Method and system for providing advanced address book functionality in a universal plug and play home network environment

A Telephony Server (TS) for managing one or more network address books associated with a Telephony Control Point (TCP) in a Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) home network, comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory includes a Network Address Book (NAB) management module capable of:
• receiving a request to update a contact entry from the TCP that is coupled to the TS, wherein the request comprises contact information associated with at least one entity of the contact entry and an identifier of a source of the contact entry;
• determining whether the identifier in the request is associated with any of one or more network address books in one or more Wide Area Network (WAN) servers coupled to the TS via a WAN;
• when the identifier is associated with at least one of the one or more network address books, updating the contact entry in the at least one network address book based on the contact information;
• and
• when the identifier is not associated with any of the one or more network address books, updating the contact entry in a local address book in the TS based on the contact information.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored therein, that when executed by a Telephony Server (TS), cause the TS to perform a method comprising the steps of:

• receiving a request to update a contact entry from a Telephony Control Point (TCP) that is coupled to the TS, wherein the request comprises contact information associated with at least one entity of the contact entry and an identifier of a source of the contact entry;
• determining whether the identifier in the request is associated with any of one or more network address books in one or more Wide Area Network (WAN) servers coupled to the TS via a WAN;
• when the identifier is associated with at least one of the one or more network address books, updating the contact entry in the at least one network address book based on the contact information;
• and
• when the identifier is not associated with any of the one or more network address books, updating the contact entry in a local address book in the TS based on the contact information.

A method for sharing contacts entries at a Telephony Server (TS), comprising the steps of:

• receiving a request from a Telephony Control Point (TCP) coupled to the TS in a Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) home network to share at least one contact element associated with a contact entry with at least one recipient;
• retrieving the at least one contact element from a network address book in a Wide Area network (WAN) server connected to the TS or from a local address book in the TS;
• and
• sharing the at least one contact element with the at least one recipient.

A Telephony Server (TS) for sharing of contacts entries comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory includes a Network Address Book (NAB) management module capable of:
• receiving a request from a Telephony Control Point (TCP) coupled to the TS in a Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) home network to share at least one contact element associated with a contact entry with at least one recipient;
• retrieving the at least one contact element from a network address book in a Wide Area network (WAN) server connected to the TS or from a local address book in the TS;
• and
• sharing the at least one contact element with the at least one recipient.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored therein, that when executed by a Telephony Server (TS), cause the TS to perform a method comprising the steps of:

• receiving a request from a Telephony Control Point (TCP) coupled to the TS in a Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) home network to share at least one contact element associated with a contact entry with at least one recipient;
• retrieving the at least one contact element from a network address book in a Wide Area network (WAN) server connected to the TS or from a local address book in the TS;
• and
• sharing the least one contact element with the at least one recipient.