U.S. patent application number 09/896593 was filed with the patent office on 2002-04-25 for phone appliance with display screen and methods of using the same.
Invention is credited to Lin, Ching-Yi.
Application Number | 20020048283 09/896593 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 22800892 |
Filed Date | 2002-04-25 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020048283 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Lin, Ching-Yi |
April 25, 2002 |
Phone appliance with display screen and methods of using the
same
Abstract
A phone appliance and method of use are provided where the phone
appliance can be used to make VoIP communications calls. In a
preferred embodiment, the phone appliance includes an RF connection
for connecting to a computer or other computing device for
facilitating the placement of the VoIP communications calls. The
phone appliance further includes a display or portal for depicting
advertisements provided by various advertisers. The advertisements
provided can be used to defray all or part of the cost associated
with making VoIP communications calls. The portal can also be used
to communicate with businesses for ordering products, such as
ordering a pizza, and to perform various services, such as
purchasing stocks. In an exemplary system, the phone appliance is
used to transmit to a control center information related to the
user of the phone appliance, such as interests and buying habits,
and queries for receiving additional information for various
advertised products and services. The control center transmits the
queries to the appropriate vendors for providing the user with
additional information. Other functions and features are provided
to the phone appliance, such as being able to download e-mail
messages stored within or received by the computer.
Inventors: |
Lin, Ching-Yi; (New York,
NY) |
Correspondence
Address: |
DILWORTH & BARRESE, LLP
333 Earle Ovington Boulevard
Uniondale
NY
11553
US
|
Family ID: |
22800892 |
Appl. No.: |
09/896593 |
Filed: |
June 29, 2001 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
60214913 |
Jun 29, 2000 |
|
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|
Current U.S.
Class: |
370/495 ;
709/217 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04M 15/83 20130101;
H04M 15/56 20130101; H04M 1/2478 20130101; G06Q 30/02 20130101;
H04M 15/84 20130101; H04M 2215/81 20130101; H04M 2215/202 20130101;
H04L 51/00 20130101; H04M 2250/22 20130101; H04L 67/535 20220501;
H04L 69/329 20130101; H04L 67/34 20130101; H04M 1/2473 20130101;
H04M 2215/8129 20130101; H04M 2201/38 20130101; H04M 1/2535
20130101; H04M 1/2471 20130101; H04M 1/00 20130101; H04M 2207/203
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
370/495 ;
709/217 |
International
Class: |
H04J 001/02; G06F
015/16 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A phone appliance for facilitating sending voice-over-data
communications, such as voice-over-the-Internet (VoIP) data
communications, comprising: means for establishing a communication
link with the voice-over-data network; means for displaying data
received via the voice-over-data network and transmitted to the IP
phone via the communication link; and means for responding to data
displayed by the means for displaying.
2. The phone appliance according to claim 1, wherein the
communication link is a wireless RF communication link to a
computer connected to the voice-over-data network.
3. The phone appliance according to claim 1, wherein the means for
displaying data is a touch screen display.
4. The phone appliance according to claim 3, wherein the means for
responding to data includes a pointer for making contact with the
touch screen display.
5. The phone appliance according to claim 1, wherein the means for
responding is a plurality of keys.
6. The phone appliance according to claim 1, further comprising
means for performing at least one gateway function.
7. The phone appliance according to claim 1, further comprising
means for converting analog to digital, generating packets of data
from voice signals and means for compressing the data.
8. The phone appliance according to claim 1, further comprising
encryption/decryption means for facilitating secure transmission of
data.
9. The phone appliance according to claim 1, wherein the data
displayed by the means for displaying is an advertisement or
information.
10. The phone appliance according to claim 1, further comprising
means for recording audio signals transmitted over the
voice-over-data network.
11. A voice-over-data network system for providing voice over a
data communications network to at least one user, the system
comprising: at least one phone appliance having means for
establishing a communication link with the data communications
network, means for displaying data received via the data
communications network and transmitted to the at least one phone
appliance via the communication link, and means for responding to
data displayed by the means for displaying; and a control center
having means for receiving and providing data from and to the at
least one phone appliance via the data communications network, the
control center further having means for analyzing data generated by
the means for responding and received via the data communications
network, and means for maintaining at least one database
correlating the analyzed data with users of the plurality of IP
phones.
