The telephone is the most ubiquitous computer input/output device with over 200 million units in the U.S. Thousands of applications – from airline reservations to zoo schedules – employ audio output and touch-tone input to control the flow and content of information. Because of the limited information capacity of the telephone, designing useful and usable phone-based interfaces presents a strong challenge to the designer. This paper will focus on the strengths and weaknesses of phone-based interfaces, present design guidelines, and discuss future directions.
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