Abstract: A calling party announcement apparatus that provides the identity of the caller in synthesized human speech. The invention captures the Incoming Caller Line Identification (ICLID) signal sent by the telephone company. The invention announces the calling party's identity to the called party through a built-in speaker and over the telephone receiver. The called party can elect to accept or reject the call before the telephone company central office has connected the two parties together. The invention makes it possible to screen incoming telephone calls without the aid of a special Caller ID telephone set or auxiliary Caller ID display terminal. The invention is installed in the customer premises, such as a residence or office, between the telephone line demarcation point and the telephone sets. The invention is compatible with any standard telephone set and subscriber trunks provisioned with the Caller ID enhanced customer feature.

Abstract: A calling party announcement apparatus that provides the identity of the caller in synthesized human speech. The invention captures the Incoming Caller Line Identification (ICLID) signal sent by the telephone company. The invention announces the calling party's identity to the called party through a built-in speaker and over the telephone receiver. The called party can elect to accept or reject the call before the telephone company central office has connected the two parties together. The invention makes it possible to screen incoming telephone calls without the aid of a special Caller ID telephone set or auxiliary Caller ID display terminal. The invention is installed in the customer premises, such as a residence or office, between the telephone line demarcation point and the telephone sets. The invention is compatible with any standard telephone set and subscriber trunks provisioned with the Caller ID enhanced customer feature.

Abstract: A system and method provides data representative of geographical information to equipment for providing weather-related information, such as a NOAA weather radio (NWR). A telephone call is placed over a telephone network from the equipment to an information server, which receives information corresponding to an origin of the telephone call in conjunction with the telephone call. The received information is processed to generate data representative of geographical information, which is then sent to the equipment in conjunction with the telephone call. The equipment is then programmed using the data representative of geographical information to provide geographically based weather-related information.