12. The system according to claim 11, wherein data displayed by the
means for displaying includes an advertisement or information from
vendors.
13. The system according to claim 11, wherein the means for
maintaining at least one database includes maintaining a database
correlating at least buying habits of the at least one user of the
at least one phone appliance.
14. The system according to claim 11, wherein a service operator
and/or a user affiliated with the control center defrays part or
all of the cost associated with the voice over the data network
communications.
15. The system according to claim 11, wherein the communication
link is a wireless RF communication link to a computer connected to
the data communications network.
16. The system according to claim 11, wherein the means for
displaying data is a touch screen display.
17. The system according to claim 16, wherein the means for
responding to data includes a pointer for making contact with the
touch screen display.
18. The system according to claim 11, wherein the means for
responding includes at least one key.
19. The system according to claim 11, wherein at least one phone
appliance includes means for performing at least one gateway
function.
20. The system according to claim 11, wherein the at least one
phone appliance includes means for converting analog to digital,
generating packets of data from voice signals and means for
compressing the data.
21. The system according to claim 11, wherein the at least one
phone appliance includes encryption/decryption means for
facilitating secure transmission of data.
22. The system according to claim 11, further comprising means for
keeping track of billing information corresponding to the at least
one user.
23. A method for facilitating voice over a data network
communications, comprising the steps of: providing a
voice-over-the-data network phone; establishing a communication
link with a voice-over-a-data communications network using the
voice-over-the-data network phone; and displaying data received via
the voice-over-the-data communications network on a display of the
voice-over-the-data network phone.
24. The method according to claim 23, wherein the step of
establishing a communication link further comprises the step of
establishing a wireless RF communication link to a computer
connected to the voice-over-the data communications network.
25. The method according to claim 23, wherein the step of
displaying data further comprises the step of displaying data on a
touch screen display of the voice-over-the-data network phone.
26. The method according to claim 23, wherein the data displayed is
selected from the group consisting of an advertisement, multimedia,
a video clip, an electronic message, and information from at least
one vendor.
Description
PRORITY
[0001] The present application claims priority to a U.S.
Provisional Application filed on Jun. 29, 2000 and having U.S.
Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/214,913, the contents of which
are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Technical Field
[0003] The present disclosure relates generally to a communications
device and, more particularly, to a phone appliance, which transmit
voice over data network, which will henceforth in this patent,
vernacularly, be referred to as an IP Phone or phone appliance
including a display screen for displaying advertisements and other
information downloaded from a network. The present disclosure also
relates to a method of using a phone appliance having a display
screen and, more particularly, to a method of using a phone
appliance having a display screen for providing unique benefits to
a user, e.g., defraying part or all of the cost of phone
service.
[0004] 2. Background of Related Art
[0005] Sending voice over data network, such as Voice-over-Internet
protocol (VoIP) communications, is quickly emerging as a viable
means for communicating. For example, communications over data
networks can entail a calling party using a standard telephone to
place a call by connecting to the public switched telephone network
(PSTN). The call is routed by the PSTN via the Internet by an
originating gateway. After being routed through the Internet, the
call exits the Internet and is received by a destination gateway.
At the destination gateway, the call is routed through the PSTN to
a standard telephone of a called party.
[0006] The main advantage of communications over data network is
the ability to make long distance telephone calls at a fraction of
the cost of traditional circuit-based calls. For example, the
calling party may reside in Brooklyn, New York and the called party
may reside in London, England. Nonetheless, the calling party is
billed for the VoIP telephone call to London, England at a lower
rate than tradition circuit-based calls, since much of the voice is
transmitted through data network such as the Internet. It is,
however, predicted that this main advantage of VoIP communications
will soon be reduced. Regulations and laws are being proposed to
charge VoIP providers access charges, which comprise a percentage
of the cost of providing traditional long distance. Therefore, it
is foreseen that once these regulations and laws are passed,
consumers will use VoIP communications less frequently than once
imagined.
[0007] Further, communications over data networks, such as VoIP,
may be used for foregoing long distance telephone charges. For
example, VoIP communications have not evolved significantly to
provide for performing other services while making a VoIP telephone
call, such as integrating voice with data, allowing consumers to
view advertisements, video clips, etc. and for replying to the
same, and making VoIP more seamless for consumers to use.
