Abstract: A programmable telephone system includes a guestroom telephone, where each guestroom telephone includes at least one speed-dial key, a memory corresponding to the at least one speed key for storing data corresponding to speed-dial telephone numbers, a controller and a call recognition circuit. The system further includes a computer remotely located from the guestroom telephone where the computer is configured to automatically place a call to the guestroom telephone and establish communication therewith. The communication is established when the call recognition circuit determines that the call has not been answered based on a predetermined criteria. The computer is configured to transmit the speed-dial data to the guestroom telephone during the communication such that the controller programs the guestroom telephone with the data corresponding to the received speed-dial data.

Abstract: A telephone system is operatively coupled to a private automatic branch exchange (PABX) system and to a voice mail system, where the telephone system permits a user to retrieve recorded voice messages from the voice mail system. The telephone system includes one or more telephones, where each telephone further includes a handset, a message waiting indicator configured to inform the user that the voice message is pending with the voice mail system, a message retrieval key for retrieving the voice message from the voice mail system, and an audio speaker configured to provide the user with audio output corresponding to the voice message. A single action by the user of activating the message retrieval key causes the voice message to be retrieved and the audio speaker to be automatically activated such that the voice message is output on the audio speaker without the user lifting the handset.