Abstract: A telephone system for providing advanced telephony includes a first phone system adapter and a phone system controller. The first phone system adapter is coupled between a first telephone handset and a telephone line. Furthermore, the first phone system adapter is operable to (i) selectively couple the first telephone handset to the telephone line, (ii) receive an oral command from the first telephone handset when the first telephone handset is decoupled from the telephone line, and (iii) transmit the oral command to the phone system controller via the telephone line while the first telephone handset is decoupled from the telephone line. The phone system controller is coupled to the telephone line. Moreover, the phone system controller includes a personal computer system having an interactive phone system board and a computer readable medium.

Abstract: There is disclosed a telephone instrument having controller and audio unit portions coupled together by a control bus and a user data bus having four audio states. The audio unit portion comprises a state machine that allows operating modes of the telephony instrument to be monitored and controlled. The state machine places the user data bus in a first predetermined state and the controller portion responds by placing the control bus in a selected state. The state machine detects the selected state and, in response thereto, places the user data bus in a second predetermined state. The second predetermined state indicates whether the first predetermined state was intended to be one of the four audio states or one of at least two mode control states. The user data bus and the control bus cooperate to provide a sequential output having at least six states, thereby allowing the operating modes to be monitored and controlled without modifying the bus drive circuitry.