AU749043B2 - Telephone apparatus with message display - Google Patents

Description

WO 99/60762 PCT/GB99/01578

I

TELEPHONE APPARATUS WITH MESSAGE DISPLAY The present invention relates to telephone apparatus such as telephones and facsimile machines of the type connected to a public service telephone network for making and receiving telephone calls and to such apparatus having message displays.

It is known for telephone apparatus such as telephones and facsimile machines to be connected to signal lines of a public service telephone network so that communications signals may be routed via the network. Telephone calls originating from or received at the telephone apparatus are typically routed via a local exchange connected to one or more networks for inland or overseas calls. Typically a residence or workplace would be provided with telephone sockets into which connection is made by appropriate wiring from the telephone apparatus and signal lines, which may include optical fibre links, provide connection to the local exchange.

It is known for such telephone apparatus to be provided with a display, typically in the form of a liquid crystal display screen, driven by a processor and indicating call number information and optionally date and time information to the user.

It is also known in a pager system for portable pager devices to receive messages from a radio pager transmission via radio waves, typically VHF, and for a pager device to include a liquid crystal display to present a message addressed to a specific pager device or broadcast to a group of pager devices by a paging control centre from which messages are originated on demand by users of the pager system. Typically users contact the paging control centre by telephone and request transmission of a text message to the specified device(s).

2 It is also known from EP-A-0344672 to provide a public telephone with a display for presenting advertising information and information specifically requested interactively by a user using data stored in the telephone apparatus or transmitted from a remote site. The displayed information may be transmitted via a satellite communication or radio system, enabling the displayed information to be broadcast other than via the telephone lines used by the telephone.

The discussion of the background to the invention herein is included to explain the context of the invention. This is not to be taken as an admission that any of the material referred to was published, known or part of the common general knowledge in Australia as at the priority date of any of the claims.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a telephone apparatus including: communication means operable to make and receive telephone calls for sending and receiving communications signals; 15 display means operable to present a display of information to a user of the communication means; memory means for storing information to be displayed; detecting means operable to detect an event associated with use of S"the communication means; control means operable to control the display means to present the •display of the information stored in the memory means to the user in response to ooo.

said detection by said detection means; S* receiving means operable to receive broadcast signals other than ooooo3 said communications signals; and 25 updating means operable to update the information to be displayed stored in the memory means in accordance with the broadcast signals; wherein the memory means is further operable to store identification information associated with the telephone apparatus; the updating means including a b.uffer memory for storing received broadcast signals; comparing means operable to compare identification data contained in the broadcast signals stored in the buffer memory with the identification information .3 stored in the memory means; and )D EL ET E\39452 -99.doC 2a storage selection means operable to select for storing in said memory means only broadcast signals for which the identification data in the broadcast signals correspond to stored identification information.

According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of operating a telephone apparatus including: operating a communication means to make and receive telephone calls for sending and receiving communications signals; operating a display means to present a display of information to a user of the communication means; storing information to be displayed in a memory means; detecting an event associated with use of the communication means; controlling the display means to present the display of the information stored in the memory means to the user in response to said detection; S. 15 receiving broadcast signals other than said communications signals; and updating the information to be displayed stored in the memory means in accordance with the broadcast signals; wherein: storing identification information associated with the telephone apparatus in the memory means; and wherein the updating step comprises: storing the received broadcast signals in a buffer memory; comparing identification data contained in the broadcast signals stored in **.the buffer memory with the identification information stored in the memory means; 25 and selecting for storing in said memory means only broadcast signals for which the identification data in the broadcast signals correspond to stored identification information.

Preferably the control means is a processor which controls the display means by running a display program which processes display data, both program code and display data being stored in the memory means and updated periodically using broadcast signals. Where the telephone apparatus is a land -line telephone or facsimile machine, the broadcast signals may be wireless /4 signals received via an antenna and receiving circuit.

W:\,i\GABNODEL\39452-99.do WO 99/60762 PCT/GB99/01578 3 Alternatively, the broadcast signals may be received via a network such as the Internet or private data network and input to the apparatus by means of a suitable decoder.

Where the telephone apparatus is a mobile telephone, the broadcast signals may be received via a channel of a mobile telephone cellular network. The events which trigger the display of information may be detected as the starting or ending of a telephone call or may be dependent upon detection of digits in the communications signals forming part of dialled telephone numbers, network access codes or call line identification.

Other aspects of the invention are defined in accordance with the appended claims.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings of which: Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system including a public service telephone network and having telephone apparatus connected to the network and arranged to receive broadcast information; Figure 2 is a schematic external plan view of a telephone in accordance with the present invention; Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the internal components of the telephone of Figure 2; Figure 4A is a schematic diagram of the contents of a broadcast message; Figure 4B is a schematic diagram of the contents of a Random Access Memory containing current message and address information; Figure 5 is a schematic flowchart illustrating a process for displaying information; Figure 6 is a schematic flowchart illustrating a method of updating current message data and presentation control data in the Random Access Memory of the terminal; WO 99/60762 PCT/GB99/01578 4 Figure 7 is an external view of an alternative telephone apparatus; Figure 8 is an external view of a further alternative apparatus including a graphic display; Figure 8A is a view of an alternative graphic display; Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of functional components of the telephone apparatus of Figure 8; Figure 10 is a flowchart representing a display control process; Figure 11 is a flowchart showing a control display process in a route dependent mode; and Figure 12 is a flowchart showing a display control process in a route independent mode; Figure 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating the broadcasting of messages to a telephone via a cable network; Figure 14 is a schematic diagram illustrating connection of a telephone for receiving broadcast messages via the Internet; Figure 14A is a schematic diagram illustrating connection of a telephone for receiving broadcast messages via a private data network; Figure 15 is an illustration of a further embodiment including a smart card reader/writer; Figure 16 is a schematic component diagram of the telephone of Figure Figure 17 is a flowchart illustrating the output of a smart card token using the telephone of Figures 15 and 16; Figure 18 is a schematic diagram illustrating the broadcast of tokens to the telephone of Figures 15 to 17 via the Internet and a cable network; Figure 19 is a schematic diagram of a mobile telephone having a display of information and connected WO 99/60762 PCT/GB99/01578 to a cellular network; Figure 20 is a schematic diagram of a routing module having a display of information; Figure 21 is a schematic flowchart illustrating interactive display of information; and Figure 22 is a schematic diagram of a facsimile machine in which the display of information is printed.

