Re-routing telephony communications traffic through a private branch exchange to a data network

A system for routing telephony data, comprising:

• a telephone switching device;
• an originator telephony device coupled to the telephone switching device to generate the telephony data;
• a receiver telephony device to receive the telephony data;
• a PSTN to transmit the telephony data from said originator telephony device to said receiver telephony device in digital form;
• a computer network to transmit the telephony data from said originator telephony device to said receiver telephony device in digital form;
• and
• a telephony-to-data re-routing system (TDR) to accept the telephony data from said telephone switching device, and route the telephony data over said PSTN or said computer network, wherein the telephony data to be routed over said PSTN is re-routed through the telephone switching device.

A method for routing telephone calls in a system having an originator telephone device, a receiver telephone device, a public switched telephone network (PSTN), a telephony-to-data re-routing system (TDR), a Private branch exchange (PBX), and a data network, comprising the steps of:

• a) routing a telephone call originated at the originator telephone device to the TDR through the PBX;
• b) determining whether to route said telephone call over the PSTN or the data network;
• and
• c) routing said telephone call over the PSTN or data network in accordance with step (b), wherein the telephone call is re-routed from the TDR to the PBX if it is to be routed over the PSTN.

A telephony-to-data re-router, comprising:

• a telephony data interface to receive telephony data from a telephony switching device;
• means for determining whether the telephony data should be transmitted in analog or digital form;
• means for converting the telephony data to digital data if it is determined that that data should be transmitted in digital form;
• means for re-routing the digital data over a computer network;
• and
• means for sending the telephony data back to the switching device if it is determined that the telephony data should be routed in analog form.

A method for routing telephony data over a public-switched telephone network or a computer network, comprising the steps of:

• (a) receiving the telephony data from a telephone switching system;
• (b) determining whether to route the telephony data over the public-switched telephone network or the computer network;
• (c) converting the telephony data to digital data if it is to be routed over the compute network;
• (d) routing the digital data over the computer network;
• and
• (e) re-routing the telephony data through the telephone switching system for transmission over the public-switched telephone network if it is not converted to digital data.

A system for routing telephony data, comprising:

• an originator telephony device to generate the telephony data;
• a telephony switching system that receives the telephony data from the originator telephony device;
• a telephony-to-data re-routing system (TDR) that receives the telephony data from the telephony switching system and converts the telephony data to a digital representation of the telephony data if the telephony data is to be transmitted digitally, and re-routes the telephony data to the telephony switching system if the telephony data is to be transmitted as analog telephony data;
• and
• a computer network coupled to the TDR over which the TDR transmits a digital representation of the telephony data.

A device to reduce the expense of making telephone calls, comprising:

• means for receiving a telephone call from a telephone switching system;
• means for determining whether to send the telephone call in digital form over a computer network or over a public-switched telephone network (PSTN) in analog form;
• means for converting the telephone call to digital data if it is to be sent over the computer network;
• means for sending the digital data over the computer network;
• and
• means for re-routing the telephone call to the telephone switching system if the telephone call is to be sent over the PSTN.

A method for reducing the expense of making telephone calls, comprising the steps of:

• receiving a telephone call from a telephone switching system;
• determining whether to send the telephone call in digital form over a computer network or over a public-switched telephone network (PSTN) in analog form;
• converting the telephone call to digital data if it is to be sent over the computer network;
• transmitting the telephone call to digital data if the telephone call is to be sent over the computer network;
• and
• re-routing the telephone call to the private branch exchange if the telephone call is to be sent over the PSTN.