Processor-assisted communication system using tone-generating telephones

A method of locally presenting to a human user an alphanumeric message comprising a sequence of words based on tone signals received over a telephone line, said signals having been entered on the keypad of a remote tone-generating telephone dialing device, said method comprising the steps of:

• converting the received tone signals into electrical signals, each electrical signal representing the activation of either a numeric key or a control character key on the keypad, each numeric key signal representing a single alphabetic character or number;
• assembling the electrical signals into a series of input units, each input unit consisting of one or more numeric key signals followed by a control key signal and representing one word in the sequence of words;
• sequentially accessing a database of stored words to retrieve any word or words stored therein at the location identified by each input unit;
• and
• locally outputting the message by presenting the retrieved words in a sequence corresponding to the input unit series and in a form perceptible to the human user with multiple words stored at a location being identified and presented to permit the human user to select the most appropriate of the multiple words from the sequential context in which it is presented.

A system for locally presenting to a human user an alphanumeric message comprising a sequence of words received over a telephone line as a series of tone signals entered through the keypad of a remote tone-generating telephone dialing device, said system including:

• one or more databases of words, said words being arranged in records and each record including a numeric record number;
• means for converting received tone signals into electrical signals, each electrical signal representing the activation of either a numeric key or a control character key on the keypad, each numeric key signal representing a single alphabetic character or number;
• means for assembling the electrical signals into a series of input units, each input unit consisting of one or more numeric key signals followed by a control key signal and representing one word in the sequence of words;
• means for addressing said one or more databases using the input units serially as addresses to locate records having numeric record numbers matching the input units;
• means for locally outputting the message by serially presenting words stored in any such records in a sequence and in a form perceptible to the human user of the system, said last-named means identifying and presenting multiple words having the same numeric record number to permit the human user to select the most appropriate of the multiple words from the sequential context in which it appears.

For use in a system having one or more databases of words stored in records with each record including a numeric record number, a method of locally presenting to a human user an alphanumeric message comprising a sequence of words based on tone signals received over a telephone line, said signals having been entered on the keypad of a remote tone-generating telephone dialing device, said method comprising the steps of:

• converting the tone signals into electrical signals, each electrical signal representing the activation of either a numeric key or a control character key on the keypad, each numeric key signal representing a single alphabetic character or number;
• assembling the electrical signals into a series of input units, each input unit consisting of one or more numeric key signals followed by a control key signal and representing one word in the sequence of words;
• serially accessing said one or more databases to locate any record having a numeric record number matching each input unit;
• retrieving any word or words stored in the accessed records;
• and
• locally outputting the message by presenting the retrieved words in a sequence corresponding to the input unit series and in a form perceptible to the human user with multiple words stored in any such record being identified and presented to permit the human user to select the most appropriate of the multiple words from the context in which it is presented.