Figure 1 shows a communications system 1 in which a telephone 2 is connected to local exchange 3 by means of a signal line 4. The local exchange 3 is connected to networks 5a, 5b and 5c and other local exchanges 6 and 7, together forming a public service telephone network 8.

Other telephone apparatus in the form of telephones 9 and 10 and facsimile machine 11 are similarly connected to local exchanges 6 and 7 of the public service telephone network.

The telephone 2 is provided with an antenna 12 suitable for receiving VHF signals at 153.35 MHz, this being the type of broadcast electromagnetic signals currently used by radio pager transmitters of paging systems. In accordance with the POCSAG standard the transmission encoded using FEC (Forward error coding) of ECH type and interleaving.

A control centre 13 generates broadcast information and is connected to a radio tower 14 transmitting the broadcast electromagnetic (VHF) signals to be detected by antenna 12.

Each of the further telephone apparatus 9, 10 and 11 is similarly provided with a respective antenna 12.

The external appearance of the telephone 2 is shown in plan view in Figure 2 and consists of a base 20 to which is removably mounted a handset 21 which includes a microphone 22 and speaker 23. The handset 21 is connected to the base 20 via cable (not shown). A key WO 99/60762 PCT/GB99/01578 6 pad 24 is provided for the user input of telephone numbers.

A display screen 25 is mounted on the base 20 and presents a visible message consisting of a graphic portion 26 and a text portion 27. The display 25 also includes a number display area 28 in which dialled telephone numbers are displayed in conventional manner and a clock display area 29 in which the time of day is indicated.

A loudspeaker 30 is also mounted in the base Figure 3 illustrates the internal structure of the telephone 2 in schematic form. The telephone 2 comprises a two wire to four wire converter 31, the input side of which is connected to a telephone socket 32 via an OFFhook switch 33. On the telephone socket side of the OFFhook switch 33, a ringer 34 is positioned between the two wires. The contacts of the OFF-hook switch 33 are closed when the hand set 21 shown in Figure 2 is lifted by the user, thereby creating an OFF-hook event to initiate a telephone call.

On the four wire side of the two wire to four wire converter 31, two wires are connected to the microphone 22 and a further two wires are connected to earpiece speaker 23.

A dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF) generator 35 is also connected to the two wire to four wire converter 31 in parallel with the microphone 22, the DTMF generator having its input connected to an output of a processor 36. The processor 36 is also connected to the key pad 24, a ROM 38, a RAM 39 and a clock A display 41 has its input connected to an output of the processor 36 and has outputs driving the display screen 25 and the loudspeaker 30, these components together providing an information presenting system 43.

A demodulator 42 has its input connected to aerial WO 99/60762 PCT/GB99/01578 7 12. The demodulator 42 has an output connected to a protocol decoder 45 whose output is connected to an input of the processor 36.

Operation of the telephone 2 in making a telephone call will now be described. A user initiates a telephone call by lifting the handset 21, this being detected by the OFF-hook switch 33 which connects the two wire to four wire converter 31 to the telephone socket 32 and provides an OFF-hook signal to processor 36. On hearing a dial tone via the earpiece speaker 23, the user then inputs the telephone number of the destination telephone to be called using the key pad 24 which sends the numerical data defining the call number to the processor 36. The processor actuates the DTMF generator which outputs dial tone signals transmitted via the two to four wire converter 31 to the telephone socket 32 for outgoing transmission via the signal line 4. A call is terminated by replacing the handset 21, this being detected by means of the OFF-hook switch 33. The control centre 13 transmits the broadcast signals in which the encoded broadcast information has contents as illustrated schematically in Figure 4A. The broadcast message will typically be addressed to a group of telephone apparatus but every message will contain a message address block 50 which contains address data which determines whether the telephone 2 is the intended recipient of the message.

A presentation control information block 56 contains presentation control information defining the manner in which message data contained in a message data block is presented.

The telephone 2 stores terminal address information in RAM 39, the terminal address information representing an identifier specific to the telephone and also user determined configuration data, and processes only broadcast information containing corresponding WO 99/60762 PCT/GB99/01578 8 message address data Figure 6 illustrates schematically the process of updating the current message data and presentation control data in response to received messages. When a broadcast message is detected at step 67 as having been received, the message data 55, presentation control information 56 and message address data 50 are temporarily stored at step 68 in a buffer memory and the address data compared at step 69 with the terminal address information. If there is correspondence between the message address data 50 and the terminal address information 70, the stored current message data 71 and current presentation control information 72 stored in the RAM 39 are updated at step 73 to correspond to the received broadcast message. If there is no correspondence between the terminal address data 70 and the message address data 50 then the current message data and current presentation control information are not updated and remain unchanged.

Figure 4B illustrates schematically the storage in RAM 39 of the current message data 71, current presentation control information 72 and the terminal address data 70. The user may configure operation of the telephone by setting the user configured component of the current terminal address data 70 to any one of a set of available addresses which may for example be comprised of a number of fields indicating leisure interests, professional activities, age and sex of the user so that the user may configure the telephone to present only those messages likely to be of interest.

The telephone therefore presents messages in accordance with the current message data 71 and current presentation control information 72, these being updated periodically whenever a broadcast message having the appropriate address data 50 is received. The user WO 99/60762 PCT/GB99/01578 9 configured component of the terminal address data may be reconfigured at any time by the user inputting an appropriate command code via the keypad 24 and during this configuration mode the processor 36 may control the display screen 25 to present a menu of options to the user for selection via appropriate input using the keypad 24.

The current presentation control information 72 contains an identifier indicating the nature of the display as being text, audio, video, animated graphic, or a combination thereof. The current presentation control information 72 may also include an identifier indicating that the display is to generate using a display application (the term "display application" is here used to indicate a program or application such as a Java Applet which may be downloaded to the telephone processor to process message data 71 and determine for example a scrolling pattern or image movement to be used in graphic displays). Typically, the display application may be changed periodically to present each set of message data in a corresponding new style, the display apparatus being stored in memory as display program code which is updated by new code included in message data contained in a broadcast message, or a series of broadcast messages containing segments of program code.

