Guestroom telephone having single action message retrieval

A method of permitting a user to retrieve recorded voice messages from a voice mail system associated with a telephone system, the telephone system configured to be operatively coupled to a private automatic branch exchange (PABX) system and to the voice mail system, the method comprising:

• providing a telephone, the telephone having a handset, a message waiting indicator configured to inform the user that the voice message is pending with the voice mail system, a message retrieval key for retrieving the voice message from the voice mail system, and an audio speaker selected from the group consisting of a loud speaker, piezo-electric element, electrostatic element, tweeter, woofer, horn speaker and moving coil speaker, said audio speaker configured to provide the user with audio output corresponding to the voice message;
• and
• activating the message retrieval key so that a single action by the user of activating the message retrieval key causes the voice message to be retrieved and the audio speaker to be automatically activated such that the voice message is output on the audio speaker without the user lifting the handset.

A method of permitting a user to retrieve recorded voice messages from a voice mail system associated with a telephone system, the telephone system configured to be operatively coupled to a private automatic branch exchange (PABX) system and to the voice mail system, the method comprising:

• providing a telephone, the telephone having a handset, a message waiting indicator configured to inform the user that the voice message is pending with the voice mail system, a message retrieval key for retrieving the voice message from the voice mail system, and an audio speaker selected from the group consisting of a loud speaker, piezo-electric element, electrostatic element, tweeter, woofer, horn speaker and moving coil speaker, said audio speaker configured to provide the user with audio output corresponding to the voice message;
• and
• activating the message retrieval key so that a single action by the user of activating the message retrieval key automatically places the telephone in an off-hook condition, turns on the audio speaker, and causes transmission of a predetermined sequence of DTMF tones to the PABX to facilitate retrieval of the voice message from the voice-mail system such that the voice message is output on the audio speaker without the user lifting the handset.