VOICE INTERNET TRANSMISSION SYSTEM

• US 20080062973A1
• Filed: 11/09/2007
• Published: 03/13/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/09/1996
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Acceris Communications Technologies Incorporated
• Inventors: Radulovic, Alex, Wilkes, T.
• Granted Patent: US 8,331,353 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/352
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/6418 Hybrid transport
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/6427 Subscriber Access Module; Concentrator; Group equipment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/6481 Speech, voice
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/1245 where a network other than PSTN/ISDN interconnects two PSTN/ISDN networks

Abstract

A voice Internet transmission system which enables a person to have a conversation via the Internet without having to use a computer at either end of the conversation, and without incurring long distance telephone charges regardless of the distance between those having the conversation. In a preferred embodiment, the apparatus consists of two non-Internet capable devices being enabled to connect to the Internet and either in duplex or simplex mode transmit packets of Internet formatted data comprising digitized, compressed and encrypted conversation between the devices. In other words, a person can pick up an ordinary telephone and converse with another person, regardless of the distance between them, without incurring long distance telephone charges. No special telephone is required, nor is a computer running special software. The apparatus which makes this possible is a system of Internet access nodes or VoiceEngines. These local Internet VoiceEngines provide digitized, compressed, and encrypted duplex or simplex Internet voice/sound communication services.

Claims

1. A method for transmitting voice/sound via the Internet, the method comprising the steps of:

a) receiving an analog signal representing sound via a switched telephone network;

b) digitizing the received signal and, creating packets representing the digitized received signal and transmitting the packets via the Internet; and

c) receiving the packets via the Internet on a receiving computer and audibly playing the signal.

125. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the receiving step further comprises receiving the analog signal representing sound from at least one calling device via the switched telephone network,

and the method further comprises the step of automatically verifying that the at least one calling device is an authorized device.

2. A method for transmitting voice/sound via the Internet, the method comprising the steps of:

a) providing an originating computer including a microphone for producing an analog signal representing sound, the originating computer being configured to digitize and the analog signal representing sound, to create packets representing the digitized signal I and to transmit the formatted digitized analog signal via the Internet;

b) providing a special purpose computer for receiving the packets via the Internet, creating an analog signal from the received packets and transmitting the analog signal via a switched telephone network; and

c) providing a receiving telephone means for receiving the signal via the switched telephone network.

3. Apparatus for transmitting at least one data signal over at least one packet data network comprising:

at least one access interface configured to receive at least one called-party identifier from at least one calling device;

at least one interface to the at least one packet data network;

a processing system, coupled to the at least one interface to the at least one packet data network and to the at least one access interface, the processing system being configured;

to automatically verify that the at least one calling device is an authorized device,

to resolve, from the received at least one called-party identifier, at least one address on the at least one packet data network for at least one remote processor,

to create data packets representing the at least one data signal, and

to transmit the data signal packets, via the at least one interface to the at least one packet data network, to the at least one remote processor using the at least one resolved address.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the processing system is configured to create packets representing the at least one data signal by creating Internet Protocol (IP) packets.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the IP packets are Transport Connect Protocol (TCP) packets.

6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the processing system is configured to transmit the IP packets in real time.

7. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the at least one data signal is at least one digitized telephone signal.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the at least one access interface is configured to digitize at least one analog telephone signal to generate the at least one digitized telephone signal.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the processing system is configured to compress the at least one digitized telephone signal.

10. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the processing system is configured to encrypt the at least one digitized telephone signal.

11. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the at least one access interface includes a connection to a telephone.

12. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein at least one access interface includes a connection to a Personal Communications System (PCS).

13. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the at least one access interface includes a radio connection.

14. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the at least one access interface includes a connection to a switched network.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the connection to the switched network is a connection to a cellular network.

16. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the connection to the switched network is a connection to a private switched network.

17. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the connection to the switched network is a connection to a public switched network.

18. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the processing system is configured to verify that the at least one calling device is an authorized device by:

obtaining at least one telephone number of the at least one calling device; and

comparing the obtained at least one telephone number to a predefined list of authorized telephone numbers.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the processing system is configured to obtain the at least one telephone number of the at least one calling device from at least one automatic number identification (ANI) code received from the at least one calling device.

20. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the processing system is configured to verify that the at least one calling device is an authorized device by:

receiving at least one authorization password from the at least one calling device without prompting the at least one calling device for the authorization password; and

comparing the received at least one authorization password to a predefined list of authorization passwords.

21. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the processing system is configured to provide predefined communications services to the at least one authorized device.

22. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the processing system is configured to create at least one virtual called party such that the at least one called party identifier is mapped, via the virtual called party, to at least one further called party identifier corresponding to the at least one remote processor.

23. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the processing system is configured to receive at least one telephone number as the at least one called party identifier, wherein at least a portion of the at least one telephone number represents a geographic area, and to resolve the at least one address of the at least one remote processor on the at least one packet data network responsive to the portion of the telephone number.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the processing system is configured to receive the at least one telephone number having an area code and to resolve the at least one address of the at least one remote processor responsive to the area code.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the processing system is configured to receive the at least one telephone number having an exchange code and to resolve the at least one address of the at least one remote processor responsive to the exchange code.

26. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the processing system is configured to receive at least one e-mail address as the at least one called party identifier and to resolve the at least one address of the at least one remote processor on the at least one packet data network from the at least one e-mail address.

27. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein:

the at least one interface to the at least one packet data network includes an interface to a network that transmits data using an Internet Protocol (IP);

the processing system is configured to receive at least one IP address on the at least one packet data network as the at least one called-party identifier, wherein the at least one IP address includes the at least one address of the at least one remote processor on the at least one packet data network.

28. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein:

the interface to the at least one packet data network includes an interface to a network that transmits data using an Internet Protocol (IP);

the processing system is configured to receive at least one IP address on the at least one packet data network as the at least one called-party identifier and to resolve, from the received at least one IP address, the at least one address of the at least one remote processor on the at least one packet data network.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the at least one interface to the at least one packet data network includes an interface to a global information network.

30. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein:

the at least one access interface is configured to receive at least one uniform resource locator (URL) as the at least one called party identifier; and

the processing system is configured to resolve the at least one address of the at least one remote processor on the at least one packet data network from the received at least one URL.

31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein:

the processing system is configured to resolve the at least one address of the at least one remote processor on the at least one packet data network using a Domain Name Service (DNS).

32. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the at least one digitized telephone signal includes multiple digitized telephone signals and the apparatus further includes a multiplexer for multiplexing the multiple digitized telephone signals applied to the processing system to cause the processing system to create multiplexed packets representing the multiple digitized telephone signals.

33. The apparatus of claim 32 wherein the processing system is configured to transmit the multiplexed packets so as to transmit each of the multiple digitized telephone signals in real time.

34. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the processing system is further configured:

to receive further packets representing at least one further digitized telephone signal from the at least one packet data network,

to generate at least one further telephone signal based on the received digitized telephone signal packets, and

to send the generated at least one further telephone signal to the at least one calling device.

35. The apparatus of claim 34 wherein

the at least one access interface is configured to receive a plurality of called party identifiers from a plurality of calling devices;

and

the processing system is further configured;

to receive further multiplexed packets representing multiple telephone signals;

to generate further telephone signals based on received multiplexed packets, and

to send the generated further telephone signals to the plurality of calling devices via the at least one access interfaces.

36. Apparatus for transmitting at least one data signal over at least one packet data network comprising:

at least one access interface configured to receive at least one called party identifier, the at least one called party identifier being selected from a group consisting of an e-mail address, an IP address and a URL;

at least one interface to at least one packet data network;

a processing system, coupled to the at least one interface to the at least one packet data network and to the at least one access interface, the processing system being configured;

to resolve, from the received at least one called-party identifier, at least one address on the at least one packet data network for at least one remote processor,

to create packets representing the at least one data signal,

to transmit the called-party identifier, via the interface to the at least one packet data network, to the at least one remote processor, and

to transmit the data signal packets, via the interface to the at least one packet data network, to the remote processor using the at least one resolved address.

37. The apparatus of claim 36 wherein the processing system is configured to create packets representing the at least one digitized telephone signal by creating Internet Protocol (IP) packets.

38. The apparatus of claim 37 wherein the IP packets are Transport Connect Protocol (TCP) packets.

39. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the processing system is configured to transmit the IP packets in real time.

40. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein the at least one data signal is at least one digitized telephone signal.

41. The apparatus of claim 40 wherein the at least one access interface is configured to digitize at least one analog telephone signal to generate the at least one digitized telephone signal.

42. The apparatus of claim 40 wherein the processing system is configured to compress the at least one digitized telephone signal.

43. The apparatus of claim 40 wherein the processing system is configured to encrypt the at least one digitized telephone signal.

44. The apparatus of claim 36 wherein the at least one access interface includes a connection to a telephone.

45. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein at least one access interface includes a connection to a Personal Communications System (PCS).

