Patent ID: 7171466

Claim:
A system for transmitting a programmable message to a receiving device upon receipt of an event, said system comprising: an Internet data communications network; at least one sending device operatively connected to the data communications network, the at least one sending device sending a stream of packets; at least one further sending device operatively connected to the data communications network, the at least one further sending device transmitting an event in a packet upon a predetermined occurrence; at least one receiving device operatively connected to the data communications network, the at least one receiving device capable of receiving and processing data, the at least one receiving device receiving and rendering said stream of packets; a persistent data store; a predetermined set of selectively retrievable messages stored in the persistent data store; a monitor operatively in communication with the sending devices, the monitor further being able to access the set of selectively retrievable messages stored in the persistent data store; and monitoring software, at least a portion of which is resident and executable within the monitor, the monitoring software causing the monitor to detect the event in the packet transmitted by the at least one further sending device, to select at least one of the selectively retrievable messages based on the event, to modify data in the packet containing the event to include the selected retrievable message, and to substitute said modified packet for a corresponding packet in said stream of packets, whereby said at least one receiving device renders said selected retrievable message.