System and process for speaking in a two-way voice communication without talking using a set of speech selection menus

A system for conducting two-way voice communications between a user and a remote party wherein the remote party speaks but the user does not, comprising:

• a communication device comprising a computing device, a user interface and a display, wherein the communication device is capable of establishing a communication link between the user and the remote party;
• a computer program comprising program modules executable by the computing device, wherein the computing device is directed by the program modules of the computer program to,
• display a menu listing a plurality of potential responses on the display of the communication device, said responses being selectable by the user via the user interface, and
• upon selection of one of the responses by the user,
• access a pre-recorded voice snippet corresponding to the selected response, and
• transmit a playback of the accessed voice snippet to the remote party over the communication link.

A computer-readable medium having computer-executable tangible storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon for enabling a communication device having a computing device, user interface and display to conduct two-way voice communications between a user and a remote party over a communication link, wherein the remote party speaks but the user does not, said computer-executable instructions comprising:

• displaying a menu listing a plurality of potential responses on the display of the communication device, said responses being employed by the user to communicate with the remote party;
• displaying at least one additional menu on the display of the communication device upon selection of a response from a currently displayed menu, which together with the original menu form a hierarchy of menus used to construct a complete statement when selected responses from each menu displayed are played back in the sequence they were selected;
• providing a plurality of backchanneling responses which are selectable by the user via the user interface;
• and,
• upon selection of two or more responses used to construct said complete statement or a backchanneling response by the user employing the user interface of the communication device,
• accessing a pre-recorded voice snippet or snippets corresponding to the selected response or responses, and
• transmitting a playback of the accessed voice snippet or snippets to the remote party over the communication link.