Patent ID: 8649490

Claim:
A communication system comprising: a beverage preparation machine having a data-exchange communication module; a service unit that is separate from the beverage preparation machine and that is arranged for exchanging data with the data-exchange communication module of the beverage preparation machine; a transmission arrangement for transmitting data between the data-exchange communication module and the service unit, the data-exchange communication module of the beverage preparation machine comprises a sound-interface for exchanging data as a sound signal; the transmission arrangement comprises a telephone device for transmitting the sound signal of the data towards the service unit and/or originating from the service unit; the data-exchange communication module performs an operation selected from the group consisting of generating a control signal before a transmission of the sound signal, generating a control signal after a transmission of the sound signal, receiving a control signal from the service unit through the telephone device before a transmission of the sound signal, and receiving a control signal from the service unit through the telephone device after a transmission of the sound signal; and at least one of the service unit or the beverage preparation machine uses information provided by the control signal to automatically differentiate between human discussions and machine data exchange.