`Aytac
`
`US005758081A
`
`‘
`
`‘
`
`[11] Patent Number:
`[45] Date of Patent:
`
`5,758,081
`May 26, 1998
`
`[54] COMPUTING AND COMMUNICATIONS
`TRANSMITTING, RECEIVING SYSTEM,
`WITH A PUSH BUTTON INTERFACE, THAT
`IS CONTINOUSLY ON, THAT PAIRS UP
`WITH A PERSONAL COMPUTER AND
`CARRIES OUT MAINLY
`COMMUNICATIONS RELATED ROUTINE
`TASKS
`
`Brooktrout Quadrafax 2.0 Fax on Demand System
`Conon Multipass 1000 Multifunction Peripheral.
`Lumina Series 2000 Multifunction Peripheral w/o Printer.
`Paci?c Image Electronics Scon Media Multifunction Periph
`eral without a Printer.
`
`Primary Examiner-Dinh C. Dung
`
`[76] Inventor: Haluk M. Aytac. 10270 Parkwood Dr.
`8. Cupertino. Calif. 95014
`
`[57]
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`[21] APPL N05 569,846
`[22] Film.
`Dec_ 8 1995
`’
`Int. Cl.6 ...................................................... .. G06F 132
`[51]
`[52] US. Cl. ..................................... .. 395/200.41; 395/821
`[58] Field of Search ................................... .. 395/871. 474.
`395/200,01_ 200.03 231_ 306_ 309, 302.
`392, 332, 235, 5()()_ 20041; 345/156
`
`[56]
`
`References Cited
`
`us‘ PATENT DOCUMENTS
`8/1987 Selim et a]. ..................... .. 395/20000
`4,688,171
`6/1989 Wonak et a1. ..
`395/334
`4,839,802
`4,878,196 10/1989 Rose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
`. . . .. 395/750
`4.974.192 1111990 Face et al. . ........... ..
`395/821
`41932324 "1991 Mccollaughy et 31‘
`395000-09
`50rd” et a1‘ """" "
`'"
`
`' ' ' " 358/296
`s’iél’lu 11,1994 H111? ' ' ' ‘ ‘ ' ' ' ' ' ' '
`395/285
`5’367’647 11,1994 Coulson'
`395,300
`515301894
`6/1996 Fwd] a 3L
`395720091
`5,577,205 11/1996 Hwang et a1, __
`5,590,339 12/1996 Chang ................................... .. 395/838
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`AT & T Computer Telephone 8130.
`Zyxel Elite 2864 Modem.
`IBM Seho Assistant. 7852001.
`
`An embedded computer, Ca'I'box. is connected to a PC via
`SCSI cable. and to a telecommunications switch. CaTbox
`runs an operating system. CaTOS. and contains a hard disk
`accessible to PC as a SCSI disk called CaTdisc. Print jobs
`issued from PC are transferred as ?les to CaTdisc. queued by
`CaTOS and driven in the foreground to a printer attached to
`CaTbOX- CaTbOX has an LCD screen- kcypad~ and is con
`nected to telephone handsets. While PC and printer are off.
`CaTbox receives faxes. voicemail. email and stores them on
`CaTdisc. It delivers HTML pages stored on CaTdisc. Key
`pad directed. CaTbox plays voicemail and prints faxes or
`email. Modems on CaTbox. CaTmodems. are available for
`data. voice. fax communications ?'om PC. A scanner on
`SCSI bus may be driven by CaTbox via keypad to scan
`documents to store on CaTdisc. print or send as faxes.