The presentation control information block 72 also contains information determining the timing of display of presenting a message such as for example the following options: Option 1: display the message when received in real time from the pager message control centre and continue to display until a further message received; S Option 2: receive and store the message information and display the message for a predetermined time WO 99/60762 PCT/GB99/01578 interval initiated in response to detection of an OFF-hook event when the user initiates a telephone call by lifting the handset; S Option 3: receive and store the message information and initiate the presentation of the message in response to detection of an ON-hook event when a user terminates a telephone call by replacing the handset; 0 Option 4: receive and store the message information and initiate the presentation of the message in response to detection of an outgoing call being dialled so as to include a specific code, for example a code indicating that the dialled telephone number is an international call from the United Kingdom to the United States, the display message being an advertising message relating to this destination; S Option 5: receive and store the message information and initiate the presentation of the message in response to detection of a call line identifier code contained in an incoming telephone call, the call line identifier providing an indication of the geographical location of the call origin, and the message presented being selected to relate to this geographical location; S Option 6: receive and store the message information and initiate the presentation of the message in response to detection of the line state indicating a dialled number to be engaged or unattainable The presentation control information block 72 also contains information determining the time interval during which the message is to be displayed in options 2 and 3 above.

The current message data block 71 contains data relating to the information content of message to be WO 99/60762 PCT/GB99/01578 11 presented by the information presenting system 43 constituted by the display 25, speaker 30, display interface 41, processor 36 and RAM 39 of Figure 3.

Existing paging systems are adapted to transmit alphanumeric messages of a specified maximum. This maximum limit varies by paging standard, protocol and operator but is generally in the region of 240 characters. This may be sufficient for simple text messages to be displayed in an embodiment of the present invention by the information presenting system 43 where for example a moving text message is presented in text portion 27. Longer messages may however be transmitted for storage in the RAM 39 by dividing the message content into a number of portions and forwarding the portions in separate consecutive pager transmissions.

Examples of information to be presented by the information presenting system 43 will now be described.

An advertising message may be presented in the display screen 25 of Figure 2 as text in the text portion 27 which may be expanded to fill the entire display screen The text message may be scrolled from side to side or up and down during the period for which the message is displayed. The content of the advertising information may for example be to publicise a special offer on telephone calls or current call charges such as "Pathfinder now offers peak time call charges to the United States for 13 pence per minute". As referred to above, the current message is tailored to the requirements of the user, as determined by the configuration data contained in the terminal address information, so that advertising messages can be targeted to appropriate recipients. Other text messages may for example contain trading prices on the stock market presented in the form of a Stock Ticker or other commercial information of specific interest to the user WO 99/60762 PCT/GB99/01578 12 such as sports results. A further alternative of interactive messages is disclosed below with reference to Figure 21.

A second example of presenting information by the information presenting system 43 is to display an animated graphic image in the graphic portion 26 of display 25. If it is not required to simultaneously display text then the graphic portion may expand to fill the whole display screen 25. The graphic display may include text or have a separate text portion 27 as shown in Figure 2.

The graphic display may represent an advertising logo or display other visual graphic information such as a weather chart, or road map.

In a third example, the visual display is not required and an audible message is presented via the speaker 30. The message may be encoded in a compact form suitable for driving a speech synthesiser contained in the interface 41. The audible message may include music.

A fourth example is an audible message delivered via the earpiece speaker 23, requiring connection between the display interface 41 and the two wires connected to the earpiece speaker 23, this connection being illustrated by connecting wires 44 in Figure 3 which are shown as broken lines representing that this is an alternative option. The display screen 25 may optionally be also controlled via the display interface 41 in this example to display text corresponding to the synthesised speech delivered to the earpiece speaker 23.

A procedure for controlling the elapsed time of a display and the time at which the display is initiated is illustrated in Figure 5. It is to be understood that in referring to "display" any of the above examples of presenting a message are to be included as possible alternatives.

WO 99/60762 PCT/GB99/01578 13 In Figure 5 the processor 36 checks at step whether the telephone is in an OFF-hook state, as detected by the OFF-hook switch 33. If the OFF-hook state is detected, the processor checks for any change in status to the ON-hook state. When the ON-hook state is detected at step 62, the display is initiated and a timer started. The elapsed time is measured by means of clock 40 and when the elapsed time has reached a predetermined time interval as determined at step 65, the display is ended at step 66.

A further embodiment will now be described using corresponding references to previous figures where appropriate for corresponding elements.

Figure 7 shows an alternative telephone 2 in which the display is presented solely in the form of text contained in a text portion 27 of the display screen in addition to a number display area 28 and clock display area 29. Text within the text portion 27 is scrolled in a manner determined by a display application stored in RAM 39, the circuit of the telephone of Figure 7 corresponding substantially to that shown in Figure 3.

The text portion 27 displays a 2x20 character display of text stored in RAM as stored display data which is periodically updated from broadcast message data in broadcast signals.

The display application controlling the manner in which the text is displayed is similarly defined by stored display program code which is periodically updated using broadcast message data contained in broadcast signals.

Figure 8 illustrates a further embodiment which will be described using corresponding references to those of previous figures where appropriate for corresponding elements. In Figure 8, a telephone 2 includes a display screen 25 which, in response to use of the telephone by WO 99/60762 PCT/GB99/01578 14 a user to make or receive a telephone call, displays an advertising message in the form of an animated graphic display in a graphic portion 26 of the display screen, the displayed information including a text portion Figure 9 illustrates schematically the functional elements of the apparatus of Figure 8 in which a processor 36 controls operation of both a display 25 and telephone communication circuits 81. The telephone communication circuits 81 correspond generally to the elements 31, 32, 34 and 35 of the circuit of Figure 3 and function to enable telephone calls to be made and received for sending and receiving communications signals 82.

A receiver circuit 83 is provided for receiving the input of broadcast signals 84 which are separate and distinct from the communications signals 82 and are received via a separate input 85. The input 85 is connected externally to an interface (not shown) allowing signals from a cable distribution network, internet modem or other means of broadcasting signals which do not require the placing of a telephone call to the telephone 2 itself for the transmission of information.

Broadcast signals are "addressed" to specific users by including "address information", i.e. identification data which enables the receiving telephone apparatus to select only information which is relevant to the requirements or preference of the user. The telephone of Figures 8 and 9 includes a memory represented in Figure 9 as RAM 39 and which contains a number of memory areas as represented schematically. A buffer memory 86 is used to initially store all data contained in broadcast signals 84 input to the processor 36 from the receiver circuit 83. Address information contained in the broadcast data stored in the buffer memory is WO 99/60762 PCT/GB99/01578 compared with apparatus ID data 87 and user configuration data 88 which together comprise terminal address data stored identifying information) which acts as a filter for selecting only specific broadcast messages.