46. The apparatus of claim 36 wherein the at least one access interface includes a radio connection.

47. The apparatus of claim 36 wherein the at least one access interface is includes a connection to a switched network.

48. The apparatus of claim 47 wherein the connection to the switched network is a connection to a cellular network.

49. The apparatus of claim 47 wherein the connection to the switched network is a connection to a private switched network.

50. The apparatus of claim 47 wherein the connection to the switched network is a connection to a public switched network.

51. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein the processing system is further configured to verify that the at least one calling device is an authorized device by:

obtaining at least one telephone number of the at least one calling device; and

comparing the obtained at least one telephone number to a predefined list of authorized telephone numbers.

52. The apparatus of claim 51, wherein the processing system is configured to obtain the at least one number of the calling device from at least one automatic number identification (ANI) code received from the at least one calling device.

53. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein the processing system is configured to provide predefined communications services to the at least one authorized device.

54. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein the processing system is configured to create at least one virtual called party such that the at least one called party identifier is mapped, via the virtual called party, to at least one further called party identifier corresponding to the at least one remote processor.

55. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein the processing system is further configured to verify that the at least one calling device is an authorized device by:

receiving at least one authorization password from the at least one calling device; and

comparing the received at least one authorization password to a predefined list of authorization passwords.

56. The apparatus of claim 40 wherein the at least one digitized telephone signal includes multiple digitized telephone signals and the apparatus further includes a multiplexer for multiplexing the multiple digitized telephone signals applied to the processing system to cause the processing system to create multiplexed packets representing all of the multiple digitized telephone signals.

57. Apparatus for transmitting multiple data signals over at least one packet data network comprising:

at least one access interface configured to receive multiple called party identifiers;

at least one interface to the at least one packet data network;

a processing system, coupled to the at least one interface to the at least one packet data network and to the at least one access interface, the processing system being configured;

to resolve, from the received called party identifiers, respective addresses on the at least one packet data network for respective remote processors,

to create packets representing the each of the multiple data signals, each packet including the resolved address of its respective remote processor,

to multiplex the packets representing the multiple data signals to form a multiplexed packet stream; and

to transmit the multiplexed packet stream, via the at least one interface to the at least one packet data network, to the remote processors.

58. The apparatus of claim 57 wherein the processing system is configured to receive at least one telephone number as at least one of the multiple called party identifiers, wherein at least a portion of the at least one telephone number represents a geographic area, and to resolve at least one address of the multiple addresses responsive to the portion of the telephone number.

59. The apparatus of claim 57 wherein the processing system is configured to receive the at least one telephone number having an area code and to resolve the at least one address of the at least one remote processor responsive to the area code.

60. The apparatus of claim 59, wherein the processing system is configured to receive the at least one telephone number having an exchange code and to resolve the at least one address of the at least one remote processor responsive to the exchange code.

61. The apparatus of claim 57, wherein the processing system is configured to receive at least one e-mail address as at least one called party identifier of the multiple called party identifiers and to resolve at least one address of the multiple addresses from the at least one e-mail address.

62. The apparatus of claim 57, wherein:

the at least one interface to the at least one packet data network includes an interface to a network that transmits data using an Internet Protocol (IP);

the processing system is configured to receive at least one IP address on the at least one packet data network as at least one called-party identifier of the multiple called party identifiers, wherein the at least one IP address includes the at least one address of the at least one remote processor on the at least one packet data network.

63. The apparatus of claim 57, wherein:

the interface to the at least one packet data network includes an interface to a network that transmits data using an Internet Protocol (IP);

the processing system is configured to receive at least one IP address on the at least one packet data network as at least one called-party identifier of the multiple called party identifiers and to resolve, from the at least one IP address, the at least one address of the multiple addresses.

64. The apparatus of claim 57, wherein the at least one interface to the at least one packet data network includes an interface to a global information network.

65. The apparatus of claim 64, wherein:

the interface to the at least one packet data network is configured to receive at least one uniform resource locator (URL) as at least one called party identifier of the multiple called party identifiers; and

the processing system is configured to resolve at least one address of the multiple addresses from the received at least one URL.

66. The apparatus of claim 65, wherein:

the processing system is configured to resolve the at least address using a Domain Name Service (DNS).

67. The apparatus of claim 57, wherein the multiple data signals are multiple digitized telephone signals.

68. The apparatus of claim 67, wherein the processing system is further configured to compress the multiple digitized telephone signals and to create the packets representing the multiple digitized telephone signals by creating packets representing the compressed multiple digitized telephone signals.

