Development of the modern instrument

The telephone instrument continued to evolve over time, as can be illustrated by the succession of American instruments described below. The concept of mounting both the transmitter and the receiver in the same handle appeared in 1878 in instruments designed for use by telephone operators in a New York City exchange. The earliest telephone instrument to see common use was introduced by Charles Williams, Jr., in 1882. Designed for wall mounting, this instrument consisted of a ringer, a hand-cranked magneto (for generating a ringing voltage in a distant instrument), a hand receiver, a switch hook, and a transmitter. Various versions of this telephone instrument remained in use throughout the United States as late as the 1950s. As is noted in the section Switching, the telephone dial originated with automatic telephone switching systems in 1896.