If correspondence is determined between the address information and the apparatus ID data and user configuration data 87 and 88, the information contained in the buffer memory 86 is used to update stored display data 89 and/or stored display program code 90, depending upon the content of the broadcast message data held in the buffer memory 86. The presentation control data 91 stored in RAM 39 may similarly be updated if required together with information contained in a look-up table 92 used for selecting a display program and display data.

A detector circuit 93 is represented in Figure 9 as monitoring the status of the telephone communication circuits 81 so as to input to the processor 36 detection signals 94 representative of events associated with use of the telephone communication circuits 81. Such detection may correspond to sensing actuation of the offhook switch 33 shown in Figure 3 to detect transition between the ON and OFF-hook status of the telephone circuit. The detection signals 94 may also be representative of dialled tones representing telephone numbers or prefixes added to telephone numbers by a low cost routing module 95. The low cost routing module is operable to respond to the telephone number dialled when making an outgoing call by determining a least cost route for choice of network by which the call is to be routed to its destination and to automatically prefix the dialled telephone number with a code determining the least cost route by routing the call to a network node defined by the prefixed code.

The low cost routing module 95 is controlled by the processor 36 which refers to a look-up table 96 in order WO 99/60762 PCT/GB99/01578 16 to determine the appropriate code for least cost routing.

The data stored in the routing look-up table 96 is also periodically updated by including appropriate data in a broadcast signal received by the receiver circuit 83 and, after being temporarily stored in buffer memory 86 for analysis as to whether updating is appropriate, overwriting part or all of the look up table 96 with the new data received via the broadcast.

Operation of the telephone apparatus 2 of Figures 8 and 9 to present a display will now be described with reference to the flowchart of Figure 10. The processor 36 monitors at step 100 the status of the telephone communication circuits 81 by means of the detector circuit 93 in order to determine whether the telephone communication circuits 81 are being used. When use is detected at step 101, the processor refers at step 102 to the presentation control data 91 stored in the RAM 39 in order to determine the current operating mode. If the current operating mode is one in which the display is dependent upon the network route of an outgoing telephone call, as detected from the initial digits of the dialled code input by the user or as prefixed by the low cost routing module 95, then at step 103 the processor selects operation according to a routine 107 in which the control of the display in a route dependent mode follows the steps of Figure 11.

At step 110 of Figure 11, the processor detects whether the call is an outgoing call and if so, the outgoing number is detected at step 111. At steps 112 and 113, the processor 36 refers to the look-up table 92 to determine pointers to selected display data 89 and selected display program code 90. A display program is thereby selected and run by the processor 36 using the selected display data. In the example shown in Figure 8, the display program is an Applet generating a graphic WO 99/60762 PCT/GB99/01578 17 picture of an aeroplane and clouds in which text contained in the display data is inserted in text portions 80. Such a display of information is appropriate for example in a case where the detected code of the outgoing call is the telephone number of an airline reservation office. Figure 8A shows a further example of a display appropriate where the detected code of the telephone number is that of a shipping line. In each case, the appropriate text can be an advertising message, perhaps of a competitor, or of a supplier of a related service such as insurance.

In each case, the graphic display is animated to provide both movement of the generated stylised image and to provide scrolling of the text if appropriate.

If at step 110, the processor detects that the call is an incoming call, the call line identifier of the incoming call is detected at step 118. The selected display program and display data are then looked up at steps 112 and 113.

The display is initiated when a cue to start the display is detected at step 114 of Figure 11, the cue being typically the time at which the receiver is replaced into the on-hook condition. Depending upon the current present control data 91 for the given display program, various alternatives are possible including for example a cue which initiates the display when the telephone circuit initially goes OFF-hook.

The display continues to be generated in step 117 until detection at step 105 of Figure 10 of a cue to end the display. The cue to end the display may correspond to determining that elapsed time has reached a preset value measured from commencement of the display.

If at step 103 of Figure 10 the mode of operation of the display control is determined to be other than route dependent, display is controlled at step 106 using WO 99/60762 PCT/GB99/01578 18 display data and display program data determined in accordance with the presentation control data 91.

Control of the display in a route independent mode is illustrated schematically at Figure 12. In this mode, the processor makes no reference to the dialled telephone number or prefix code, this mode being appropriate for incoming calls as well as outgoing calls where the presentation control data 91 determines that the display is to be independent of the selected route.

At step 120 of Figure 12, the processor 36 monitors the status of the telephone communication circuits 81 to sense the ON/OFF-hook status. When the transition from ON-hook to OFF-hook is detected at step 121, the processor 36 refers to the presentation control data 91 to determine pointers to display data and display program code stored in the RAM in areas 89 and 90 at steps 122 and 123.

At step 124, the processor awaits detection of a cue to commence the display, in this example the cue being a transition from off-hook to on-hook, and the processor then runs the selected display program using the selected display data at step 125.

When a cue to end the display is detected at step 126, the display is ended by the processor at page 127.

Figure 13 illustrates the manner in which the telephone 2 of Figures 8 and 9 may be connected to receive the broadcast signals 84 via a cable network.

Figure 13 illustrates schematically a typical connection of the telephone 2 including low cost routing module to a decoder 130 for an optical cable network. The decoder 130 provides decoding of optical signals received from the network to provide a television signal output 131 received by a television receiver 132. The decoder 130 also provides decoding of optical signals to output broadcast signals 84 which are input via the broadcast WO 99/60762 PCT/GB99/01578 19 signal input 85 shown in Figure 9 to provide updating signals for data stored in memory as described above, thereby enabling both the display functions and the low cost routing module functions to receive updated broadcast information independently of operation of telephone communication signals 82 which are input via a separate input and handled separately by the decoder 130.

The digital data transmitted via the decoder 130 may be packetised data using existing proprietary transmission systems or protocols such as UDP, a one-way transmission protocol which is a derivative of TCP internet protocol. The data transmitted as a multi-point broadcast may be communicated to a local cable network 143 as shown in Figure 14 via the internet 141 using an internet service provider 142. The communications signals 82 are routed via the cable network 143 to the public service telephone network 144.

A control centre 145 distributes the broadcast information via the internet 141.

Figure 14A illustrates an alternative arrangement in which a private data network 146 provides communication between a control centre 145 and a local network 143 to which the decoder 130 is connected.

Figure 15 illustrates a further embodiment in which a telephone having the configuration of Figure 9 additionally includes a smart card reader/writer 150 allowing a smart card to be inserted into the telephone 2. The telephone 2 of Figure 15 will be described using corresponding references to those of preceding figures where appropriate for corresponding elements and the description with reference to Figures 9 to 14 applies equally to the embodiment of Figure Figure 16 illustrates the modified component diagram of the telephone including the smart card reader/writer WO 99/60762 PCT/GB99/01578 connected to processor 36, a smart card 151 being insertable by a user for read/write operation and removable for use in transporting electronic coupons.

