Apparatus and method for providing voice telephone instructions

A telephone handset that can be coupled to a telephone line that carries a series of ring signals, and a secondary phone device that has a line voltage detection circuit which detects a voltage drop within a predetermined time interval, comprising:

• a line interface circuit that can be coupled to the telephone line;
• and,
• controller means for causing the generation of a tone signal on the telephone line and is activated if a subsequent activation tone is detected on the telephone line, said controller means connects to the telephone line to detect the activation signal for a time interval less than the predetermined time interval of the line voltage detection circuit.

A telephone handset that can be coupled to a telephone line that carries a first series of ring signals followed by a second series of ring signals, comprising:

• a line interface circuit that can be coupled to the telephone line;
• and,
• a controller coupled to said line interface circuit, said controller is activated if the second series of ring signals are detected within a predetermined time interval from the first series of ring signals.

A telephone handset that can be coupled to a telephone line that carries a first series of ring signals followed by a second series of ring signals, comprising:

• a line interface circuit that can be coupled to the telephone line;
• and,
• controller means for being activated if the second series of ring signals are detected within a predetermined time interval from the first series of ring signals.

A method for activating a telephone handset, comprising:

• transmitting a first series of ring signals to a telephone handset from a caller unit;
• transmitting a second series of ring signals to the telephone handset from the caller unit;
• activating the telephone handset if the second series of ring signals occur within a predetermined time interval from the first series of ring signals.