[0008] Additionally, in order to make communications over data
network a more lucrative tool for VoIP or a related communications
companies, business methods need to be implemented where the
communications companies receive a fee for various actions
performed by the calling and called parties while on a data
communications call.
[0009] Therefore, a need exists for preventing a decrease in VoIP
or its liked data communications due to charging consumers who make
such communication calls at long distance telephone calling
rates.
[0010] A need also exists for making the use of a PC or other
computing device together with a phone seamless when both devices
are used to make VoIP communications calls.
[0011] A need also exists for enabling consumers to perform other
services while making the VoIP communication call and for charging
a VoIP communications company or other service provider company, or
the consumers, with a fee for the services performed by the
consumers. Such fees are likely to be used to defray the cost
associated with making VoIP communications calls or other data
communications calls at long distance telephone calling rates.
[0012] Further, a need exists for a phone appliance having a portal
for displaying data transmitted over the VoIP data network.
SUMMARY
[0013] In accordance with the present invention, a phone appliance
and method of use are provided where the phone appliance can be
used to make data communications calls such as VoIP. In a preferred
embodiment, the phone appliance includes an RF connection for
connecting to a computer or other computing device for facilitating
the placement of the VoIP or another data communications type
calls. The phone appliance further includes a display or portal for
depicting advertisements or information provided by various
advertisers or vendors. The advertisements provided can be used to
defray all or part of the cost associated with making VoIP or a
relate data communications calls. The portal can also be used to
communicate with businesses for ordering products, such as ordering
a pizza, and to perform various services, such as purchasing
stocks. In an exemplary system, the phone appliance is used to
transmit to a control center information related to the user of the
phone appliance, such as interests and buying habits, and queries
for receiving additional information for various advertised
products and services. The control center transmits the queries to
the appropriate vendors for providing the user with additional
information. Other functions and features are provided to the phone
appliance, such as being able to download e-mail messages stored
within or received by the computer.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] Various preferred embodiments of the presently disclosed
phone appliance are described herein with reference to the
drawings, wherein:
[0015] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the presently disclosed
phone appliance;
[0016] FIG. 2 is a top view of the phone appliance shown in FIG.
1;
[0017] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the phone appliance shown in
FIG. 1 shown schematically interfaced with a personal computer and
a company server; and
[0018] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a system according to the
present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0019] Preferred embodiments of the presently disclosed phone
appliance and methods of use will now be described herein with
reference to the attached drawings, in which like reference
numerals designate identical or corresponding elements in each of
the several views.
[0020] Referring to FIGS. 1-3 below, phone appliance 10 includes a
housing 12 having a keyboard 14 and a display screen 16. Display
screen 16 is preferably formed from liquid crystal display (LCD).
Alternately, other types of display screens may be used, e.g.,
organic light emitting diodes (OLED). A phone handset 18 is
supported on housing 12 in a conventional manner. Handset 18 may be
directly connected to the housing 12 via an electrical cord, or
alternatively, may be of the cordless type. Although not shown,
phone appliance 10 may also include a speaker phone function.
[0021] The phone appliance 10 can be adapted to be connected to any
computer port to interface phone appliance 10 to a computer 21, but
is preferably connected through a universal serial bus (USB) port
(not shown). Alternatively, phone appliance 10 can include a
wireless transceiver, such as a wireless RF transceiver, to
wirelessly interface phone appliance 10 to a computer 21 with a
matching transceiver.
[0022] Voice data, multimedia data, and other data can be
transmitted to and from the computer 21 and phone appliance 10 via
the USB port or via RF signals. By using a USB port or RF signals
to communicate between the phone appliance 10 and the computer 21,
VoIP communications or other type of communications can be
integrated with the Internet or a data network in a more
cost-effective manner than if the computer 21 alone or the phone
appliance 10 alone was used for making VoIP communications over a
VoIP data network or another voice over data network.
[0023] By using a USB port or RF signals to communicate between the
phone appliance 10 and the computer 21, the phone appliance 10 can
be provided with less computing, processing and/or memory
resources, since the computing, processing and/or memory resources
of the computer 21 are used, i.e., shared, by the phone appliance
10 through the USB or RF connection for providing VoIP
communications or other data-type communications. By using less
computing, processing and/or memory resources, the fabrication and
retail costs of the phone appliance 10 may be reduced.
