Patent ID: 7334050

Claim:
A method for providing a voicebased interface, comprising: installing multiple voice applications at a server; receiving a request to instantiate one of the voice applications; setting permissions for specifying whether a user can instantiate the voice application; receiving user-specific configuration parameters, wherein at least a portion of the user-specific configuration parameters, are read from a profile of the user, wherein at least a portion of the configuration parameters are input by the user, wherein at least a portion of the configuration parameters are fixed; instantiating an instance of the voice application in a modified form based on the user-specific configuration parameters; selecting content for output; verbally outputting the content using the voice application, wherein the instance of the voice application pauses the output and resumes the output, wherein the instance of the application fast-forwards and rewinds the output, wherein a time before a timeout occurs is output to the user when the output is paused; allowing sharing of the instance of the voice application among multiple users; receiving configuration parameters specific to a second user, and instantiating a second instance of the voice application in a modified form based on the configuration parameters specific to the second user; receiving additional configuration parameters from the user after instantiating the instance of the voice application; and further modifying the instance of the voice application based on the additional configuration parameters; wherein multiple instances of the voice application communicate with each other; wherein one of the voice applications is used to interact with an address book; wherein one of the voice applications is used to audibly output content to the user, wherein the voice application pauses the output and resumes output; wherein one of the voice applications is used to interact with an electronic mail system, wherein the interaction includes at least one of retrieving a summary of an inbox, selecting a message, audibly outputting a message, creating a message, replying to a message, forwarding a message, and deleting a message; wherein one of the voice applications provides a security function; wherein the instance of the voice application communicates with a different type of voice application.