GRAPHICAL CONTROL INTERFACE

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a television receiver and its controller to a control interface based on the GUI for a device which cannot generate an image by itself. SOLUTION: A controller 117 provides an output of a screen menu including pelection of control for a television receiver 121 and the user uses the menu to select any of control functions 125. Then the controller 117 executes the control function specified through the selection. One application of this interface is a telephone message processing system is a system installed in the controller 117 that responds to a call such as a voice message, a facsimile message, a character string message and a script message. The controller 117 reproduces a voice message on the television receiver 121 and controls the screen display of a facsimile message and a character string message on the television receiver 121. The script message includes code executed by the controller 117 to generate display. The service served through a telephone network 103 is controlled analogically and displayed.