[0024] For example, the phone appliance 10 may utilize a network
browser program, such as Netscape Navigator.TM., installed within
the computer 21 and the computer's modem for accessing the
Internet, thereby, being a cheaper priced phone appliance than a
phone appliance that does not communicate via a USB port or RF
signals with a computer and must have its own browser program and
modem for connecting to the voice over data network. It is a
cost-effective to have the phone appliance mimic the computer with
services such as e-mail, Internet access and portal features. In
such an embodiment, one can use the phone appliance 10 to make VoIP
or another data-type communications, or access the Internet, by
dialing the called party via the Internet (or other data network)
without being "aware" that the call is being placed through the
Internet. To the user, the phone appliance 10 is a traditional
phone that can be carried anywhere for placing VoIP or other
data-type communication calls given the appropriate
connections.
[0025] It is further provided that the phone appliance 10 includes
means for receiving data from the computer 21, such as e-mail, to
enable one to access data stored within the computer 21 via the
phone appliance 10. Further, the phone appliance 10 can be upgraded
with new software by downloading the new software from the data
network by the IP phone 10 and/or wirelessly transmit the new
software to the IP phone 10 via the RF connection between the
computer 21 and the IP phone 10.
[0026] Any RF transceiver commercially available from a number of
sources, such as Intel (AnyPoint.TM. Wireless Home Network), can be
provided to the phone appliance 10. The computer 21 in turn can
access a phone network, such as the PSTN.
[0027] The PSTN in turn accesses a data network, such as the
Internet. Such access may be obtained a number of ways, for
example, via a local area network, a dial up connection, any local
loop access technology that calls for modems such as a digital
subscriber line (DSL) or a cable modem connection. The data network
is used via the computer 21 to transport voice data point-to-point,
or partially in conjunction with the PSTN and pathways, to complete
the call and carry on a VoIP communication. The data network also
transports data to and from the IP phone keyboard 14 and display 16
via the computer 21 for purposes described herein below.
[0028] Keyboard 14 includes an alpha-numeric keypad 19 which can be
used to place a phone call or access and/or retrieve information
from a computer 21 and display the information on display screen
16. For example, display screen 16 is optionally a touch screen
which allows the user to access display information such as the
yellow pages, addresses, news, stock quotes, etc. by touching a
pointer 22 to the corresponding area on display screen 16. A touch
pad or mouse ball may also be incorporated in lieu of a touch
screen in a known manner to control a pointer on the display screen
16 to select the desired display information.
[0029] The phone appliance 10 may also include additional features
to improve upon the quality and speed of phone service and/or the
security of the transmission system. For example, phone appliance
10 may include a digital signal processor to improve the sound
quality of the voice transmission or hardware vocoders and
communication circuitry to transmit alpha-numeric as well as voice
data. The phone appliance 10 may also include means for converting
analog to digital, generating sets or packets of digital data from
voice signals and alpha-numeric inputs and means for compressing
the digital data to increase the speed and efficiency of the data
transmission, including providing better sound quality than a PC
sound card. An encryption encoder and a decryption decoder or
equivalent software may also be provided in phone appliance 10 to
facilitate secure transmission of voice and alpha-numeric
information. The phone appliance 10 may further include a video
camera or a port for connecting a video camera to the phone
appliance 10. The video camera can be used for transmitting a video
image of a user of the phone appliance 10, e.g., as in a
video-phone. The phone appliance 10 may further include GSM
capability.
[0030] The phone appliance 10 also includes software and hardware
for performing gateway functions that provide two-way, real time
communication interfaces between an IP-based or data network and a
telephony network including mapping, translation, signaling and
control of the media and signaling gateway. By being able to
perform gateway functions, the phone appliance 10 prevents the
bottleneck effect, since the phone appliance 10 includes in essence
the originating gateway. Further, the gateway functions also helps
reduce the cost of providing voice-over-data communications
networks, since some call origination cost(s) may be
eliminated.
[0031] In a preferred embodiment, display screen 16 is used to
display advertisements or information downloaded from the data
network via the computer 21 (FIG. 3). The advertisements or
information can be used, for example, to defray the consumer cost
associated with phone service. More specifically, advertisements
and other information can be downloaded from the data network via
the computer 21 onto display screen 16 of IP phone 10 while a VoIP
or related data type communication call is in progress. It is also
contemplated to download advertisements and other information using
the IP phone 10 when there is no VoIP or voice communication call
in progress.
