Distinctive dial tone for a VoIP call
AssigneeZoom Telephonics, Inc.
InventorWilliam Vance
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A VoIP analog telephone adapter coupled to a telephone allows a telephone call to be made over the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) or over the Internet. Prior to dialing a phone number, with the telephone “off-hook”, a caller receives an audible indication as to whether the call will be made over the PSTN or the Internet through a standard dial tone generated by a Central Office or a distinctive dial tone generated by the adapter. The distinctive dial tone is different from the PSTN's dial tone.
Claims41
An analog telephone adapter comprising:
- circuitry that encodes an analog voice signal into digital packets for transmission over a packet network;
- and
- a tone generator that, responsive to an off-hook condition, generates a distinctive dial tone indicating that a connection will be directed to the packet network.
A method for identifying a requested connection comprising:
- encoding an analog voice signal into a digital packet for transmission over a packet network;
- and
- responsive to an off-hook condition, generating a distinctive dial tone indicating that a connection will be directed to the packet network.
An analog telephone adapter comprising:
- means for encoding an analog voice signal into a digital packet for transmission over a packet network;
- and
- responsive to an off-hook condition, means for generating a distinctive dial tone indicating that a connection will be directed to the packet network.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.