Appliance communication system

摘要

A home appliance (1), such as a laundry washing machine or refrigerator including a buzzer (5) designed to sound an alarm or provide an audible indication of a certain condition is disclosed. The appliance (1) may transmit information (such as diagnostic or fault codes and appliance usage information) to a remote service centre (6) without the need for a physical connection to a telephone line. The buzzer (5) may be controlled to produce audible tones in a predetermined format which can be transmitted from the appliance (1), through the air and down a telephone line through a telephone handset (9) to the service centre (6). The signal is recorded at the service centre (6) and the data extracted. The data is then analysed to obtain the fault and/or usage information.