Christopher Columbus is a historical figure with an important, yet controversial, role in the fabrication of world history. His trips across the Atlantic Ocean would connect the Americas to the rest of the world and, for better or worse, would set-off the beginning of European colonization in North and South America.

While the full impact of Columbus’ explorations had many negative impacts to the indigenous populations he encountered, we hope this article adds a little levity to a contentious figure in history. Today we review how modern technology might have improved his abilities to avoid some of the blunders he made as he explored the Americas.

In 1484, Columbus began looking for financial backers to support an Atlantic crossing, but was denied by King John II of Portugal. While Columbus eventually received patronage from King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain in 1492, this was obtained after at least two previous rejections from the monarchs. If Columbus had a team of outbound call center agents, who pitched the monarchies of Europe, he cou⁷ld have saved valuable time and money in finding funding for his explorations. This simple, cost effective form of lead generation likely could have lead to Columbus finding America years sooner!

In total, Columbus made four voyages across the Atlantic in 1492, 1493, 1498, and 1502. According to History.com, his first crossing took 36 days when his crew landed on an island in the Bahamas. These long excursions at sea likely exacerbated communication issues between Columbus and his Spanish benefactors. A high quality answering service would have greatly benefitted these expeditions in communicating expectations and mitigating some of the shortcomings in colonial leadership. It also may have avoided some of the surprise when Columbus revisited these colonial settlements, only to find that they had been killed off by indigenous groups. Even better, an answering service could have forwarded messages to on-call staff. Perhaps Columbus could have avoided being imprisoned on his return to Spain after his third voyage if he had forwarded that call.

In 1503, Columbus was shipwrecked in Jamaica with his crew for over a year. If only Columbus had Find Me/Follow Me services. Find Me services could have automatically routed calls to his location in Jamaica, making it easier for partners, benefactors, and other interested parties to get in touch with the explorer (or for the rest of us when on the road, in the office, or traveling). Alternatively, Follow Me services could route multiple numbers to a single phone or answering service (useful when laying on a Jamaican beach for pleasure rather than survival and don’t want to be found). Follow Me is useful if (like Columbus) you work in different offices and regions and want to have a simple way to stay in-touch with all clients.

We hope you found these points fun and informative, however you choose to celebrate this historical figure and the impact he had on the shaping of history!