Abstract: A television system comprising: one or more television sets, each with an associated local control unit; and a head end unit to which each local control unit is connected, the head end unit providing content for display on each television set; wherein each local control unit includes a channel map comprising a number of channels, each mapped to a television program channel or to a reference to an interactive content page; and wherein the reference to an interactive content page operates such that when selected, the local control unit contacts the head end unit for the interactive content to be displayed on the television. The channel map can be in the form of a specific channel assignment or a logical map.

Abstract: A security system wherein a plurality of locations are monitored by sensors which transmit alarm signals to a central control station by radio or telephone, each alarm signal being encoded to identify the particular sensor location and alarm condition. The control station comprises a computer which correlates the received alarm signals with information stored in the computer memory to identify which of a plurality of satellite stations are to be notified of a particular alarm condition at a particular monitored location, what correlated information is to be transmitted to such satellite station, and whether to effect such transmission by radio or telephone. The computer actuates a radio or telephone transmitter in the control station to transmit correlated signals to the appropriate satellite stations, and may also actuate a speech synthesizer so that such signals may be transmitted as synthetic speech.