In 1881, Tesla moved to Budapest to work for the telegraph company of Tivadar Puskás de Ditró, the Hungarian inventor of the telephone exchange and pioneer of telephony.

However, the company was still in the organizational stage, so he was initially employed by the Central Telegraph Office as a draftsman. The company was up and running within a few months, and Tesla was given the chief electrician position. He made many improvements to the Central Station's equipment during his work and claimed to have perfected the telephone amplifier, which was never patented or described.