Patent ID: 8689249

Claim:
A system for providing communications with an in-home system at a residence of a user, comprising: a set top box having a first communication port configured to receive digital television programming content; said set top box being responsive to a user input to tune to a selected digital television programming content; said set top box having a second port configured to be connected to a television; said set top box having a third port configured to transmit data to, and receive data from, an in-home system that includes a video camera; wherein said set top box is configured to received video content from the video camera and is configurable by the user to cause said video content to be displayed on a television connected to said second port; said set top box being connected to the internet or mobile telephone network or a local area network and being configured to connect to a remote user device over the internet or mobile telephone network or a local area network; wherein said set top box includes a memory and is configurable by the user to cause said received video content to be stored in said memory for subsequent display in response to a user input; wherein one or more templates are stored in the memory; wherein said set top box is configured to cause at least some of the templates to be displayed on the remote user device connected to the set top box over the internet or mobile telephone network or a local area network; and wherein said at least some of said templates are configured to present information to the user for monitoring operation of the in-home system.