Figure 17 illustrates schematically the way in which such a smart card may be utilised. At step 168, a user makes or receives a telephone call using the telephone 2 and at step 169 the processor 36 selects a display message using any of the criteria described above. At step 174, the processor 36 awaits a cue to initiate the display, the cue typically being the termination of the call as detected by the receiver being replaced into the on-hook position so that the on-hook signal serves as a cue. At step 170 a message is displayed, following the cue, to display a graphic message as described above, and including in the message an offer for the user to accept a token or coupon redeemable at a retail outlet.

At step 171, the user inputs via the keypad 24 a response either accepting or declining the offer. At step 172, the processor 36 determines whether the user response requires a token to be output and, if so, outputs at step 173 a write instruction to the smart card writer. The smart card 151 includes an onboard processor and storage medium allowing the information defining the redeemable electronic token to be stored.

The user subsequently removes the smart card 151 from the smart card reader/writer 150 and presents the smart card to a retail or service outlet where, using a further smart card reader/writer connected to the till of the retail or service outlet, the electronic token is redeemed as a discount for goods, services or cash and the data stored in the smart card amended appropriately to cancel or decrement the token value.

In this way, electronics tokens or coupons for merchandising may be broadcast by any of the means described above, including for example wireless WO 99/60762 PCT/GB99/01578 21 broadcast, internet communication, and cable network.

The broadcast information relating to merchandising tokens or coupons is included in broadcast signals 84 and stored as token data 174 as represented in Figure 16.

Figure 18 illustrates the manner in which a telephone having a smart card reader 150 is connected via a cable network 130 to a control centre 145 which originates the broadcast of merchandising tokens. A till 181 at a retail outlet has a corresponding smart card reader/writer 182 into which the user's smart card can be inserted to extract the relevant token data.

Redemption of the token is notified by the till 181 to the control centre 145 via any suitable communication link, the control centre serving as a clearing house for electronic token transactions.

Typical use of such a system of broadcasting electronic tokens would involve a service provider such as a supermarket or bank requesting the control centre operator to broadcast information which may include an advertisement, a competition, questions or details, promotional information or questions to which the user can respond by answering a questionnaire. The broadcast signals may be addressed to all users or only to selected users, the selection or filtering process being conducted on the above described basis of identification data contained in broadcast signals being compared with identification information stored in the receiving apparatus. The stored information may be configured according to particular user preference or directed specifically by the control centre to users who make a particular pattern of use of the telephone system. For example, users who frequently make overseas telephone calls are likely to be interested in promotions relating to telephone network service providers offering reduced rates for overseas calls.

WO 99/60762 PCT/GB99/01578 22 The display of the above information is typically via text in the display screen, the text typically being included in a graphic animated form and optionally accompanied by synthesized speech or music.

Information relating to the tokens may be continuously displayed or, in the manner described above, displayed in response to use of the telephone communication means.

Use of the system in product promotion may for example take the form of displaying a message "press 1 on your telephone keypad if you wish to take advantage of our buy 1 hamburger, get another free offer". This text could be incorporated in a graphic display including the logo of the supplier and a representation of the goods. When the user decides to take advantage of the offer, the user actuates the keypad and the apparatus responds with an appropriate acceptance display and writing token information onto the smart card.

The data written onto the smart card may include more information than simply the number or value of the redeemable token. The information may for example include response to a survey or questionnaire, the date and time of the response and identification information.

When presented to a retail or service outlet, the smart card is read at a terminal and the discount given to the user, the data on the card being transmitted to the control centre if appropriate.

Other forms of transportable memory media may be used in place of a smart card in accordance with the present invention, including re-writable optical data storage media and magnetic data storage media.

A further alternative embodiment in which token data 174 is broadcast and stored in memory 39 relies upon the token data being presented in a displayed message to the user as an alphanumeric code. The user may then note the WO 99/60762 PCT/GB99/01578 23 code and present the code information to the retail or service outlet where an operator can obtain verification of the code by referring to locally stored information or by communication with the control centre and, subject to authentification, may then redeem the token. This embodiment does not require the smartcard reader/writer 150 of Figure 16 but otherwise includes all of the elements shown therein.

A unique token identification may be transmitted to each user which the user can then present to the participating sales or service outlets as described above.

Figure 19 illustrates a further embodiment in which the telephone apparatus comprises a mobile telephone 190 and which will be described using corresponding reference numerals to those of previous figures where appropriate for corresponding elements. The mobile telephone 190 includes a display 25 which, in addition to displaying the alphanumeric information normally displayed in conventional mobile telephones, is operable to display stored information in a similar manner to the telephone apparatus of the embodiments described above. The mobile telephone 190 includes a keypad 24, a clock 40, read only memory 38 and a random access memory 39 which stores information corresponding to elements 86 to 92 and 96 of Figure 9 described above.

The mobile telephone 190 also includes a transmitter/receiver 191 and a decoder/encoder 192 enabling communications signals 193 to be sent and received by wireless transmission. The mobile telephone 190 may thereby be connected to one or more cellular telephone networks 194 which are in communication with the control centre 145.

Broadcast signals are periodically sent to the mobile telephone 190 as part of broadcast communications WO 99/60762 PCT/GB99/01578 24 signals 193 in order to update the stored program code and display data 89, lookup tables 96 for routing and user configuration data 88.

The mobile telephone 190 may function interactively for display of information as described with reference to Figure 21 and may be used to transmit token data 174 facilitating display of redeemable tokens to the user in the form of displayed token codes.

The detection of events for triggering the display may be any of the following; turning on the mobile telephone, detection of going on-hook status, detection of going off-hook status, detection of a specific telephone number dialled by the user or network access code inserted by a routing function of the processor, detection of a line state being engaged, detection of a line state being a ringing tone, detection of a line state being unattainable, or detection of an incoming call including the possibility of responding to specific call line identification.

Such a mobile telephone 190 would include a larger screen than currently included in conventional mobile telephones and comprising a colour display screen with annotated graphics capability.

