Calling all TVs

Reprinted from c|net.com:

By Ben Charny

Staff Writer, CNET News.com

Cox Communications and Cablevision have in mind the ultimate feature for couch potatoes: answering the phone with your TV.

As described this week by executives attending the National Cable & Telecommunications Association’s annual show here, someone watching TV will soon be able to answer incoming calls, direct them to voice mail and even screen them via caller ID, all through a TV.

Cox’s service is expected by year’s end. Time Warner Cable executives didn’t specify a debut date.

Managing phones calls using TVs is possible, in part, because of new developments in on-screen telephony from Digeo, Motorola, Moxi, Scientific-Atlanta and other providers of set-top boxes, which cable operators distribute to customers.

Cable operators are willing to design new services around the latest set-top boxes to gain an edge in battles with their chief rivals, the four Bell operating phone companies.

Of the four Bells, only Qwest Communications International has been using its copper network to offer caller ID that appears on the television screen.