`CaTOS has step tables for each modem. actions. foreground
`programs, con?guration files. and queues. SIEPS hold 361210115
`that execute within a time slice for a modem during timer
`tick. Actions emit. record messages. queue foreground pro
`
`gram requests, queue requests for another step. call other
`actions. idle. answer a call etc. Steppers within each time
`slice move execution from step to step based on keypad
`inputs. events. conditions. and contents of step tables. Fore
`ground programs move ?les to. from memory. print. scan
`etc. Idle actions check a queue for steps to execute. A
`scheduler runs after timer ticks to choose the next fore
`ground Program»
`
`14 Claims, 16 Drawing Sheets
`
`107
`
`RECEIVER
`
`SPEAKER
`
`/117
`
`105
`
`c
`PC
`
`HD
`
`MICROPHONE f124 HANDSET
`,5,
`SCSI
`HD /
`113
`
`102
`
`/115
`
`T 33
`CaT
`PHONE LIN‘E\S TELEPHONE
`\
`NETWORK
`114\PARALLEL
`\
`
`116
`
`SCANNER
`/
`104
`
`PRINTER
`/
`103
`
`118
`120
`122
`
`Ex. 1004, p. 1 of 30
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`FUJIFILM Corp., et al.
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`May 26, 1998
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`May 25, 1998
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`Sheet 13 of 16
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`Ex. 1004, p. 14 of 30
`
`FUJIFILM Corp., et al.
`
`
`
`U.S. Patent
`
`May 26, 1998
`
`Sheet 14 of 16
`
`5,758,081
`
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`Ex. 1004, p. 15 of 30
`
`FUJIFILM Corp., et al.
`
`
`
`U.S. Patent
`
`May 26, 1998
`
`Sheet 15 of 16
`
`5,758,081
`
`
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`FUJIFILM Corp., et al.
`Ex. 1004, p. 16 of 30
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`Ex. 1004, p. 16 of 30
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`FUJIFILM Corp., et al.
`
`
`
`US. Patent
`
`May 26, 1998
`
`Sheet 16 0f 16
`
`5,758,081
`
`
`
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`Ex. 1004, p. 17 of 30
`
`FUJIFILM Corp., et al.
`
`
`
`5.758.081
`
`1
`COMPUTING AND COMMUNICATIONS
`TRANSMITTING, RECEIVING SYSTEM,
`WITH A PUSH BUTTON INTERFACE, THAT
`IS CONTINOUSLY ON, THAT PAIRS UP
`WITH A PERSONAL COMPUTER AND
`CARRIES OUT MAINLY
`COMMUNICATIONS RELATED ROUTINE
`TASKS
`
`FIELD OF THE INVENTION
`
`The present invention relates generally to communica
`tions via electronic means using computers. and particularly.
`to methods and apparatus which implement telephony. voice
`reception. storage. playback. delivery. fax reception.
`printing. storage. delivery. call processing. electronic mail
`retrieval. multimedia content delivery. HTTP server func
`tions in a standaside fashion in relation to computers.
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`The present invention relates to a splitting of the Personal
`Computer in two units one of which may be the PC as is
`known today. including portable computers. and the other is
`described with this invention.
`There are earlier models for this idea: The TV is paired
`with a VCR; the radio is paired with a tape recorder; the
`telephone is paired with an answering machine. In all these
`cases. a real time device is paired with a storage device.
`The TV and radio are respectively video/sound and sound
`real time broadcast receivers. The VCR is used to record TV
`signals when TV is either off or on. One reason why TV and
`VCR are split maybe the disparity in power consumption.
`Consumers may leave their VCR operating while they are
`away. to record desired programs. VCR’s do not consume
`much power. On the other hand. TV consumes more power.
`generates heat. Splitting the real time from the storage
`device. different power supplies may be employed so that
`VCR may be left on while TV is off.
`Radio and tape recorder are typically only when the user
`is present. Sometimes these devices are split. sometimes
`they are housed in the same box. In all cases. they are
`separately operated. as in TV/VCR. with ditferent sets of
`push buttons guiding each unit.
`The phone and the answering machine are sometimes
`housed in the same box and sometimes in separate boxes.
`The advantage of separate boxes is enabling the user to
`receive a phone call while he is listening to his messages.
`The phone and the answering machine are always on. The
`phone is powered from the Central O?ice and the answering
`machine is powered locally.