69. The apparatus of claim 67, wherein the processing system is further configured to encrypt the multiple digitized telephone signals and to create packets representing the multiple digitized telephone signals by creating packets representing the encrypted multiple digitized telephone signals.

70. The apparatus of claim 57, wherein the processing system is configured to create at least one virtual called party such that at least one called party identifier of the multiple called party identifiers is mapped, via the virtual called party, to at least one further called party identifier corresponding to the at least one remote processor.

71. A method for transmitting at least one data signal over at least one packet data network comprising the steps of:

receiving, from at least one calling device, at least one called party identifier;

verifying that the at least one calling device is an authorized device automatically human intervention,

resolving, from the at least one called-party identifier, at least one address on the at least one packet data network for a at least one remote processor,

creating packets representing the at least one data signal, and

transmitting the data signal packets, via the at least one packet data network, to the at least one remote processor using the at least one resolved address.

72. The method of claim 71 wherein the step of creating packets representing the at least one digitized telephone signal includes the step of creating Internet Protocol (IP) packets.

73. The method of claim 72 wherein the step of creating IP packets includes the step of creating Transport Connect Protocol (TCP) packets.

74. The apparatus of claim 72, wherein the transmitting step transmits the IP packets in real time.

75. The method of claim 71, wherein the at least one data signal is a digitized telephone signal and the step of creating packets representing the at least one data signal creates packets representing the at least one digitized telephone signal.

76. The method of claim 75 further including the steps of:

receiving at least one analog telephone signal; and

digitizing the at least one analog telephone signal to form the at least one digitized telephone signal.

77. The method of claim 75 further including the step of receiving the at least one analog telephone signal from a radio network.

78. The method of claim 75 further including the step of receiving the at least one analog telephone signal from a switched network.

79. The method of claim 78 wherein the step of receiving the at least one analog telephone signal from the switched network includes the step of receiving the at least one analog telephone signal from a cellular network.

80. The method of claim 78 wherein the step of receiving the at least one analog telephone signal from the switched network includes the step of receiving the at least one analog telephone signal from a private switched network.

81. The method of claim 77, wherein the step of receiving the at least one analog telephone signal includes the step of receiving the at least one analog telephone signal from a personal communications system (PCS).

82. The method of claim 71, wherein the step of verifying that the calling party is calling from an authorized device includes the steps of:

obtaining at least one telephone number of the at least one calling device; and

comparing the obtained at least one telephone number to a predefined list of authorized telephone numbers.

83. The method of claim 82, wherein the step of obtaining the at least one number of the at least one calling device includes the step of obtaining the at least one number of the at least one calling device from at least one automatic number identification (ANI) code received from the at least one calling device.

84. The method of claim 71, wherein the step of verifying that the at least one calling device is an authorized device includes the steps of:

receiving at least one authorization password from the at least one calling device without prompting the at least one calling device for the at least one authorization password; and

comparing the at least one received authorization password to a predefined list authorization passwords.

85. The method of claim 71, wherein:

the step of receiving the at least one called party identifier includes the step of receiving at least one telephone number as the at least one called party identifier, wherein at least a portion of the at least one telephone number represents a geographic area, and

the step of resolving the at least one address of the at least one remote processor on the at least one packet data network includes the step of resolving the at least one address of the at least one remote processor responsive to the portion of the telephone number.

86. The method of claim 85, wherein the portion of the telephone number includes an area code.

87. The method of claim 86, wherein the portion of the telephone number includes an exchange code.

88. The method of claim 71, wherein:

the step of receiving the at least one called party identifier includes the step of receiving at least one e-mail address as the at least one called party identifier; and

the step of resolving the at least one address of the at least one remote processor on the at least one packet data network includes the step of resolving the at least one address of the at least one remote processor on the at least one packet data network from the at least one e-mail address.

89. The method of claim 71, wherein:

the at least one packet data network includes a network that transmits data using an Internet Protocol (IP);

the step of receiving the at least one called party identifier includes the step of receiving at least one Internet Protocol (IP) address as the at least one called party identifier, wherein the at least one IP address is the at least one address of the at least one remote processor on the at least one packet data network.

90. The method of claim 71, wherein:

the step of receiving the at least one called party identifier includes the step of receiving at least one uniform resource locator (URL) as the at least one called party identifier; and

the step of resolving the at least one address of the at least one remote processor on the at least one packet data network includes the step of using the at least one URL.

