The Idea Factory explains how one company managed to spearhead innovation in the communications industry for almost 100 years, and produced a huge share of the technology that shapes our lives today.

Did you know that phones didn't always ring?

Until the 1920s, you'd still have to agree on a 'meeting time' when you wanted to call somebody, pick up the phone at the specified hour and start speaking into it until eventually, someone on the other end picked up.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg of interesting facts about the telephone and communications industry.

In his 2012 book The Idea Factory, Jon Gertner takes a look at the history of Bell Labs, the company behind the telephone ring, among many other innovations.

This company changed the world by single-handedly inventing modern communication, a science we couldn't live without today in the digital age.

But how was that possible and how did it all start?