System and method for enabling custom telephone features on a PBX system

A telephone system comprising:

• a public branch exchange (PBX);
• a computer telephone integration (CTI) system in communication with said PBX;
• a plurality of multi-function telephone sets in two-way communication with said PBX and with said CTI system;
• and
• a plurality of software applications stored in said CTI system, each of said software applications corresponding to a status-state message stored in said PBX and said status-state message being specifically selectable by one of said telephone sets, and
• wherein a user of one of said telephone sets selects said status-state message which is recognized by said PBX and said PBX causes one or more associated events to occur from said one of said telephone sets and said CTI system, and
• wherein said CTI system identifies said status-state message from said one of said telephone sets and launches said software application corresponding to activation of said status-state message.

A computer-based method providing a system for enabling custom telephone features on a PBX system, said method comprising:

• at a user site comprising a telephone set,
• (a) receiving a first event from a user representative of a status-state;
• (b) displaying a confirmation of said first event in response to the received user's event;
• (c) transmitting said first event to said PBX;
• at the PBX,
• (d) receiving said first event from said user site;
• (e) recognizing said first event;
• (f) communicating said first event to a processing system;
• at the processing system,
• (g) receiving said first event from said user site via said communication;
• (h) identifying an application stored on said processing system corresponding to said first event from said user site;
• and
• (i) transmitting to said user site a second event in response to said first event.

A method for enabling a user to create custom telephone features on a PBX system using a multi-function telephone set (MTS), the method comprising:

• receiving, at said PBX, a first data message from said MTS representative of a pre-programmed status-state;
• establishing a message transport link between said MTS and a computer telephone integration (CTI) system;
• receiving, at said CTI system, said first data message and a second data message, said second data message representative of a user-defined message;
• identifying, at said CTI system, a stored software routine corresponding to said messages, said stored software routine being defined by said user;
• and
• launching said stored software routine.