The invention of the telephone spreads credit among several figures, according to Wikipedia, Innocenzo Manzetti, Antonio Meucci, Johann Philipp Reis, Elisha Gray, Alexander Graham Bell, and Thomas Edison. Each contributed some piece of crediting telemarketers. Bell has been credited with making the first audible telephone call in 1986, calling his friend Watson saying “Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you.” From then on, Watson screened all his phone calls.