Abstract: A public pay telephone station constructed to accept user carried media which may be in the form of CD disks which are capable of storing a variety of data or information for interacting with the public telephone station. The station is provided with a display screen and control switches. Interaction is provided between the database in the user disk and distributed databases in the telecommunications network. The system provides sophisticated services based upon the massive data storage capacity of the CD disk used in conjunction with a microprocessor and memory in the telephone station as combined with the virtually limitless distributed storage data and capabilities of the telephone network.

Abstract: A public switched telecommunications network including a beacon transmitter associated with a station in such network and transmitting periodic beacon signals containing information regarding the location of said beacon and station. A portable receiver is provided for receiving such information and reproducing such location information to permit the carrier of said receiver to locate said station. The location information may be visually or audibly reproduced. The station may be a public pay station and/or a cellular station. The receiver may be associated with a portable cellular transceiver for establishing communications with a cellular transceiver disposed adjacent the beacon.

Abstract: A method and system for providing mobile access to message delivery into the existing public telecommunications network. A portable handset and transceiver have storage capacity and a processor for digitizing and time compressing messages inputted by the operator into the handset. Upon command of the handset operator the stored message is transmitted to a fixed site transceiver having storage capacity. The two transceivers are locked into communication by suitable handshake protocols. The fixed site transceiver is linked to the public switched telecommunications network and delivers the message stored in the fixed site storage to voice messaging service storage in the public telecommunications network. The message thus stored is either delivered as by call completion service or retrieved by the addressee as in voice mail service. In both cases the signal from the VMS storage is processed to perform digital to analog conversion along with time decompression or expansion.