`The computer. being a programmable device. can mimic
`the functions of all the devices described above and more.
`Indeed. all these functions have already been implemented
`inside a computer. especially personal computers (we will
`include portable computers with personal computers and
`sometimes call them PC’s). Unfortunately. with the ?exibil
`ity also comes complexity.
`The preferred way to choose functions on a 'I'VIVCR.
`phone/answering machine. and radio/tape recorder is via
`push buttons each of which denotes a fixed function. The
`computer. being far more ?exible and this ?exibility being
`made available to the user. works with a keyboard which can
`receive commands in the user's language. The keyboard
`allows a virtually unlimited number of commands. Graphi
`cal User Interfaces. on the other hand. coupled with pointing
`devices. create a push button type model on the monitor
`
`2
`screen although more tedious to use than a push button
`interface on a telephone or fax machine.
`The immense popularity of the Personal Computer PH‘
`brought about a large peripherals industry. The varieties of
`functions that are possible and attractive are straining the
`capabilities of the PC/PH‘. Internal attachments to the PC/Ail‘
`bus that perform fax. voice mail. electronic mail functions
`are available.
`Users of personal computers are having to stretch their
`intellectual capabilities installing hardware and software. In
`the words of PC Magazine editor. Michael J. Miller. “Setting
`up hardware so it works with all your software. and vice
`versa. is ridiculously complicated on the PC." (PC
`Magazine. Mar. 14. 1995. p. 79) Graphical user interfaces
`(GUI) have brought some order on the desktop but have not
`quite solved the limitations of the hardware and the di?i
`culties of multiple pieces of software all working together.
`A spot check of user mail to Compuserve forums for
`Windows 95 GUI based operating system on Aug. 28. 1995
`showed that COM ports and IRQ (interrupt) problems are
`very much alive.
`Machines that perform fax and voice mail functions
`independently of a PC have been around for quite some
`time. The telephone answering machine was already men
`tioned. The fax machine is connected to the phone line
`which it may or may not share with a telephone. These
`machines are easy to use as they are operated with push
`buttons. They are available to perform around the clock as
`they do not consume much power. These machines are also
`able to work with answering machines. If a phone call comes
`in and it is not a fax. the call is passed on to the answering
`machine. Some incorporate the answering machine function.
`A drawback of these machines is lack of long term storage.
`Accordingly. incoming faxes are stored on paper that is they
`are printed right away. Usually. there is some RAM in case
`paper runs out. Some fax machines have connections to a
`PC. This way the scanner and printer inside a fax machine
`can be used by the PC. Typically. this is a serial or parallel
`connection. The reason for this connection is as follows: fax
`machines originated during the days of the typewriter. Auser
`typed a letter and then inserted it into the fax machine to be
`sent. With the advent of personal computers. documents
`were created mostly with word processors on these com
`puters. A need arose to send such documents via fax. Fax
`cards attached to PC’s satis?ed this need. If fax machines
`can be attached to personal computers to let users send faxes
`from their PC via fax machines then fax cards would not be
`needed anymore. However. the serial connection is too slow
`to transfer faxes. The parallel port is fast enough but as there
`is only one parallel port on a PC. the printers in fax machines
`have to compete with better quality standalone printers for
`this port and they often lose. Moreover. fax cards are also
`data modern cards and users need these cards on the PC to
`access on-line. email services and the currently very popular
`Internet. Thus fax machines and fax cards continue to
`coexist.
`There are good reasons for fax and voice mail to become
`a part of computers. Most owners of PCs also own a printer.
`The printer on a fax machine duplicates the same function at
`added cost.» Likewise. some owners of PCs also own a
`scanner. The scanner on a fax machine duplicates the same
`function at added cost. In addition. as a scanner and printer
`come bundled with a fax machine. the user does not have the
`choice to mix and match scanners and printers and usually
`these scanners and printers are not of a high quality. To
`realize functionality equivalent to a fax machine a PC owner
`needs to acquire a modem. internal or external modems are
`
`VI
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`Ex. 1004, p. 18 of 30
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`FUJIFILM Corp., et al.
