Patent ID: 7734286

Claim:
A hub for controlling one or more appliances based on communications with a cellular device, the hub comprising: a cellular interface; a communications mechanism configured to transmit instructions to the one or more appliances; a memory configured to store a cellular telephone number associated with the cellular device; a processor operatively coupled with the cellular interface and the memory, wherein the processor is programmed to: answer an incoming telephone call from the cellular device, wherein answering the incoming telephone call establishes a communication link between the hub and the cellular device via a public cellular network; receive a command string from the cellular device over the public cellular network; determine which of the one or more appliances is an intended recipient of the command string; send the command string to the intended recipient via the communication mechanism; retrieve the cellular telephone number associated with the cellular device from the memory; dial the cellular telephone number associated with the cellular device upon completion of executing the command string, wherein dialing the cellular telephone number establishes a communication link between a controller and the cellular device via the public cellular network; and send verification to the cellular device that the command string has been executed via the public cellular network.