Patent ID: 7027990

Claim:
A computerized interactive voice response system comprising: an interactive voice response host computer for providing audio menus; a source computer for providing text data associated with said audio menus; a user telephone; wherein said user telephone interfaces with an embedded computer having a display screen and having a first program to display visual menus on said user embedded computer display screen and wherein said user embedded computer is capable of operating independently and not in connection with said user telephone; an interface for connecting said user telephone, and said interactive voice response host computer, wherein said interface connects said user telephone to said interactive voice response host computer on a first communications network, enabling sending signals from said user telephone to said interactive voice response host computer; a modem attached to said user embedded computer for receiving said text data to display visual menus and other data on said user embedded computer display screen from said source computer; wherein said first communications network is a public switched telephone network; wherein said embedded computer has memory means to store said visual menus and other data; wherein said visual menus comprise said text data, said text data pre-stored in said memory, retrieved from said source computer prior to connecting to said interactive voice response host computer; wherein said first program in said user telephone embedded computer enables said user computer display screen to display said visual menus whenever a dialed telephone number has associated audio menus provided by said interactive voice response host computer; wherein said first program in said user telephone embedded computer provides navigation means to explore and select menu options in said visual menus prior to connecting to said interactive voice response host computer, transmitting said signals of said selection from said user telephone to said interactive voice response host computer after selecting said menu options; wherein said pre-stored visual menus stored in said embedded computer memory means, and said pre-stored visual menus reside on said source computer, accessible by said user telephone by means of said modem on said computer communications network; and said pre-stored text data, in said embedded computer memory means, comprise menu text data and location data of said source computer on said computer communications network.