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`5 .75 8,081
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`4
`There is a similar need for programmability for these
`gadgets. Any fax hardware is a good site for faxback
`capability. It is just extra software and storage. Any data
`modem site can be a World Wide Web delivery site.
`
`OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES OF THE
`PRESENT INVENTION
`It is therefore desirable to split the routine communica
`tions functions apart from a personal computer into a
`separate embedded computer that is always on and has a
`push button interface. From here on. we call this separate
`embedded computer a CaTbox. This name is an allusion to
`the way this device sits between a Computing and a
`Telecommunications apparatus. The Computer is the PC.
`and the Telecommunications apparatus is either the Central
`Oi?ce or some PBX equipment. To give this new device a
`generic name. we call it Personal Telecommunicator or PT
`for short. The table below shows how PC and PT serve a
`user's needs for computing and communicating:
`
`PC
`
`P'I‘
`
`interface
`availability
`type of tasks
`price
`
`push button, LCD
`graphical, mouse. keyboard
`always on
`off when not being used
`complex, requires user attention routine
`expensive
`low cost
`
`20
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`30
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`35
`
`3
`available. The user can either scan a document or produce
`one on his PC. He can then send it as a fax via his fax
`modem. When a fax arrives. he can print it. after viewing it
`on his PC monitor. In contrast to a standalone fax machine
`that has to print incoming faxes as they show up. the PC has
`an internal storage such as hard disk or memory where it can.
`store incoming faxes to be printed later.
`Telephone answering machines are hardwired to a speci?c
`?ow chart that implements voice mail functions. A computer
`would give the user the capability to change this ?ow chart
`and have it work on the same hardware. Moreover. most fax
`modems are also voice/data modems so that voice capability
`comes at little added cost.
`On the other hand. new problems arise when faxing solely
`with a PC is attempted. A PC consumes power and aside
`from those at large businesses. PC’s are shut down by users
`at night. Thus. owners of fax cards on PC/AT’s are not able
`to tell others that they have a telephone number available to
`receive faxes. Likewise. they need a standalone phone
`answering machine in addition to their voice mail card if
`they wish to receive voice mail at night or when they are
`away.
`In addition. from a simple push button user interface of a
`phone answering machine or a fax machine. the users are
`invited to switch to operating systems with GUI (graphical
`user interface) which is tedious for simple tasks. Also. the
`multiplicity of functions on a PC brings about a complexity
`that has kept the users largely frustrated as they attempt to
`add more functions to their machines.
`In particular. the number of interrupt inputs is a limitation
`on the number of functions a PC/AT can accommodate.
`Users are having to have their peripheral hardware share
`interrupts with attendant con?icts. In addition. communica
`tions protocols are continually increasing their bandwidth.
`This puts a further strain on multitasking operating systems.
`Printing is a slow process. Lately. printing protocols have
`been enhanced. The standard printing protocol (so called
`Centronics or SPP as it is now called) is being enhanced to
`EPP and ECP. A reference for these new protocols is
`Standard Signaling Method for a Bi-a'irectional Parallel
`Peripheral Interface for Personal Computers, IEEE P1284
`D200. Most PCs are not now equipped to handle this new
`protocol. Users who wish to upgrade will have to add yet
`another card to their already crowded AT bus slots.
`Even if users acquire these printing technologies on their
`PC's. there are limitations to printing speed in the current
`con?guration. As PC’s have to be available to users for
`input. some printing tasks are performed in the background.
`Once a print ?le is prepared. it takes time to send it to the
`printer in the background.
`To summarize. there are a number of electronic gadgets
`that are hovering around a PC but never quite become a part
`of it. The phone. the answering machine. fax machine.
`copier are the main examples of these gadgets. None of these
`have been successfully implemented on a PC in a way that
`has been accepted in the marketplace. PC has two main
`drawbacks in this situation:
`1. It is not always on
`2. It is not push button driven
`Each one of these electronic gadgets has processing done
`at its core. The central processing units may all be different.