[0032] In exchange for displaying the advertisements, the
advertiser or user can defray part or all of the cost of the phone
and/or service. The advertiser or user can pay a flat or variable
fee to the long distance provider and/or any other service provider
to defray the cost of the phone and/or service. Alternately, each
advertisement or information may include an identifier, which is
recognized by software or hardware in phone appliance 10 or
computer 21. Thereafter, the advertiser or vendor will be charged a
specified fee for the advertising or information by a service
provider.
[0033] For example, with reference to FIG. 4, a service provider of
a system 400 maintains a control center 410 having a database 420
storing a plurality of advertisements or information therein. Upon
the establishment of a VoIP or another data type communication call
between a calling party using a first phone appliance 10a and a
called party using a second phone appliance 10bata packets are
transmitted along with the voice packets from one or both of the IP
phones 10a, 10b. For example, the voice packets are transmitted to
the opposite party via a first PSTN 430, an originating gateway
440, the Internet 450, a destination or terminating gateway 460,
and a second PSTN 470, as known in the art.
[0034] On the other hand, the data packets are transmitted to the
control center 410 via the first PSTN 430, the originating gateway
440, and the Internet 450, and/or the destination gateway 460, the
second PSTN 470, and the Internet 450. The data packets contain a
head-end for being correctly routed to the control center 410 and
identifying information. The identifying information is used by the
control center 410 to determine from which phone appliance 10 the
data packets originated from. Once the originating phone appliance
10 is determined by the service provider, the service provider can
target specific advertisements, video clips, messages, etc. stored
within the database 420 to the user of the originating phone
appliance 10 during the duration of the VoIP or data typed
communication call. The specific advertisements, video clips,
messages, etc. could be related to interests, products of interest,
and other promotional information (which may be, for example, of
interest to the user) to the user of the originating IP phone
appliance 10 as determined by the service provider and/or user.
[0035] The service provider is able to determine the
advertisements, multimedia clips, or other information to target to
specific users by correlating the identifying information as
received by the data packets with a user database 480. The user
database 480 stores information pertaining to various users of
phones appliance 10 throughout the system 400. The information
stored relates to various characteristics of each user, such as
age, buying habits, interests, etc. The information may be acquired
by the service provider by periodically transmitting a
questionnaire to the users of phones appliance 10 via the system
hardware. The questionnaires are provided with routing data packets
so that they reach the users of phone appliance 10. The users of
phones appliance 10 answer the questionnaires and can transmit the
completed questionnaires back to the control center 410. Once each
questionnaire is transmitted back to the control center 410, it is
provided with data packets, as noted above, for being correctly
routed to the control center 410.
[0036] The system 400 may provide incentives for the users of IP
phones 10 to answer the questionnaires and transmit them back to
the control center 410. Such incentives could be, for example,
defrayal of long distance charges when making VoIP communication
calls, entrance into periodic sweepstakes, free product samples,
etc.
[0037] The service provider can also acquire the information by
noting which advertisements sparked an interest to respective
users. The system 400 notes when a user of a phone appliance 10
clicks on or selects an advertisement or information for obtaining
additional information about the company, service, product, etc.
being advertised or displayed. Accordingly, it is noted that any
interaction with the display or portal 16 of the phone appliance 10
by a particular user, may cause a data packet to be transmitted to
the control center 410.
[0038] The data packet is appended with identifying information for
identifying the particular phone appliance 10 which caused the
generation and transmission of the data packet. The data packet is
also provided with routing information for correctly routing the
data packet to the control center 410 or other location. The
generation and transmission of data packets with identifying and
routing information is performed by data processing and
transmission hardware and/or software, as known in the art,
provided within the phone appliance 10 and/or computer 21.
[0039] It is contemplated that when the user selects an
advertisement for obtaining additional information, the control
center 410 sends a request to the particular vendor with the user's
contact information. It is further contemplated to provide the
handset of the phone appliance 10 with a button which a user can
press while communicating over the VoIP data network, or other
network, for indicating a response to an advertisement or other
data displayed by the display screen 16.
