"Information? I need the number of the Caseway Insurance Company."
"Would you spell that, please?"
"Certainly. C as in sea. A as in aye. S as in sea. E as in eye. W as in why. A as in are. Y as in you."
"Just a minute, sir. I'll connect you with my supervisor."
Some one invented the telephone,
And interrupted a nation's slumbers,
Ringing wrong but similar numbers.
~Ogden Nash
One of the first telephone answering machines was developed in Switzerland during the 1950's. It took three days to install.