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Electronic document answering machine
| Details |
Inventors: Kikinis, Dan;
Assignee: Lextron Systems, Inc. (Saratoga, CA)
Primary Examiner: Zele; Krista
Assistant Examiner: Hoosain; Allan
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Boys; Donald R. Central Coast Patent Agency, Inc.
An Electronic Document Answering Machine is adapted to connect to remote information sources and to download digital documents including e-mail and WEB pages, and to store the documents for later review by a user. The Answering machine has an alert device for alerting a user that new documents are available for review, and an initializing device for a user to cause documents to be communicated for review one-at-a-time. In a preferred embodiment documents are communicated over a speaker via voice synthesis. In an alternative preferred embodiment a small display is provided wherein documents may be displayed in alphanumeric characters. The answering machine can be implemented as a stand-alone device or can be connected via a serial port to a host PC for transferring documents to the PC for processing and review. In other embodiments the Answering Machine is implemented as a system in a PC, with alert and selective input added as an interface. The interface can be in a keyboard, and can be provided by existing keys and LEDs on a keyboard. An Answering Machine is also provided as a set-top-box for a TV, downloading digital documents from the Internet and providing the documents with user prompting to a TV via an audio/video output, prompting may be by infrared input from a remote controller. |
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION In a preferred embodiment of the invention an Electronic Document Answering Machine is provided, comprising a CPU and memory connected by a communication bus; a modem connected to the bus for communicating on a telephone line; an announcement system for communicating stored documents to a user; an alert apparatus for signaling a user that new documents are waiting to be reviewed; and an input device for a user to signal the system to communicate new documents to the user.
The CPU, executing stored control code, periodically accesses remote sources over the modem, downloads and stores digital documents in portions of the memory, and activates the alert apparatus as new documents are stored, and wherein the CPU in response to input from a user via the input device, communicates stored documents one-at-a-time to the user.
Communication to a user in some embodiments is by voice synthesis using a built-in speaker, and in other embodiments by activation and control of a small, built-in display, or by a combination or selection of methods.
Because the machine is connected to a phone line, it is, in some embodiments, also adapted to receive and store voice calls like a conventional answering machine, and facsimile messages, which may be stored and vocalized or displayed like e-mail messages.
The machine may also comprise a serial port for connecting to a host personal computer (PC), wherein the Electronic Document Answering Machine is adapted to communicate stored documents to the PC for processing.
In this embodiment the PC may use the device transparently as a modem.
The modem in the Answering Machine is preferably without a separate CPU and the Answering Machine CPU serves the modem as well.
The Electronic Document Answering Machine accesses the Internet and downloads e-mail and selected WEB pages for a user, and then plays the documents, such as by audio voice synthesis for e-mail, with prompting from the user.
In this way it operates much as a telephone answering machine
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Television 
