Patent ID: 6483905
Filing Date: 2002-11-19
Classification: H04L,H04M,Y10S

Abstract:
A dedicated electronic document answering machine, not a PC and integrated separately from functional elements of a PC, comprising:a CPU and memory connected by a communication bus; a modem connected to the bus responsive to the CPU and connecting to remote sources on a telephone line; an on-board system to communicate downloaded documents to a user independent of any peripheral device; an alert apparatus to signal a user that new documents are waiting to be reviewed; an input device to signal the system to communicate the new documents to the user; a programing interface to program remote sources to be accessed for the electronic documents and periodic time intervals for access and downloading; and a digital port for connecting to a host personal computer (PC); wherein the sole functions of the machine are to connect to the remote sources automatically at the programmed periodic time intervals; to initiate the downloading of the electronic documents including e-mail documents, to alert the user to the presence of downloaded documents, to communicate the documents to the user on demand using the outboard system for communicating, and to communicate stored documents to the PC for processing.