Bell's telephone receiver. Historical artwork of Alexander Graham Bell's telephone receiver. This model was not included in the commercial product, but used for demonstrations to large groups. Bell's telephone was patented in 1876, and used existing telegraph lines to transmit and receive sound. Bell was born in Scotland in 1847, emigrating to Massachusetts, USA, where he worked on a system to teach deaf mutes to speak. He also patented a system to send more than one message at a time along existing telegraphic systems. It was this improvement that lead him to invent the telephone.