Multi-line appearance telephony via a computer network
AssigneeVerizon Laboratories Inc.
InventorsSteven E. Gardell, Israel B. Zibman, Gregory C. Depp
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and apparatus are provided for creating traditional multi-line appearance telecommunications capabilities in a computer network for communications received from a switched circuit network. The system and method create key system and attendant/attendee relationships between the respective terminal end-points of the computer network. In addition, multiple line appearances may be supported simultaneously at a single terminal end-point.
Claims11
A communication system for interacting with a switched circuit network and for providing multiple line appearances at a terminal of a computer network, the system comprising:
- a gateway in communication with the switched circuit network, the gateway being operative to translate switched circuit network-compatible signals into computer network-compatible signals;
- and
- a signal routing agent in communication with the gateway and with one or more terminals, the signal routing agent being operative to receive plural incoming calls from the gateway addressed to a selected one of the terminals and programmed to simultaneously transmit plural line appearance signals that identify origins of the incoming calls to the selected terminal.
A method of concurrently displaying plural line appearances at a terminal end-point in a computer network, comprising the steps of:
- receiving plural incoming calls directed to a particular address;
- accessing a configuration database to identify at least one end-point associated with the address;
- concurrently transmitting plural line appearance signals that identify origins of the incoming calls to each of the end-points;
- and
- displaying the plural line appearances at each of the end-points.
A method of establishing an attendant/attendee relationship between plural terminal end-points via an H.323-based communication system, comprising the steps of:
- creating a configuration database storing attendant and attendee relationships between respective ones of the terminal end-points;
- receiving an incoming call addressed to a particular number;
- accessing the configuration database to determine if the number corresponds to an attendant or attendee terminal end-point;
- if the number corresponds to an attendant terminal end-point, transmitting a line appearance to the attendant terminal end-point;
- and
- if the number corresponds to an attendee terminal end-point, transmitting line appearances to the attendee terminal end-point and to the attendant terminal end-point associated in the configuration database with the attendee.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.