Patent ID: 8112449

Claim:
A method for utilizing content objects by a content access point within a customer's premises, wherein the method comprises: creating, at the content access point, a first list of available content objects and a respective format of each available content object, wherein the content access point is implemented by a demarcation device that isolates the customer's premises network from a provider's network, the demarcation device comprising a broadband modem; creating, at the content access point, a second list of content object entities and one or more respective formats that each content object entity is capable of supporting; creating, at the content access point, a guide indicating available content objects and, for each particular available content object, one or more content object entities to which that particular content object can be directed, based at least in part on the first list and the second list, each of the one or more content object entities being a separate device that is capable of displaying that particular content object; accessing, with the content access point, a first content object from a first content object entity within the customer's premises, wherein the first content object is in a first content format compatible with the first content object entity and wherein the first content object is selected from a group consisting of a voicemail object, an email object, a video object, an audio object, and an Internet web page; abstracting, with the content access point, the first content object to create a second content object in an abstract format, wherein the abstract format is compatible with a plurality of content formats; distinguishing, at the content access point, the second content object to create a third content object, wherein the third content object is in a second content format that is compatible with a second content object entity within the customer's premises, wherein the third content object is selected from a group consisting of a voicemail object, an email object, a video object, an audio object, and an Internet web page, and wherein the third content object is different from the first content format; and providing, from the content access point, the third content object to the second content object entity.