8. A system for establishing a global speech user interface (GSUI), comprising: a processor configured for performing speech recognition to transcribe spoken commands into commands acceptable by said communications system; said processor configured for using the transcribed spoken commands to navigate among applications hosted on said communications system; and said processor configured for displaying a set of visual cues to guide a user in issuing proper spoken commands, said visual cues comprising: a set of immediate speech feedback overlays, each of which provides non-textual feedback information about a state of said communications system; a set of help overlays, each of which provides a context-sensitive list of frequently used speech-activated commands for each screen of every speech-activated application; a set of feedback overlays, each of which provides information about a problem that said communications system is experiencing; and a main menu overlay that shows a list of services available to the user, each of said services being accessible by spoken command; and further comprising said processor configured for allowing the user to filter groups of television programs by specific attributes.
8. A system for establishing a global speech user interface (GSUI), comprising: a processor configured for performing speech recognition to transcribe spoken commands into commands acceptable by said communications system; said processor configured for using the transcribed spoken commands to navigate among applications hosted on said communications system; and said processor configured for displaying a set of visual cues to guide a user in issuing proper spoken commands, said visual cues comprising: a set of immediate speech feedback overlays, each of which provides non-textual feedback information about a state of said communications system; a set of help overlays, each of which provides a context-sensitive list of frequently used speech-activated commands for each screen of every speech-activated application; a set of feedback overlays, each of which provides information about a problem that said communications system is experiencing; and a main menu overlay that shows a list of services available to the user, each of said services being accessible by spoken command; and further comprising said processor configured for allowing the user to filter groups of television programs by specific attributes. 9. The system of claim 8 , wherein said interactive program guide comprises any of: allowing the user to, via spoken command, sort television programs by category; allowing the user to set parental controls, with which children are blocked from accessing controlled television channels or television programs; allowing the user to, via spoken command, set reminders for television programs to play in the future; allowing the user to, via spoken command, search television programs based on a specific criteria; processing pay per view purchases; and allowing the user to, via spoken command, access and upgrade premium television services.