Voice communication system and voice communication method

A voice communication system including a line switching network to which telephones are connected, a packet switching network to which communication terminals are connected and which has a communication address scheme different from a telephone number scheme of said line switching network, and a communication server connected to said line switching network and said packet switching network and assigned a communication terminal address on said packet switching network and a telephone number on said line switching network, wherein:

• said communication terminals connected to said packet switching network are assigned unique extension numbers, respectively,
• each of said telephones comprises:
• means for controlling a communication between said telephone and said communication server, when a user inputs the telephone number of said communication server, to set said telephone and said communication server in a communication available state and transmitting an extension number inputted by the user to said communication server, and
• said communication server comprises:
• means for finding a communication terminal address of a communication terminal to which said extension number is assigned, based on the extension number transmitted from said telephone, to determine the communication terminal to be connected;
• means for transmitting a voice communication request to the determined communication terminal to establish a connection between said communication server and said communication terminal;
• and
• means for receiving voice information transmitted from the telephone having said telephone number, editing the voice information into packets, and transmitting the packets to said communication terminal, while receiving packets transmitted from said communication terminal, and transmitting voice information in the packets to said telephone having the telephone number.

A voice communication system including a line switching network to which telephones are connected, a packet switching network to which communication terminals are connected and which has a communication address scheme different from a telephone number scheme of said line switching network, and a communication server connected to said line switching network and said packet switching network and assigned a communication terminal address on said packet switching network, wherein:

• said communication terminals connected to said packet switching network are assigned unique telephone numbers, respectively,
• each of said telephones comprises:
• means for controlling a communication between said telephone and said communication server when a user inputs a telephone number assigned to one of said communication terminals, and
• said communication server comprises:
• means for finding, based on the telephone number inputted from said telephone, a communication terminal address of a communication terminal to which the telephone number is assigned to determine the communication terminal to be connected;
• means for transmitting a voice communication request to the determined communication terminal to establish a connection between said communication server and said communication terminal;
• and
• means for receiving voice information transmitted from said telephone, editing the voice information into packets, and transmitting the packets to said communication terminal, while receiving packets transmitted from said communication terminal, and transmitting voice information in the packets to said telephone.

A voice communication system including a line switching network to which telephones are connected, a packet switching network to which communication terminals are connected and which has a communication address scheme different from a telephone number scheme of said line switching network, and a communication server connected to said line switching network and said packet switching network and assigned a communication terminal address on said packet switching network and a telephone number on said line switching network, wherein:

• one of the communication terminals connected to said packet switching network is used as a switcher terminal,
• each of said telephones comprises:
• means for controlling a communication between said telephone and said communication server, when a user inputs the telephone number of said communication server, to set said telephone and said communication server in a communication available state,
• said switcher terminal comprises:
• means for connecting said switcher terminal with said communication server in response to a voice communication request from said communication server to set said switcher terminal and said telephone in a communication available state, wherein a switcher can speak with the user of said telephone;
• means for finding a communication terminal address in response to an input of information for specifying a person to which the user desires to call, said information being obtained by a conversation between the switcher and the user;
• and
• means for transmitting a connected terminal determination result including the found communication terminal address to said communication server, and
• said communication server comprises:
• means for transmitting the voice communication request to said switcher terminal, when said switcher terminal and said telephone are set in the communication available state, to establish a connection between said communication server and said switcher terminal;
• means for receiving the connected terminal determination result from said switcher terminal, and transmitting the voice communication request to a communication terminal having the communication terminal address included in the connected terminal determination result to establish a connection between said communication server and said communication terminal;
• and
• means for receiving voice information transmitted from said telephone, editing the voice information into packets, and transmitting the packets to said communication terminal, while receiving packets transmitted from said communication terminal, and transmitting the voice information in the packets to said telephone.

A voice communication method in a voice communication system including a line switching network to which telephones are connected, a packet switching network to which communication terminals are connected and which has a communication address scheme different from a telephone number scheme of said line switching network, and a communication server connected to said line switching network and said packet switching network and assigned a communication terminal address on said packet switching network, said method comprising the steps of:

• transmitting a voice communication request including a telephone number of one of said telephones from one of said communication terminals to said communication server through said packet switching network;
• transmitting a call setting request from said communication server which has received said voice communication request to a telephone having the telephone number included in said voice communication request through said line switching network;
• returning a call setting accepting response from said one telephone which has received said call setting request to said communication server through said line switching network;
• returning a voice communication accepting response from said communication server which has received said call setting accepting response to said communication terminal through said packet switching network;
• and
• in said communication server, receiving voice information transmitted from said one telephone through said line switching network, editing said voice information into packets, and transmitting the packets to said communication terminal through said packet switching network, while receiving packets transmitted from said communication terminal through said packet switching network, and transmitting said voice information in the packets to said one telephone through said line switching network to carry out a communication between said telephone and said communication terminal through said communication server.

A voice communication method in a voice communication system including a line switching network to which telephones are connected, a packet switching network to which communication terminals are connected and which has a communication address scheme different from a telephone number scheme of said line switching network, and a communication server connected to said line switching network and said packet switching network and assigned a communication terminal address on said packet switching network and a telephone number on said line switching network, said method comprising the steps of:

• transmitting a call setting request from one of said telephones to said communication server through said line switching network;
• returning a call setting accepting response from said communication server which has received said call setting request to said one telephone through said line switching network;
• determining a communication terminal address of a communication terminal to be connected to said one telephone by said communication server;
• transmitting a voice communication request from said communication server to a communication terminal having said determined communication terminal address through said packet switching network;
• returning a voice communication accepting response from said communication terminal which has received said voice communication request to said communication server through said packet switching network;
• and
• in said communication server, receiving voice information transmitted from said one telephone through said line switching network, editing said voice information into packets, and transmitting the packets to said communication terminal through said packet switching network, while receiving the packets transmitted from said communication terminal through said packet switching network, and transmitting said voice information in the packets to said one telephone through said line switching network to carry out a communication between said telephone and said communication terminal through said communication server.