Extension of a local area phone system to a wide area network

A method of initiating a call in a cellular communication system from a wireless phone to a remote party comprising:

• receiving a vicarious call initiation from the wireless phone over a data-bearing path of the cellular communication system, the vicarious call initiation containing an identifier indicating the remote party to be called over a voice-bearing path of the cellular communication system;
• receiving a first voice call from the wireless phone over the voice-bearing path of the cellular communication system, wherein the first voice call is directed to the wireless phone;
• correlating the vicarious call initiation with the first voice call;
• placing a second voice call to the remote party based at least in part on the vicarious call initiation;
• and
• connecting the first voice call to the second voice call to establish a connection from the wireless phone to the remote party over the voice-bearing path of the cellular communication system.

An article of manufacture comprising:

• a computer readable medium having a plurality of instructions stored thereon which are configured to be executed by an apparatus of a cellular communication system to enable the apparatus to perform operations comprising:
• receive a vicarious call initiation from a wireless phone over a data-bearing path of the cellular communication system, the vicarious call initiation containing an identifier to indicate a remote party to be called over a voice-bearing path of the cellular communication system;
• correlate the vicarious call initiation with a first voice call from the wireless phone received over the voice-bearing path of the cellular communication system, wherein the first voice call is directed to the wireless phone;
• place a second voice call to the remote party based at least in part on the vicarious call initiation;
• and
• connect the first voice call to the second voice call to establish a connection from the wireless phone to the remote party over the voice-bearing path of the cellular communication system.

An apparatus, comprising:

• means for receiving a vicarious call initiation from a wireless phone over a data-bearing path of a cellular communication system, the vicarious call initiation containing an identifier indicating the remote party to be called over a voice-bearing path of the cellular communication system;
• means for receiving a first voice call from the wireless phone over the voice-bearing path of the cellular communication system, wherein the first voice call is directed to the wireless phone;
• means for correlating the vicarious call initiation with the first voice call;
• means for placing a second voice call to the remote party based at least in part on the vicarious call initiation;
• and
• means for connecting the first voice call to the second voice call to establish a connection from the wireless phone to the remote party over the voice-bearing path of the cellular communication system.