Patent ID: 7558384

Claim:
An audio alert system, comprising: an audio alert; a device configured to detect the occurrence of an audio alert triggering event, the device comprising an emitter for emitting one or more iterations of the audio alert; and a data structure for relating the audio alert triggering event to the audio alert; wherein when the audio alert triggering event occurs, the data structure causes the device to modulate emission of the audio alert associated with the triggering event according to an external variable to generate the iterations, the external variable associated with at least one of: a type of appointment the modulated audio alert is signifying wherein the type of appointment comprises one of an appointment inside an office and an appointment outside the office; and auditory identification of a specific sending address of an electronic mail message; wherein the audio alert is modulated by the variable so as to effect changes in duration, intensity, pitch, or octaves of the emitted modulated audio alert.