System for digital radio communication between a wireless lan and a PBX

In a local area network having at least one access point for providing wireless communication to mobile units, and a telephone service interface connected to said access point and a central office, a method of providing telephone service to said mobile units, comprising:

• assigning telephone extension numbers and network addresses to said mobile units;
• establishing telephone connections using data messages between said mobile units using said network addresses;
• providing DTMF signals from said mobile units as data messages to said telephone service interface to establish external telephone connections from said mobile units to said central office;
• and
• receiving signals from said central office representing telephone extension numbers and mapping said extension numbers into network addresses to establish telephone connections from said central office to said mobile units.

A telephone system, comprising:

• a PBX having a gateway for mapping telephone extension numbers to corresponding network addresses;
• telephone extensions having extension numbers connected to said PBX;
• at least one data communications access point connected to said gateway of said PBX;
• and a plurality of mobile units, arranged for radio data communication with said access point and each having a network address corresponding to a telephone extension number;
• wherein said PBX receives telephone extension numbers corresponding to said mobile units and establishes a connection to said mobile unit via said access point using said corresponding network address, and wherein said mobile units generate DTMF signals corresponding to an extension number of a telephone extension and provide said DTMF signals as a data message to said PBX via said access point to establish a connection to said telephone extension.