch University Los Angeles
A.S. Degree, Utah Tech University — Honor Roll

Co-Inventor, U.S. Patent Family (3 Granted, 1 Application; 2000–2009) · Audio UI Menu Architecture · Assignees: Tellme Networks, Inc. & Microsoft Corporation

Original IVR Voice, American Express — 25 years, 1-800-Fandango, AT&T Directory Assistance & 411, Fidelity, Orbitz, The Hartford, Verizon, UPS

2X Utah Governor Commendations

IEEE · AAAS · NCA · The Planetary Society · ASCAP

Portfolio & Research

Voice, Science & Cybernetics

35 years of audio technology, 27 years of applied voice AI, federal research, government data systems, and independent science. Patents, Governor commendations, multilingual and IEEE publications, a Ph.D. grounded in communication, cybernetics and entertainment-education.

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Speaking & Consulting

Keynotes & Advisory

Expert keynote speaker and consultant on Voice and Audio, AI history, the future of human–machine communication, AI ethics and organizational implementation, entertainment-education, and applied science for industry and government audiences.

Darby's Speaking Portfolio→

The Digital Sidewalk Paradigm

Research Technologist in Communication, Audio Signal Processing & Cybernetics

As the voice of Tellme Networks (Web 1.0 voice platform acquired by Microsoft for $800M), the audio recordings I voiced from 1999–2024 span major enterprise voice systems representing hundreds of millions of dollars in annual infrastructure value — including American Express, AT&T, UPS, Verizon, 1-800-Fandango and many more.

I focus on hybrid spaces and indirect learning that happens when we move between online to offline in communities and individually. My ongoing research centers around these spaces in audio physics and cybernetics between people and the spaces and places around them. The Digital Sidewalk is a paradigm I introduced that extends Jane Jacobs and Mitchell Duneier’s urban theories using Gordon Pask’s Interaction of Actors Theory into programmable and quantifiable human outcomes in decentralized communities.

I am currently working on mapping various control methods and using AI to leverage math and physics understanding in service of human flourishing on Earth, the Moon, and Mars — with a focus on U.S. reindustrialization and applied science exploration.

“An Improved Computational Lower Bound for f(3)” — Preprint, Zenodo 2026 · DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19722202

“The Voice as an Acoustic Archetype” — Preprint, Zenodo 2026 · DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19546204

Darby BaileyMcDonough Ph.D. — Communication

Voice, Science & Cybernetics

Keynotes & Advisory

Darby Bailey
McDonough Ph.D. — Communication