Network and communication access systems
First Claim
1. A system for navigating content residing on a server using a telephone, the system comprising:
- (a) a communication network;
(b) a telephone in communication with the communication network, wherein the telephone comprises means for transmitting at least one audible navigation signal and means for receiving at least one audible content signal;
(c) a server including a database for storing content; and
(d) processing means in communication with the database on the server and the communication network for performing the steps of;
(i) receiving from the communication network the at least one audible navigation signal;
(ii) in accordance with the navigation signal, accessing the database for storing content on the server;
(iii) generating at least one audible content signal corresponding to the accessed content by converting textual content to speech, the at least one audible content signal including audible indications of hyperlinks included in the accessed content; and
(iv) transmitting over the communication network the at least one audible content signal to the receiving means of the telephone.
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Accused Products
Abstract
System for using a telephone or other such audio device to interact with various remote systems. The present invention provides systems which combine the power, flexibility, and access to information and communications of the Internet with the simplicity, reliability and wide avail ability of the existing telephone system. Using conventional phone technology, users of the systems of the invention can browse, search, store, and create information stored on, for example, the Internet in Hypertext Transport Protocol (http) format, communicate using Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP) and Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3) email formats, and to manage attempts by others to contact them through the telephone system. Additional devices for interacting with these systems are also described.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. A system for navigating content residing on a server using a telephone, the system comprising:
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(a) a communication network;
(b) a telephone in communication with the communication network, wherein the telephone comprises means for transmitting at least one audible navigation signal and means for receiving at least one audible content signal;
(c) a server including a database for storing content; and
(d) processing means in communication with the database on the server and the communication network for performing the steps of;
(i) receiving from the communication network the at least one audible navigation signal;
(ii) in accordance with the navigation signal, accessing the database for storing content on the server;
(iii) generating at least one audible content signal corresponding to the accessed content by converting textual content to speech, the at least one audible content signal including audible indications of hyperlinks included in the accessed content; and
(iv) transmitting over the communication network the at least one audible content signal to the receiving means of the telephone. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
(e) a database for storing records corresponding to the user designated information; and
(f) means for retrieving a record from the database and, based upon the retrieved record, generating at least one signal corresponding to the retrieved user designated information.
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16. The system of claim 14, wherein the user designated information corresponds to the location of additional content.
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17. The system of claim 14, wherein the user designated information corresponds to the navigation commands.
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18. The system of claim 14, wherein the telephone further comprises at least one key which corresponds to a selected navigation command and the system further comprises:
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(e) a visually perceptible display having at least one display portion associated with each of the at least one keys; and
(f) means for displaying, on the visually perceptible display, selected text and/or images corresponding to the user designated information.
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19. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one audible navigation signal is generated by a device comprising a switch in communication with a means for generating an audible navigation signal, whereby actuation of the switch causes the generation of the selected audible navigation signal.
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20. The system of claim 19, wherein the selected audible navigation signal is a DTMF tone.
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21. The system of claim 19, wherein the audible navigation signal corresponds to a command to navigate through the content in a continuous fashion, a stepped fashion, or a combination thereof.
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22. A system for navigating content residing on a server using a telephone, the system comprising:
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(a) a communication network;
(b) a telephone in communication with the communication network, wherein the telephone comprises means for transmitting an audible signal to the communication network and means for receiving an audible signal from the communication network;
(c) a server including a database for storing content;
(d) a navigation device for generating a plurality of DTMF tones in communication with the telephone, the navigation device comprising;
(i) one or more keys corresponding to navigation commands;
(ii) a database for storing a unique plurality of DTMF tones corresponding to each of the one or more keys;
(iii) processing means for, upon operation of a selected one of the one or more keys by a user, performing the steps of;
1) accessing the database; and
2) generating audible navigation signals corresponding to the unique plurality of DTMF tones corresponding to the selected key; and
(iv) means for transmitting the audible navigation signals over the communication network by transmitting the audible navigation signals to the telephone; and
(e) processing means in communication with the database on the server and the communication network for performing the steps of;
(i) receiving from the communication network the audible navigation signals;
(ii) in accordance with the navigation signals, accessing the database for storing content on the server;
(iii) generating at least one audible content signal corresponding to the content by converting textual content to speech, the at least one audible content signal including audible indications of hyperlinks included in the accessed content; and
(iv) transmitting over the communication network the at least one audible content signal to the telephone. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25)
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26. A system for storing the location of content, a copy of content, or a combination thereof residing on a server using a telephone, the system comprising:
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(a) a communication network supporting the HTTP protocol;
(b) a telephone in communication with the communication network, wherein the telephone comprises means for transmitting at least one audible storage signal over the communication network;
(c) a database for storing the location of the content, a copy of the content, or a combination thereof, and (d) processing means in communication with the database and the communication network for performing the steps of;
(i) generating at least one audible content signal corresponding to the content by converting textual content to speech, the at least one audible content signal including audible indications of hyperlinks included in the accessed content;
(ii) receiving the at least one audible storage signal from the communication network; and
(iii) in accordance with the storage signal, storing the location of the content, a copy of the content, or a combination thereof in the database. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28)
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29. A system for creating content using a telephone, the system comprising:
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(a) a communication network supporting the HTTP protocol;
(b) a telephone in communication with the communication network, wherein the telephone comprises means for transmitting at least one audible content creation signal over the communication network;
(c) a database for storing content; and
(d) processing means in communication with the communication network and the database for performing the steps of;
(i) receiving the at least one audible content creation signal from the communication network, the content creation signal including indications of hyperlinks in the content; and
(ii) in accordance with the content creation signal, creating content accessible to users on the communication network and storing the created content in the database. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32)
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Specification