Figure 20 illustrates a further embodiment in which a routing module is provided with a display. The term "routing module" is here used to define a telephone apparatus which is connected in-line between a telephone or facsimile machine and the transmission line or network decoder via which telephone calls are transmitted and received. As shown in Figure 20 for example, a conventional telephone 200 is connected to a decoder 130 of a cable network via a routing module 201. The routing WO 99/60762 PCT/GB99/01578 module functions to detect telephone numbers of outgoing calls dialled by the user and intelligently adds or alters prefixes to the telephone numbers in order to route the outgoing call via a preferred route which will usually be a least cost route.

The module includes a display 25 corresponding to the display of previous figures and includes a processor and memory providing equivalent functions to those described above.

The routing module 201 receives broadcast signals 202 which are received by the decoder 130 and output separately from communications signals to the module.

Figure 22 illustrates a further alternative in which a facsimile machine 220 having a printer 221 is operable to print received images on a recording medium 222 such as plain paper.

In the example of Figure 22, the facsimile machine 220 is connected to a decoder 130 of a cable network to send and receive communication signals 223.

The facsimile machine 220 includes a processor 36 and memory 39 in similar manner to the apparatus of Figure 9 and functioning to generate data to display an image selected from stored data. The facsimile machine of Figure 22 however does not incorporate a separate display screen but utilises the printer 221 to present the display of information to the user as illustrated by the printed image 224 in Figure 22.

The selection of the displayed information and the cue triggering the initiation of the display may be configured as described above in the various alternative embodiments.

Broadcast signals 225 received via the decoder 130 are used to update the information stored in memory in similar manner to the data updating procedure described above in previous embodiments.

WO 99/60762 PCT/GB99/01578 26 The above described embodiments in which a display of information is presented to a user may optionally be modified to include an interactive display feature illustrated schematically by the flowchart of Figure 21 and which will now be described using corresponding reference numerals to those of preceding figures where appropriate for corresponding elements.

At step 210, the detector circuit 93 detects one of the above described events for triggering the display when a user makes or receives a call. The processor 36 selects the appropriate display program code 90 and presentation control data 91 and awaits the cue to display at step 212.

When the cue is detected, the message is displayed at step 213 requesting a response from the user. As an example, a displayed message contains text stating "book cheap flights to New York using Flight Airways; press to speak to a Flight Airways representative".

At step 214 the user inputs a response by means of keypad 24, and the response is analysed at step 215 by the processor 36. If action is requested, the processor at step 216 actuates telephone circuits 81 to generate an outgoing telephone call to connect the telephone apparatus with a service provider. The user is thereby automatically connected to an operator to discuss his requirements, without the user having to dial the telephone number.

If at step 215 it is detected that no action is required, the display is ended at step 217 without further action.

A number of alternative embodiments in accordance with the present invention and within the scope of the appended claims are envisaged. For example the display screen in any of the above embodiments may comprise a coloured liquid crystal display to enhance the appearance WO 99/60762 PCT/GB99/01578 27 of text, video or animated graphics. The display screen optionally may comprise a segmented alphanumeric display.

The handset 21 of the telephone 2 in the above embodiments may be arranged to communicate by radio signal with the base 20 in known manner to avoid the need for a cable connection therebetween. The telephone may alternatively comprise an integral handset as a "one piece" telephone which the OFF-hook switch was a manually actuated ON-OFF switch.

The wireless transmitter may alternatively be a satellite based system.

Each of the embodiments of Figure 2 to 18 illustrates telephone apparatus in the form of a conventional telephone receiver. It is to be understood that telephone apparatus in the form of a facsimile machine may similarly incorporate the graphic display, moving text message display and ability to receive and store broadcast messages relating to display, least cost routing and other features of the described telephone apparatus, including for example the addition of the smart card reader/writer for broadcasting electronic coupons or tokens.

In those described embodiments in which updating broadcast information is received via a cable network, the decoder 130 may alternatively output the broadcast memory updating messages for the telephone 2 multiplexed with the television signals 131, the input to the telephone 2 being obtained by means of a T-junction to divert a portion of the signal 131 shown in Figure 13.

This modification would require additional decoding circuitry within the telephone 2 in order to demultiplex the signal. In this arrangement, the broadcast message could be included in a vertical blanking interval in the television signal or in any other way appropriate with current television transmission format.

WO99/60762 PCT/GB99/01578 28 As a further alternative, a television set provided with a satellite dish and decoder box may additionally be provided with means for outputting from the decoder the broadcast messages 84 where the broadcast messages are multiplexed with the satellite transmission of television signals.

It is envisaged that further forms of broadcasting media will become available and to which the present invention is equally applicable, it being necessary only that the telephone apparatus is capable of receiving the broadcast signals independently of any communications signals associated with incoming or outgoing telephone calls.

In each of the above described embodiments, the duration of the display may be determined with reference to an internal clock, the duration of the display having a predetermined value which may be set according to presentation control data received in the broadcast signals.

The processor may additionally refer to the clock in order to customize the selection of displayed information according to the time of day, day of the week, or calender events.

The selection of display information in route dependent mode has been described above with reference to the detected code of an outgoing call being representative of the telephone number of a specific destination. Alternatively, the detected code may simply be the initial digits of the telephone number determining its route. This may be appropriate where the initial code identifies a particular telecommunications service provider selected by the least cost route module in preference to other service providers on a competitive basis. The displayed message may in such instances indicate to the user the identity of the selected service WO 99/60762 PCT/GB99/01578 29 provider, an advertising message specific to the service provider, or an advertising message of a competitor.

Reference is made above to the use of DTMF generators in relation to generating outgoing telephone calls. Alternatively, loop disc connections could be used instead of DTMF if this is necessary for communication with the local exchange.

Configuration data has been described above as being input by the user. Configuration data may alternatively be included in broadcast signals on the basis of data prepared centrally, the data being obtained for example from questionnaires completed by the users and provided to the control centre in order to avoid the need for the user to input data to the telephone apparatus itself.

Configuration data may be addressed individually to individual telephone apparatus or may be directed to groups of such telephone apparatus in data broadcasts with appropriate addresses.

The use of a Java Applet has been described above in the context of program code downloaded in broadcast signals. As an alternative, a display may utilise a Java Applet which is embedded into the processor 36 or stored in ROM in order to process message data which is broadcast and stored in RAM.

Reference is made above to low cost route modules designed to perform call routing based on minimum cost.

It is intended that such LCRM modules where referred to in the above description could equally function to perform routing on the basis of criteria other than cost, such as network availability.

