WINDOWS ICON-BASED LAN TDD SOFTWARE TO ENABLE LAN ENVIRONMENT TO COMMUNICATE WITH TDD USERS

WINDOWS ICON BASED TELECOMMUNICATIONS SOFTWARE TO ENABLE THE USE OF STANDARD LAN (LOCAL AREA NETWORK) BASED SYSTEMS LIKE NOVELL NETWARE, ARTISOFT LANTASTIC, BANYAN VINES, MICROSOFT LAN MANAGER & NETBIOS, TO MAKE OUTGOING CALLS AND RECEIVE INCOMING CALLS. IT WILL ALSO ENABLE A CALLER TO LEAVE A MESSAGE IN THE ELECTRONIC MAIL INCORPORATED IN THE LAN SYSTEM AND AUTOMATICALLY DISPATCH THE MESSAGE TO THE INDIVIDUAL CALLED. THIS IS A FUNDAMENTAL INNOVATION IN THE LAN ENVIRONMENT, A RAPIDLY EXPANDING TECHNOLOGY IN MANY OFFICE COMPLEXES AND GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS. IT IS RAPIDLY DISPLACING ANALOG AND DIGITAL TELEPHONE LINES, RESULTING IN SUBSTANTIAL SAVINGS IN BOTH MAINTENANCE AND OPERATING COSTS. MORE AND MORE OFFICES ARE BEING EQUIPPED WITH LAN WALL JACKS RATHER THAN THE CONVENTIONAL PHONE JACKS. IT WILL SIMPLIFY THE INSTALLATION OF TDD CAPABILITY INTO ANY OFFICE WITHOUT THE NEED FOR DEDICATED LINES WITH SUBSTANTIAL SAVINGS IN MONTHLY CHARGES AND MAINTENANCE COSTS, PROVIDING READY ACCESS TO DEAF USERS. THE CHANGE WILL ONLY INVOLVE THE INSTALLATION OF FAIRLY STANDARDIZED LOW COST SOFTWARE (ABOUT $50.00 PER TERMINAL) IN THE COMPUTER. LAN WILL SOON BE THE GOLD STANDARD FOR VIDEO TELEPHONY. THE WINDOWS BASED SOFTWARE, USING LCON BASED ANIMATION, WILL BE COMBINED WITH 'ZOOM' CAPABILITY TO MAGNIFY THE TEXT UPTO A MAXIMUM OF 200 POINTS; A BOON FOR THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED. THE TELECOMMUNICATION SERVER WILL USE THE NEW MULTIMEDIA OMNIFONE MIC9624E EXTERNAL MODEM, DEVELOPED BY THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR UNDER AN SBIR PHASE II GRANT IN PROGRESS.