`The programs that run these gadgets are frozen at the factory.
`In a way this situation is not far di?‘erent than what we had
`before the arrival of the PC: each piece of hardware came
`with its own software. With the arrival of PC the ?eld
`became open for imagination to reveal itself in software.
`
`Thus. to accomplish a task. a user has two alternatives. If the
`task is a complex one such as that of writing an electronic
`mail to someone. he will use the PC. If the task is simple.
`such as retrieving email he might have at his access provider.
`he will push a button on the PT. Note that both tasks have
`to do with communications. He could also retrieve email
`from his PC. He just has a choice now. If the user wishes to
`send a fax. he can either send it from his PC or insert the
`document in the scanner and push buttons. If the user wishes
`to develop a WEB site on Internet. he can develop the
`content on his PC and write the ?les to CaTdisc. The
`delivery can be done by PT. For faxback. the faxback data
`base can be built on PT or PC. They both have access to the
`scanner. Voice mail comes directly to PT and is replayed
`there. A telephone number can be dialed from PC. from
`CaTbox PI‘. a handset. or a receiver that sits on an on
`hook/o? hook cradle.
`The relationship between PC and PT can be likened to the
`conventional oven/microwave oven relationship. To cook
`complex dishes one can use the conventional oven. For
`heating a snack for lunch one uses the microwave oven.
`CaTbox would look like a hard disk to the PC and it
`would be attached to it via a cable. The preferred embodi
`ment has CaTbox look like a SCSI disk to the PC. A
`speci?cation of SCSI is given in X3.l3l SMALL COM
`PUTER SYSTEMS INTERFACE-2 REV:1OL.
`An advantage of this scheme is ability to update CaTbox
`software via PC. by loading it to CaTdisc. Upon reset.
`CaTbox would start using the new software. In most cases
`reset is not necessary. For example making a new voice ?le
`on PC and copying it to the ?le on CaTdisc assumed for a
`step will make it so next time the modem’s step table
`traverses this step. the new sound will be emitted. A con
`?guration ?le on CaTdisc links modems to their so called
`step tables which along with a set of foreground programs
`de?ne their behavior under inputs. One can edit this ?le from
`an editor on PC to reassign step tables to modems. If new
`editions of CaTbox software becomes available. the user can
`download it from an Internet location. or receive it in the
`mail as a ?oppy disk The new step tables and foreground
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`Ex. 1004, p. 19 of 30
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`FUJIFILM Corp., et al.
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`
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`5
`programs would then be loaded to CaTdisc either from PC’s
`?oppy disk drive or directly from the Internet location. In
`addition. there may be programs on a PC that help edit and
`make new step tables. Again. writing these to CaTdisc and
`editing the con?guration ?le on CaTdisc would create the
`new behavior on CaTbox. Thus. without changing the
`hardware. continuous improvements to the usefulness of
`CaTbox are possible.
`CaTbox is then the open. programmable. single site for
`processing for the answering machine. fax machine. copier.
`and telephone. This invention takes out the processing core
`from each one of these gadgets and gives the tasks to a single
`central processing unit that is the CaTbox. It builds a
`multitasking operating system on top of DOS for this
`processing unit that allows for writing programs that imple
`ment answering machine. fax. telephony. and other func
`tions such as an HTTP server for World Wide Web delivery.
`It makes the hard disk for this system available to a PC so
`that new programs can be downloaded to CaTbox. This
`downloading is simply a ?le copy from one disk (for
`example a ?oppy disk) to another (CaTdisc).
`In the last section. we showed why communications
`functions cannot be brought into the PC in a way that would
`be user friendly. But they can be brought into a site next to
`a PC that is always on and is driven via a push button
`interface. So the answer to computer telephony integration
`is: a PC/PT pair.
`The presence of a CaTbox would free the PC’s parallel
`port. serial ports and its internal hardware interrupt lines.
