Where it was invented...
The first telephone was invented in Boston, Massachusetts.

What it replaced...
The telephone replaced the telegraph. Also it replaced mail and mouth to mouth communication.

The benefits...
The telephone provided a much faster way of communicating. When before you had to decipher things or make a trip to talk to someone.

Impact on life...
The telephone impacted life today by evolving into day to day desk phones that every business has. From a normal business phone comes the mobile phone that almost every person has.