The telephone – important dates

1. 1874 – Principal of telephone was uncovered.

2. 1876 – Alexander Graham Bell invents telephone, beating Elisha Gray by a matter of hours.

3. 1877 – The very first permanent outdoor telephone wire was completed. It stretched a distance of just three miles. This was closely followed in U.S. by worlds first commercial telephone service.

4. 1878 – The workable exchange was developed, which enabled calls to be switched between subscribers rather than having direct lines.

5. 1879 – Subscribers began to be designated by numbers and not their names.

6. 1880’s – Long distance service expanded throughout this period using metallic circuits.

7. 1888 – Common battery system developed by Hammond V. Hayes, allows one central battery to power all telephones on an exchange, rather than relying on each units own battery.

8. 1891 – First automatic dialling system invented by a Kansas City undertaker. He believed that crooked operators were sending his potential customers elsewhere. It was his aim to get rid of operators altogether.

9. 1900 – First coin operated telephone installed in Hartford, Connecticut.

10. 1904 – “French Phone” developed by Bell Company. This had transmitter and receiver in a simple handset.

11. 1911 – American Telephone and Telegraph (AT & T) acquire Western Union Telegraph Company in a hostile takeover. They purchased stocks in company covertly and two eventually merged.

12. 1918 – It was estimated that approximately ten million Bell system telephones were in service throughout U.S.

13. 1921 – The switching of large numbers of calls was made possible through use of phantom circuits. This allowed three conversations to take place on two pairs of wires.

14. 1927 – First transatlantic service from New York to London became operational. The signal was transmitted by radio waves.

15. 1936 – Research into electronic telephone exchanges began and was eventually perfected in 1960’s with electronic switching system (SES).

16. 1946 – Worlds first commercial mobile phone service put into operation. It could link moving vehicles to a telephone network via radio waves.

17. 1947 – Microwave radio technology used for first time for long distance phone calls.

18. 1947 – The transistor was invented at Bell laboratories.

19. 1955 – Saw beginning of laying of transatlantic telephone cables.

20. 1962 – The worlds first international communications satellite, Telstar was launched.

21. 1980’s – The development of fibre optic cables during this decade, offered potential to carry much larger volumes of calls than satellite or microwaves.

22. 1980’s, 1990’s, to present – Huge advances in micro electronic technology over last two decades have enabled development of cellular (mobile) phones to advance at a truly astonishing rate. A cellular (mobile) phone has its own central transmitter allowing it to receive seamless transmissions as it enters and exits a cell.

Some people believe impact of telephone has had on our lives is negative. Whatever your beliefs, it is un-doubtable that invention and development of telephone has had a massive impact on way we live our lives and go about our every day business.

4. Play a "not-in-service" message

Many VOIP services also allow you to check your voicemail over internet or attach messages to an e-mail that is sent to your computer or PDA. It’s best to check with VOIP phone system suppliers and service operators exactly what features they offer as package and service prices vary greatly.

There are many other cost saving benefits that arise from a streamlined VOIP phone system network. For network administrators, a VOIP phone system means they only have one network to maintain instead of two. The portability of phone system is also greatly simplified. This is because most VOIP phone systems can be configured using a web interface, which can be managed by network administrator. The MAC (move, add, change) process is made much easier, and you will not have to call your system/service provider for every MAC you carry out. All this means lower ongoing costs for your company.

Another cost saving for companies who implement a VOIP system is, because multiple offices, no matter where they are in world are seamlessly connected, they can share many of features VOIP can offer, such as:

1. One single receptionist

2. Auto attendant facilities

3. Voice mail system