>The use of hello as a telephone greeting has been credited to Thomas Edison; according to one source, he expressed his surprise with a misheard Hullo.[11] Alexander Graham Bell initially used Ahoy (as used on ships) as a telephone greeting.[12][13] However, in 1877, Edison wrote to T. B. A. David, president of the Central District and Printing Telegraph Company of Pittsburgh:
>Friend David, I do not think we shall need a call bell as Hello! can be heard 10 to 20 feet away.
>What you think? Edison – P.S. first cost of sender & receiver to manufacture is only $7.00.[14]
>By 1889, central telephone exchange operators were known as ‘hello-girls’ because of the association between the greeting and the telephone.
As /u/ChoadyWalker says, this was in contrast to Bell’s desire that the greeting be “Ahoy-Hoy”.
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