Claims (57)

1. Telephone apparatus including: communication means operable to make and receive telephone calls for sending and receiving communications signals; display means operable to present a display of information to a user of the communication means; memory means for storing information to be displayed; detecting means operable to detect an event associated with use of 0io the communication means; control means operable to control the display means to present the display of the information stored in the memory means to the user in response to said detection by said detection means; receiving means operable to receive broadcast signals other than said communications signals; and updating means operable to update the information to be displayed stored in the memory means in accordance with the broadcast signals; wherein the memory means is further operable to store identification information associated with the telephone apparatus; the updating means including a buffer memory for storing received broadcast signals; •comparing means operable to compare identification data contained in the broadcast signals stored in the buffer memory with the identification information stored in the memory means; and storage selection means operable to select for storing in said memory means only broadcast signals for which the identification data in the broadcast signals correspond to stored identification information.

2. Telephone apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the control means is operable to control operation of the display means by running a display program defined by display program code and which processes display data, the program code and the display data being stored in the memory means. \\':M\i\NODELETE\39452-99.dOC

3. Telephone apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein the updating means is operable to update the display program code and the display data stored in the memory means in accordance with the broadcast signals.

4. A telephone apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the control means is operable to initiate the display of information by the display means in response to detection by said detecting means of the termination of a telephone call by the communication means. 0io 5. A telephone apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the control means is operable to initiate the display of information by the display means in response to detection by said detecting means of the commencement of a telephone call by the communication means.

6. A telephone apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the control means is operable to initiate the display of information in response to 4.4 detection by said detection means of a predetermined line status of a 4*o* communication channel to which the communication means is connected in use. 4

7. A telephone apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims comprising a clock and wherein the control means is operable to end the display of information when elapsed time measured by the clock since initiation of the 4 display is equal to a predetermined period. 4 .0 o: 25 8. A telephone apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein the receiving means is operable to receive the broadcast signals transmitted by a wireless transmitter.

9. A telephone apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein the receiving means comprises an antenna for receiving wireless transmissions. A telephone apparatus as claimed in claim 3 wherein the receiving means Sis operable in use to receive signals from a decoder of a network. \':lltr\NOI)EL ETE\39452 -99.d.c 9 .9 9 99 9 32

11. A telephone apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims comprising configuring means responsive to user selection and operable to configure the stored identifying information whereby the memory means may selectively be updated with a selected one or more types of information to be displayed.

12. A telephone apparatus as claimed in claim 11 wherein the configuring means comprises a keypad of the terminal operable in response to user actuation to input configuring data to the storing means.

13. A telephone apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the control means is operable to configure the stored identifying information in accordance with configuring data received via said receiving means whereby the memory means may thereafter be selectively updated with a one or more types of information to be displayed selected in accordance with said configuring data.

14. A telephone apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the memory means is operable to store presentation control data defining 20 a mode in which the information is displayed, the control means being further operable to control the display means to display the message information in any one of a plurality of modes in dependence upon the presentation control data.

15. A telephone apparatus as claimed in claim 14, wherein the presentation control data determines the timing relative to event detection at which the display of information commences and the duration thereof.

16. A telephone apparatus as claimed in claim 14, wherein the memory means is operable to store presentation control data defining the manner in which alphanumeric data is scrolled.

17. A telephone apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the communication means comprises a telephone. :\.ll.ry\NODELETE\394S2-99doc 33

18. A telephone apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 16, wherein the communication means comprises a facsimile machine.

19. A telephone apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims comprising a mobile telephone in which said communication means is operable to send and receive telephone calls by wireless transmission of said communications signals. A telephone apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 18 comprising 0io a call routing module wherein said communication means is operable to prefix dialled telephone numbers from an external device with network selection codes and to output said communication signals including the network selection codes and dialled telephone numbers.

21. A telephone apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 17 to 20, wherein the display means comprises a display screen housed integrally with the communication means.

22. A telephone apparatus as claimed in claim 17, wherein the display means is operable to present an audible message via an earpiece speaker of the *oooo telephone. got. 4 23. A telephone apparatus as claimed in claim 1 comprising printing means for •OOQ• printing images received in said communications signals on a recording medium S 25 and wherein said display means is constituted by said printing means, said control means being operable to control said printing means to display the stored information as a printed image.

24. A telephone apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims comprising display selecting means operable to select the information to be displayed from stored information to be displayed. -R 25. A telephone apparatus as claimed in claim 24 comprising a clock wherein said display selecting means is operable to select information for display in W.\:r,,v\NOI)EIETE\39452-99.dor 34 dependence upon at least one of a time of day, a day of the, and a calendar event.

26. A telephone apparatus as claimed in claim 24 wherein the memory means stores program code defining a plurality of display programs and display data defining a plurality of messages, the display selecting means being operable to select a selected display program and a selected message therefrom to constitute the selected display of information.

27. A telephone apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 24 to 26 comprising code detecting means operable to detect a code defining at least part of a telephone number of a telephone call processed by said communication means and wherein the display selecting means is responsive to the detected code to select the selected display of information.

28. A telephone apparatus as claimed in claim 27 wherein the display selecting SS oS means comprises a look up table for selecting the selected display program and S.o. the selected message according to the detected code. S

29. A telephone apparatus as claimed in claim 28 wherein the detected code is representative of a call line identification defining the origin of a received *ooC telephone call. S C *COOO* SC 30. A telephone apparatus as claimed in claim 28 wherein the detected code is 25 representative of a portion of a dialled telephone number responsive to user S" actuation of input means.

31. A telephone apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 27 to 30 wherein the memory means stores a decision table defining prefix codes to be added to telephone numbers of outgoing calls and wherein the communication means is operable to prefix user generated dialled numbers with a selected prefix code determined by the control means with reference to the decision table. \\'.\,lrV\NOUDELETE\319452-99.do¢

32. A telephone apparatus as claimed in claim 31 wherein the code detecting means detects the prefix code determined by the control means with reference to the decision table.

33. A telephone apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims comprising output means for outputting data to a transportable memory medium.

34. A telephone apparatus as claimed in claim 33 wherein the memory means stores token data representative of redeemable electronic tokens and means for transferring electronic tokens to the transportable memory medium. S:i 35. A telephone apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 33 and 34 wherein the output means comprises a smart card terminal operable to output electronic tokens to a smart card constituting said transportable memory medium. to :0.00 0 36. A telephone apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 33 to 35 comprising to: means for receiving and storing broadcast signals representative of said token data. 20 37. A telephone apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the display data comprises at least one of alphanumeric data, speech synthesis data, video data, 0 :o graphic data and graphic animation data.

