Method and apparatus for communicating with one of plural devices associated with a single telephone number
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system for (and a method of) selectively establishing communication with one of plural devices associated with a single telephone number is provided. In a preferred embodiment, the system includes a wireless connect unit connected between an enterprise private branch exchange (PBX) network and a public switched telephone network. The wireless connect unit preferably serves as a gateway between the PBX and one or more remote communication devices. The remote devices can be used as standard PBX office telephones for both inbound and outbound telephone calls. Thus, features of the PBX network (e.g., voice mail, direct extension dialing, corporate calling plan, etc.) are available to the remote device even though they are not physically connected to the PBX. When the system receives an incoming call, it can route the call to an office telephone and one or more of the remote devices simultaneously or as desired by the user.
95 Citations
51 Claims
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1-18. -18. (canceled)
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19. A telecommunication device comprising:
a telephony interface coupled to an enterprise telecommunication network, said telephony interface receiving a telephone call from a wireless telephone and identifying a wireless telephone number of the wireless telephone, said telephony interface using the wireless telephone number to authenticate a user of the wireless telephone, said telephony interface generating and sending a simulated dial tone to the wireless telephone to provide access to the enterprise telecommunication network based on at least one user preference and at least one enterprise preference. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method of operating a telecommunication device to implement a virtual dual line telephone interface into an enterprise telecommunication network location having a single line telephone interface, the method comprising the steps of:
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connecting the enterprise telecommunication network to a wireless connect unit;
providing at least one wireless telephone to the location, the wireless telephone being associated with a commercial wireless carrier network;
routing a telephone call made to an extension of the enterprise network to the wireless connect unit;
identifying the extension from the routed telephone call;
using the identified extension to retrieve a first telephone number associated with the single line telephone interface and a second telephone number associated with the wireless telephone;
routing the telephone call to at least one destination telephone number, wherein the at least one destination telephone number is selected from the group including the first and second telephone numbers; and
wherein the wireless telephone can receive the call if the single line telephone interface is unable to receive a call, and the single line telephone interface can receive the call if the wireless telephone is unable to receive the call.
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27. A method of providing telecommunications between users of first and second telecommunication networks, the method comprising the steps of:
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connecting the first and second telecommunication networks to first and second wireless connect units, respectively;
providing at least one wireless telephone to the users of the first and second telecommunications networks;
routing a telephone call made from a first user of the first telecommunication network to the second wireless connect unit connected to the second telecommunication network, the telephone call being for an extension of the second telecommunication network;
identifying the extension from the routed telephone call;
using the identified extension to retrieve a first telephone number and a second telephone number associated with a wireless telephone, wherein the wireless telephone is associated with a commercial wireless carrier network; and
routing the telephone call to at least one destination telephone number, wherein the at least one destination telephone number is selected from the group including of the first and second telephone numbers.
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28. (canceled)
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29. A method of providing access to an enterprise telecommunication network from a wireless telephone, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving a telephone call from the wireless telephone;
identifying a wireless telephone number of the wireless telephone;
using the wireless telephone number to authenticate a user of the wireless telephone;
generating a simulated dial tone;
sending the simulated dial tone to the wireless telephone;
providing telecommunication access to the enterprise telecommunication network based on at least one user preference and at least one enterprise preference associated with the wireless telephone.
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30-43. -43. (canceled)
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44. An article of manufacture comprising a machine-readable storage medium having stored therein indicia of a plurality of machine-executable control program steps, the control program comprising the steps of:
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receiving a telephone call from a wireless telephone associated with a wireless carrier network;
identifying a wireless telephone number of the wireless telephone;
using the wireless telephone number to authenticate a user of the wireless telephone;
generating a simulated dial tone;
sending the simulated dial tone to the wireless telephone;
providing telecommunication access to a telecommunication network remotely located from the wireless carrier network.
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45. A communication system comprising:
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a processing unit; and
a memory, wherein a computer program is stored in said memory for execution by said processing unit to receive a communication, identify a communication device number associated with the communication, retrieve a first communication device number and a second communication device number based on the identified communication device number, and to route the communication to at least one destination communication number, wherein the at least one destination communication number is selected from the group including the retrieved first and second communication numbers and, wherein at least one of the retrieved first and second communication numbers is associated with a wireless carrier network located remotely from the system. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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51. A communication system comprising:
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a processing unit; and
a memory, wherein a computer program is stored in said memory for execution by said processing unit to receive a telephone call from a cellular telephone;
identifying a telephone number of the cellular telephone;
using the telephone number to authenticate a user of the cellular telephone;
generating a simulated dial tone;
sending the simulated dial tone to the cellular telephone;
providing, to the cellular telephone, telecommunication access to a telecommunication network that is not associated with the cellular telephone.
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Specification