Patent ID: 8140137

Claim:
A vehicle-mountable display unit, comprising: a housing; an array of buttons positioned on the housing to activate the display unit; a monitor mounted in the housing to present a range of programmable permissive communications to a vehicle operator for intercommunication between at least one remote base station located outside of said vehicle and the vehicle; a touch screen operatively connected to the monitor to present the programmed permissible communications choices to a vehicle operator, wherein said permissible communications choices are capable of being masked by said at least one remote base station, further wherein masked ones of said permissible communications choices cannot be unmasked by the vehicle operator, and wherein no keyboard for data entry into the display unit is connectable to the display unit such that the vehicle operator is precluded from entry of data into the display unit; a mobile server mounted in the vehicle, operatively connected to the monitor, to transmit to, and receive messages across, a mobile satellite communications system for intercommunication between at least one remote base station and the vehicle operator; and a separate media display unit, which is provided with a keyboard for data entry into said separate media display unit by a third party other than the vehicle operator during operation of said vehicle or by the vehicle operator while said vehicle is stationary, wherein said separate media display unit is a primary means of communication to said remote base station across said mobile satellite communications system, and wherein said display unit is a secondary means of communication to said remote base station across said mobile satellite communications system.