# Using Cordless Phones to Send Voice Commands to Smart Home Devices > A method for letting a cordless phone handset send voice commands to smart home appliances over the same signal path used for regular phone calls. - **Patent:** US RE48232 - **Original title:** USRE48232E1 - Method for controlling cordless telephone device, handset of cordless telephone device, and cordless telephone device - **Owner:** Panasonic Intellectual Property Corp of America - **Granted:** 2020 - **Status:** Active - **Times cited:** 0 - **Field:** consumer_electronics, telecommunications ## What it does This patent describes a way to repurpose the audio stream of a cordless phone to control home appliances. When a user triggers the device—such as by pressing a button or moving the phone—the handset generates 'instruction bit information' alongside the voice data. This data is sent to the base unit using the standard DECT (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications) multiplexing scheme, which is the same technology used for normal phone calls. If the user is already on a call, the system can automatically mute the call to the person on the other end while the voice command is processed by the home system. ## What it does NOT cover - Does not cover voice control systems that use Wi-Fi or Bluetooth protocols instead of DECT. - Does not cover smart home control that requires a dedicated, non-telephony communication channel. - Does not cover systems that lack the ability to switch between call mode and mute mode during a voice command. ## The clever bit The innovation is using the existing DECT multiplexing scheme to carry control data packets alongside voice data, effectively turning a standard phone call signal into a dual-purpose data pipe for home automation. ## Real-world examples 1. Panasonic cordless home phone systems with integrated smart home features 2. DECT-based home automation controllers ## Why it matters As the smart home market grew, manufacturers looked for ways to integrate voice control into existing household hardware. By using the DECT standard, this patent allows a standard cordless phone to double as a remote control for appliances without needing a separate wireless radio or a more complex network infrastructure. ## Frequently asked questions ### What does Using Cordless Phones to Send Voice Commands to Smart Home Devices cover? A method for letting a cordless phone handset send voice commands to smart home appliances over the same signal path used for regular phone calls. ### Who owns patent US RE48232? Panasonic Intellectual Property Corp of America owns this patent, granted in 2020. ### When does this patent expire? This patent is expected to expire on September 29, 2040, when the invention enters the public domain. ### What problem does this patent solve? As the smart home market grew, manufacturers looked for ways to integrate voice control into existing household hardware. By using the DECT standard, this patent allows a standard cordless phone to double as a remote control for appliances without needing a separate wireless radio or a more complex network infrastructure. ### What does this patent NOT cover? Does not cover voice control systems that use Wi-Fi or Bluetooth protocols instead of DECT. **Full plain-English explainer:** https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/RE48232/video-doorbell **Original patent:** https://patents.google.com/patent/USRE48232 --- _Source: PatentBrief — https://patentbrief.org. Patent facts are from public records; the plain-English explanation is PatentBrief's._ ## Related patents Semantically similar inventions in the PatentBrief corpus: - [How Digital Audio Compression Saves Space by Copying Frequencies](https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/RE47935/google-chrome-browser) — A method for shrinking audio files by only saving the lower-pitched sounds and using clever math to reconstruct the higher-pitched sounds from them. - [Controlling a Camera on Your Phone with a Separate Gadget](https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/8675084/facetime-video-calling) — Apple's 2014 patent describes how a separate device, like a remote control, can talk to a phone to take pictures and videos, and show them on the remote. - [How One Phone Can Remotely Control Another When Nearby](https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/12101428/vision-pro-foveated-rendering) — A system where one smartphone automatically connects to and controls another nearby phone, acting as a remote screen and input device when the second phone is not being used. - [How Smart Speakers Know You're Talking to Them After a Command](https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/11361763/detecting-system-directed-speech) — This patent describes how a smart speaker system can tell if follow-up speech is meant for it, even without a "wake word," by analyzing voice activity and partial speech recognition results using an AI model. - [How Phones Use Photos to Buy or Research Products](https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/8204793/fulfillment-by-amazon-fba) — A method for using a smartphone camera to photograph a product and send that image to a remote server to trigger a purchase or retrieve product information.