`Thus. the PC can potentially become a simpler machine.
`CaTbox would free the PC’s Graphical User Interface
`from chores of printing and scanning faxes and receiving
`voice mail on the PC. These tasks take quite a bit of time
`now and as they execute. they occupy the PC’s user interface
`and preoccupy the user’s mind.
`CaTbox would utilize printers and scanners currently
`attached to PC’s. It would have a printer attached to it and
`it would receive printing requests from the PC along with its
`own internal requests and implement them both with faster
`printing protocols that the printer may respond to. It would
`receive the print ?les from PC as block transfers as opposed
`to character transfers. These ?les would be transferred to a
`special directory on the CaTdisc (the term we use to empha
`size that CaTbox has a hard disk that looks like a SCSI disk
`to the PC) . During the transfer. the directory path would be
`detected. the ?le name would be changed and this new ?le
`name would be put on a print queue. A print routine inside
`the CaTbox would periodically check this queue and would
`print any ?les found therein. As the CaTbox need not be
`available to users for input via keyboard and mouse. its
`foreground is available for tasks such as printing. The
`combination of block transfer of print ?les to CaTdisc and
`foreground printing allows considerable speedup of the
`printing process.
`CaTbox would be independent of PC in terms of power
`supply; it would consume low power so that it can be left on
`while the PC is preferred to be off when not in use. The PC
`may even be a portable one that the user takes with him. The
`PC may not even have a hard disk: it could use the CaTdisc
`as a hard disk. CaTbox stays put to receive voice. fax. and
`email messages.
`It is desirable that in the CaTbox. the sequence of func
`tions implementing answering machine. voice mail. copy.
`faxback and other functions be described in a separate ?le
`from the program that steps through the sequences and
`executes them This way. the ?le describing the sequencing
`could be changed without changing the program that
`
`50
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`5.758.081
`
`6
`executes it. Armed with a program that helps to create such
`a sequencing ?le. a user would be able to change the
`sequencing of functions on location. This way. one could
`create a faxback application. a voice mail application. a
`combination thereof. etc. Once such a ?le was created on the
`user’s PC. it would be very easy to download it to CaTbox
`as it is also a CaTdisc Le. a SCSI disk to PC. In addition. the
`user may need to create DOS programs to implement
`applications. Once created on host PC. these programs
`would be written to special directories on CaTdisc. to be
`utilized by the sequencing ?les.
`The modem(s) on the CaTbox would. upon detecting a
`RING. answer the phone. distinguish between voice. fax.
`data and act accordingly. These modems may also be cable
`TV modems instead of telephone modems.
`CaTbox equipped with an ATA (IDE) hard disk (CaTdisc).
`would hold faxes and voice mail until the user wished to
`print or hear them. Just as the CaTbox shares the scanner
`with the PC. this hard disk could also be shared between
`these two computers. CaTdisc would look like a SCSI hard
`disk to the PC. The price of hard disks does not scale down
`linearly as capacity decreases when such capacity is of the
`order of what would be needed to store a normal load of
`faxes and voice mail. A larger hard disk that the PC could
`also use would be an economical way of sharing costs
`between the PC and the CaTbox. In some cases. users might
`wish to replace their current ATA (IDE) hard disks inside
`their PC with disks of higher capacity. Then. a CaTbox sold
`without a hard disk would provide a home for the old ATA
`hard disk that otherwise would sit idle in storage. It is also
`possible to use a SCSI disk in place of the ATA disk.
`A CaTbox endowed with a keypad and an LCD would
`also be easier to use. Its interface would approximate that of
`the telephone or the standalone fax machine instead of the
`Graphical User Interfaces that are more complex and slow.
`Accessing the functions of the CaTbox would be achieved
`with the same interface on the keypad. on the handset. and
`from a remote handset.
`CaTbox would make a separate fax machine and an
`answering machine unnecessary. If desired. it would also
`make a separate handset unnecessary.
`A CaTbox that was an embed