Method for remotely connecting to a secure telephone network

• US 20070049248A1
• Filed: 08/25/2005
• Published: 03/01/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/25/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: X Corp. (f/k/a Twitter, Inc.) (X Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Hamilton, Rick, Seaman, James, Dawson, Christopher, Waters, Timothy
• Granted Patent: US 7,688,959 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/410
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/382 using authorisation codes or passwords
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/009 in systems involving PBX or KTS networks

Abstract

A system and method for allowing remote callers to access a secure telephone network maintains a registry (i.e. a database) of all remote callers that have access to the network. The registry contains an electronic serial number (ESN) and a personal identification number (PIN) for each remote caller. The ESN is typically the serial number of the callers cellular telephone. Alternatively, the ESN is a phone number of the remote caller'"'"'s telephone. To establish a connection, the remote caller calls a private branch exchange (PBX) of the secure network. Upon receiving the call, the PBX compares the ESN and PIN of the remote caller with the ESN and PIN stored in the registry. If a match is found, the PBX authenticates the remote caller and allows the connection. The remote caller may have full access or access limited by a connection policy.

Claims

1. A method for connecting a user of a remote telephone to a secure telephone network comprising a plurality of network extensions, the method comprising the steps of:

a) providing a registry connected to the secure telephone network, the registry storing a plurality of entries, wherein each entry comprises an electronic serial number (ESN) associated with a remote telephone, and a programmable personal identification number (PIN) associated with a user;

b) transmitting to the secure telephone network an ESN of the remote telephone and a PIN of the remote telephone user; and

c) searching the registry for an entry having the same ESN and PIN transmitted in step (b), wherein one of the following actions is taken based on the searching step

1) in response to finding an entry having the ESN and the PIN, connecting the remote telephone to the secure telephone network; and

2) in response to not finding an entry having the ESN and the PIN, denying the remote telephone access to the secure telephone network.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the registry also stores a connection policy associated with each entry, and the method further comprises the step of applying the connection policy to the connection between the remote telephone and the secure telephone network.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the connection policy specifies which network extensions are accessible to the remote telephone or user.

4. The method claim 2 wherein the connection policy specifies available access times for certain network extensions.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the remote telephone is a cellular telephone, and the ESN is a serial number electronically stored in the cellular telephone.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the remote telephone is a land line telephone, and the ESN is a phone number associated with the land line telephone.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the PIN of the remote telephone user is manually entered by the user each time a connection is made to the secure telephone network.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the PIN of the remote telephone user is electronically stored in the remote telephone.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the ESN uniquely identified a cellular telephone.

10. A secure network telephone system providing remote access for a user of a remote telephone, wherein the remote telephone has an electronic serial number (ESN) and the user has a personal identification number (PIN), the system comprising:

a) a remote access registry storing an ESN and a PIN for each remote telephone and user;

b) a secure network private branch exchange (PBX) for receiving incoming calls, and routing the incoming calls to a plurality of extensions, wherein the PBX is operable for comparing the ESN and PIN of the remote telephone and user with the remote access registry.

11. The secure network telephone system of claim 10 wherein the remote access registry stores a connection policy for each remote caller.

12. The secure network telephone system of claim 10 wherein the ESN and PIN are electronically stored on the remote caller'"'"'s telephone.