[0040] The service provider processes the data packets received by
the users providing responses to the data displayed on the phone
appliance 10. The service provider then appends the user database
480 with any pertinent information related to the particular user
which was obtained by processing the data packets. The system 400
is thus a VoIP or data-type communications system configured for
obtaining information of interest to advertisers, such as
companies, institutions, non-profit organizations, etc., while
providing incentives or benefits to users for providing such
information.
[0041] It is provided that the service provider can sell the
information acquired of the various users of the system 400 to the
advertisers, vendors, marketing companies, etc. for a fee or an
exchange of goods or services. It is further provided that the
control center 410 is provided with software modules having
programmable instructions for being processed by one or more
processors of the system 400 for performing the above-described
functions and other functions.
[0042] It is provided that the control center 410 further includes
a billing station 490 for receiving and processing data packets
indicating the initiation and termination of VoIP communications as
known in the art. Accordingly, the billing station 490 keeps track
of billing information. The billing information is then transmitted
to a telecommunications company for billing subscribers of the
system 400.
[0043] With continued reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, phone appliance
10 also may include a plurality of function keys 24. Function keys
24 can be depressed to perform pre-selected tasks. For example,
function keys may be provided to redial the last number dialed,
access E-mail from the computer 21, send E-mail, send faxes, call
another party, send data to a server, print file, delete a file,
retrieve MP-3 files, establishing communication link with a
software, etc. The function keys 24 can also be used to respond to
advertisements, menus, questions, etc. appearing on the display
16.
[0044] For example, the function keys 24, as well as the
alpha-numeric keypad 19, can be used to type one's e-mail address
within an entry box appearing on the display 16 for transmitting
the e-mail address to a vendor or to dial or complete a call to a
desired advertiser. It is provided that the responses entered using
the function keys 24 and the alpha-numeric keypad 19 are first
transmitted to a control center, such as control center 410,
operated by the service provider, before being transmitted to the
appropriate vendor. The function keys 24 can also be used for
transmitting an advertisement displayed to another user or to a
certain e-mail address.
[0045] In a preferred embodiment, a "record" function key is
provided. The record function key may be depressed to record a VoIP
conversation. In doing so, the acoustic signals are converted to a
corresponding analog signal which in turn is converted to digital
data through an analog-to-digital converter. Thereafter, the
digital data corresponding to the recorded conversation can be
compressed and stored in the computer memory or on disk.
Alternately, the service provider may provide a storage warehouse
for storing recordings of VoIP conversations, for example, within a
memory device located at the control center 410. For a fee, the
recorded VoIP conversations can be transmitted to the storage
warehouse via the computer 21 or directly for later use.
[0046] In another preferred embodiment of phone appliance 10,
display screen or portal 16 displays advertisements 26 from local
or national service providers or vendors, e.g., local take-out
restaurants, etc. By pressing advertisement 26 with pointer 22, a
menu or order form will be displayed on screen 16. Thereafter, a
send command can be entered to place the order with the local or
national service provider or vendor. Software necessary to perform
these functions can be dynamically downloaded, via the computer 21,
or manually installed by a user via the computer 21, or factory
installed into phone 10. Each service provider would be charged a
percentage of the sale by a third party vendor for use of the
service. Alternately, the third party vendor can be compensated by
selling or leasing the software and/or content to the service
provider for a fee.
[0047] The portal 16 can be further used as an interface with
various vendors, such as a brokerage firm, over a VoIP or another
data communications network for allowing the user to perform
various services, such as directly communicate with the vendors,
purchase stocks, etc. It is provided that the communications with
the various vendors can be directed through the computer 21 before
being transmitted to the various vendors through VoIP or another
data communications network or may be directly to VoIP or another
data communication network.
[0048] It is appreciated that various software modules are provided
within the phone appliance 10, the computer 21 or other device for
performing the functions described above with respect to the phone
appliance 10 and the system 400, such as the phone appliance 10
communicating via the RF connection with the computer 21.
[0049] It will be understood that various modifications may be made
to the embodiments disclosed herein. For example, a variety of
different function keys and touch pad keys may be provided to
perform a variety of different tasks not specifically identified
here, e.g., grocery shopping. Moreover, phone appliance 10 may
include the capability for storing and/or playing music files such
as MP3 music files. Therefore, the above description should not be
construed as limiting, but merely as exemplification of preferred
embodiments. Those skilled in the art will envision other
modifications within the scope and spirit of this disclosure.
* * * * *