- The year 1876 marked the year that the first telephone is invented by Alexander Graham Bell. Bell first coined the telephone as the, "electrical speech machine" which was later changed to the telephone, as we know it today. After that invention, the telephone found its way into many parts of Europe and the United States, which prompted Gardiner Hubbard to establish the first telephone company, the Bell Telephone Company, in 1877. By the end of 1877, 3,000 telephones were in service.
- Long distance telephone service was first provided in the 1880s by the general manager of the Bell Telephone Company, Theodore Vail. This move was to assist the company's expansion, extending services from New England to other states and cities in the United States. Before this change, long distance service was not provided.
- During the early use of the telephone, one-wire grounded lines were used, which caused noise and other interference. In order to address this issue and improve the service, the two-wire circuits were developed, which is also termed as "metallic" circuits.
- Unlike today's modern telephone where numbers are dialed to be connected to the other line, the use of earlier telephones was assisted by operators who connected individuals to the destination. This tedious process took a toll on Kansas City undertaker Almon Strowger who, in turn invented the first automatic telephone, which dialed a number with the use of buttons. From this invention, he established the Automatic Electric Company, which also prompted the rise of smaller telephone companies.
- The Bell Telephone Company eventually became AT&T, which is the largest telecommunications company world-wide. Modern developments have prompted the company to become No. 1 with contact centers around the globe servicing a number of companies. In 2004, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) or telephones using Internet connectivity was developed. This became a more cost-effective and modern way compared to the traditional telephone. To protect its customers from Internet vulnerabilities such as viruses, the company also launched Internet Protect for the benefit of its customers.
