Management Team

J. Shelby Bryan

Mr. Bryan has been a pioneer in voice communications for twenty years; first in wireless, both domestic and international, later in integrated voice and data services and currently in business class Voice over Internet Protocol. Mr. Bryan previously served as Chairman and CEO of ICG Communications, one of the nation's largest integrated telephone and data companies. ICG delivers voice and internet data services over fiber optic networks and was one of the first companies to envision hosted VoIP services. Prior to ICG Mr. Bryan co-founded Millicom International Cellular S.A. Millicom was granted one of the first two experimental cellular frequencies in the United States and the very first PCS (personal communication systems) frequency in America. Under Mr. Bryan’s leadership, Millicom became the world’s largest international cellular company. Mr. Bryan received a BA from The University of Texas, a JD from The University of Texas School of Law and an MBA from Harvard University.

Bill Smedberg

Mr. Smedberg brings to PingTone over twenty years of finance and management experience in the telecommunications, consumer products and manufacturing industries. Mr. Smedberg came to PingTone from Network Access Solutions (“NAS”), a publicly traded, facilities based business DSL provider. In addition to his role as Executive Vice President and CFO, Mr. Smedberg was a member of the NAS Board of Directors. Prior to NAS, he worked for PathNet, a wholesale telecommunications provider, first as CFO and Vice President of Corporate Development and then as Executive Vice President, Corporate Development. Before joining PathNet, Mr. Smedberg worked in Belgium as Director, Strategic Planning and Corporate Development for Jamont, a European consumer products joint venture among Nokia, Montedison, and James River Corporation, where he was responsible for Jamont's corporate finance, strategic planning and corporate development. Mr. Smedberg holds a BS in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Virginia and an MBA from the Darden School at the University of Virginia.

Richard Schulte

Mr. Schulte’s career in sales and marketing covers eighteen years in telecommunications, consumer services and financial products. Mr. Schulte came to PingTone from his previous position as head of North American sales for Blue Ridge Networks, a pioneer in encrypted packet networking and the creator of BorderGuard technology. During his years with Blue Ridge the company grew its managed service business by a factor of ten and expanded its position as the largest provider of high security cryptographic technology worldwide. His experience also includes positions with MCI, financial products firm Kistler-Tiffany and Florida First Group, a consumer services company. While with Florida First Group as Vice President of Sales and Marketing, the management team initiated and completed the company’s seven year build-out and successful merger. Mr. Schulte holds a BA in Economics from Yale University and is the author of The Schulte Question Funnel.

Robyn Smith

Robyn has over 20 years of telecommunications experience in customer service, order provisioning and technical support. Before joining PingTone, Robyn was Director of Customer Operations at Covad Communications; a publicly-traded, nationwide broadband and VoIP provider where she was responsible for Eastern U.S. VoIP provisioning and support. Prior to Covad, Robyn was Vice President of Service Delivery responsible for all customer support, field support and network support for DSL.Net; a national business broadband service provider.   Earlier with DSL.Net she was Vice President of Operations and oversaw day to day operations and the teams responsible for ordering, provisioning, customer service and carrier relations. Robyn's career in telecommunications began with Cable & Wireless where she spent over 15 years in roles of increasing responsibility including: voice and data ordering, provisioning, sales support, service management and service delivery. While with Cable & Wireless, Robyn was the recipient of the Chairman's Award for outstanding achievement.