38. A method of operating a telephone apparatus including: operating a communication means to make and receive telephone calls for sending and receiving communications signals; operating a display means to present a display of information to a user of the communication means; storing information to be displayed in a memory means; 3o detecting an event associated with use of the communication means; controlling the display means to present the display of the Sinformation stored in the memory means to the user in response to said detection; Wl.ry\NODELETE\39452-99doc 36 receiving broadcast signals other than said communications signals; and updating the information to be displayed stored in the memory means in accordance with the broadcast signals; wherein: storing identification information associated with the telephone apparatus in the memory means; and wherein the updating step comprises: storing the received broadcast signals in a buffer memory; comparing identification data contained in the broadcast signals stored in 0io the buffer memory with the identification information stored in the memory means; and S.selecting for storing in said memory means only broadcast signals for identification information.

39. A method as claimed in claim 38 wherein operation of the display means is controlled by running a display program defined by display program code and which processes display data, the program code and the display data being stored in the memory means.

40. A method as claimed in claim 39 wherein the updating step updates the display program code and the display data stored in the memory means in accordance with the broadcast signals.

41. A method as claimed in any one of claims 38 to 40, wherein the display means is controlled to initiate the display of information in response to detection of the termination of a telephone call by the communication means.

42. A method as claimed in any one of claims 38 to 40, wherein the display means is controlled to initiate the display of information in response to detection of the commencement of a telephone call by the communication means. r R, 43. A method as claimed in any one of claims 38 to 40 wherein the display means is controlled to initiate the display of information in response to detection of ry\N)I)ELL rE\3945 2-99.doc a predetermined line status of a communication channel to which the communication means is connected.

44. A method as claimed in any one of claims 38 to 43 wherein the display means is controlled to end the display of information when elapsed time since initiation of the display is equal to a predetermined period. A method as claimed in any one of claims 38 to 44, wherein the received broadcast signals are signals transmitted by a wireless transmitter.

46. A method as claimed in any one of claims 38 to 44, wherein the received broadcast signals are received from a decoder of a network.

47. A method as claimed in any one of claims 38 and 46 wherein the received signals are broadcast via one of the internet; a private data network; and a cable network. 20 48. A method as claimed in any one of claims 38 to 47 comprising configuring the stored identifying information responsive to user selection whereby the memory means is thereafter selectively updated from the broadcast signals with a selected one or more types of information to be displayed.

49. A method as claimed in any one of claims 38 to 48 wherein the stored identifying information is configured in accordance with configuring data received in said broadcast signals whereby the memory is thereafter selectively updated with one or more types of information to be displayed selected in accordance with said configuring data. A method as claimed in any one of claims 38 to 49, wherein the memory means stores presentation control data defining a mode in which the information is displayed, the display means being controlled to display the message W :A r\NODELETE\39452-99.d.¢ 38 information in any one of a plurality of modes in dependence upon the presentation control data.

51. A method as claimed in claim 50, wherein the presentation control data determines the timing relative to event detection at which the display of information commences and the duration thereof.

52. A method as claimed in claim 50, wherein the memory means stores presentation control data defining the manner in which alphanumeric data is scrolled.

53. A method as claimed in any one of claims 38 to 52 wherein said communication means sends and receives telephone calls by wireless transmission of said communications signals.

54. A method as claimed in claim 53 wherein the communications signals provide communication via at least one digital cellular network.

55. A method as claimed in claim 54 comprising receiving broadcast signals 20 via a channel of said digital cellular network and updating the display program code and the display data stored in the memory means in accordance with the broadcast signals.

56. A method as claimed in any one of claims 38 to 55 wherein the communication means comprises a call routing module wherein said communication means prefixes dialled telephone numbers received from an external device with network access codes and outputs said communication signals including the network access codes and dialled telephone numbers.

57. A method as claimed in any one of claims 38 to 56, wherein the display means additionally presents an audible message. ,\NO DELETE\y9452-99do

58. A method as claimed in any one of claims 38 to 57 comprising the step of selecting the information to be displayed from stored information to be displayed providing more than one option for presenting a display of information.

59. A method as claimed in claim 58 wherein the memory means stores program code defining a plurality of display programs and display data defining a plurality of messages, the display selecting step selecting a selected display program and a selected message therefrom to constitute the selected display of information. A method as claimed in any one of claims 58 and 59 comprising detecting a code defining at least part of a telephone number of a telephone call processed by said communication means and wherein the display selecting step is responsive to the detected code to select the selected display of information.

61. A method as claimed in claim 60 wherein the display selecting step comprises using a look up table to select the selected display program and the ;selected message according to the detected code. CC...i 20 62. A method as claimed in any of claims 60 and 61 wherein the detected code is representative of a call line identification defining the origin of a received telephone call.

63. A method as claimed in any of claims 60 and 61 wherein the detected code is representative of a portion of a user dialled telephone number.

64. A method as claimed in any one of claims 60 to 63 wherein the memory means stores a decision table defining prefix codes to be added to telephone numbers of outgoing calls and wherein the communication means prefixes user generated dialled numbers with a selected prefix code determined with reference to the decision table. ir\NODELETE\39452-9g.doc A method as claimed in claim 64 wherein the prefix code determined with reference to the decision table is detected to determine the selection of display information.

66. A method as claimed in any one of claims 38 to 65 wherein the display of information comprises code representative of a redeemable token for enabling the user to redeem the token by reference to the code at a retail or service outlet.

67. A method as claimed in any one of claims 38 to 65 comprising outputting lo data representative of redeemable electronic tokens to a transportable memory medium.

68. A method as claimed in claim 67 comprising receiving and storing broadcast signals representative of said token data.

69. A method as claimed in any one of claims 38 to 68 wherein the displayed information elicits a response from the user, including the further step of receiving a response input from the user and displaying further information responsive to the user response input.

70. A method as claimed in claim 69 including the step of generating a communication signal responsive to the user response input.

71. A method as claimed in claim 70 wherein the communication signal is 25 generated using a telephone number stored in the memory means in association with the displayed information.

72. A method as claimed in claim 38 comprising printing images received in said communications signals on a recording medium and where said display of stored information is constituted by further printing the stored information as a printed image. W:A-er\GABNODEL39452-9.doc 41

73. Telephone apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

74. A method of operating a telephone apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED: 17 April, 2002 PHILLIPS ORMONDE FITZPATRICK Patent Attorneys for: PATHFINDER TECHNICAL RESOURCES LIMITED OO* W:\marie\GABNODEL\39452-99.doc