91. The apparatus of claim 90, wherein:

the step of resolving the at least one address of the at least one remote processor on the at least one packet data network includes the step of using a Domain Name Service (DNS).

92. The method of claim 71, further including the step of compressing the at least one digitized telephone signal, wherein the step of creating packets representing the at least one digitized telephone signal includes the step of creating packets representing the compressed at least one digitized telephone signal.

93. The method of claim 71, further including the step of encrypting the at least one digitized telephone signal and wherein the step of creating packets representing the at least one digitized telephone signal includes the step of creating packets representing the encrypted at least one digitized telephone signal.

94. The method of claim 71 further including the steps of:

receiving packets representing at least one further digitized telephone signal from the at least one packet data network,

generating at least one further telephone signal based on the further digitized telephone signal packets, and

sending the generated at least one further telephone signal to the at least one calling device.

95. The method of claim 71, further including the steps of:

creating at least one virtual called party which maps at least one called party identifier into at least one further called party identifier; and

mapping, via the virtual called party, the at least one called party identifier to the at least one further called party identifier prior to resolving the at least one address on the at least one packet data network for the at least one remote processor.

96. A method for transmitting at least one data signal over at least one packet data network comprising:

receiving, from at least one calling device, at least one called party identifier, the at least one called party identifier being selected from a group consisting of an e-mail address, an IP address and a URL;

resolving, from the at least one called-party identifier, at least one address on the at least one packet data network for at least one remote processor,

creating packets representing the at least one data signal, and

transmitting the data signal packets, via the at least one interface to the at least one packet data network, to the at least one remote processor using the at least one resolved address.

97. The method of claim 96 wherein the step of creating packets representing the at least one digitized telephone signal includes the step of creating Internet Protocol (IP) packets.

98. The method of claim 97 wherein the step of creating IP packets includes the step of creating Transport Connect Protocol (TCP) packets.

99. The method of claim 97, wherein the processing system is configured to transmit the IP packets in real time.

100. The method of claim 96, wherein the at least one data signal is a digitized telephone signal and the step of creating packets representing the at least one data signal creates packets representing the at least one digitized telephone signal.

101. The method of claim 100 further including the steps of receiving at least one analog telephone signal and digitizing the at least one analog telephone signal to form the at least one digitized telephone signal.

102. The method of claim 100 further including the step of receiving the at least one analog telephone signal from a radio network.

103. The method of claim 100 further including the step of receiving the at least one analog telephone signal from a switched network.

104. The method of claim 103 wherein the step of receiving the at least one analog telephone signal from the switched network includes the step of receiving the at least one analog telephone signal from a cellular network.

105. The method of claim 103 wherein the step of receiving the at least one analog telephone signal from the switched network includes the step of receiving the at least one analog telephone signal from a private switched network.

106. The method of claim 100, wherein the step of receiving the at least one analog telephone signal includes the step of receiving the at least one analog telephone signal from a personal communications system (PCS).

107. The method of claim 96 wherein the at least one data signal include multiple data signals and the method further includes the steps of:

resolving respective addresses on the at least one packet data network for respective remote processors for each of the multiple data signals;

creating packets of each of the multiple data signals;

multiplexing the packets representing the multiple data signals to form a multiplexed packet stream; and

transmitting the multiplexed packet stream via the at least one connection to the at least one packet data network.

108. The method of claim 96, further including the steps of:

creating at least one virtual called party which maps the at least one called party identifier into at least one further called party identifier; and

mapping, via the virtual called party, the at least one called party identifier to the at least one further called party identifier prior to resolving the at least one address on the at least one packet data network for the at least one remote processor.

109. A method for transmitting multiple data signals over a packet data network comprising:

receiving multiple called party identifiers, each corresponding to a respective one of the multiple data signals;

resolving respective addresses on the at least one packet data network for respective remote processors for each of the multiple data signals;

creating packets of each of the multiple data signals; and

multiplexing the packets representing the multiple data signals to form a multiplexed packet stream;

transmitting the multiplexed packet stream to the respective remote processors using the at least one packet data network.

110. The method of claim 109, wherein:

the step of receiving the multiple called party identifiers includes the step of receiving at least one telephone number as at least one called party identifier of the multiple called party identifiers, wherein at least a portion of the at least one telephone number represents a geographic area, and

the step of resolving the multiple address of the respective remote processors includes the step of resolving at least one address of the multiple addresses responsive to the portion of the telephone number.

111. The method of claim 110, wherein the portion of the telephone number includes an area code.

112. The method of claim 111, wherein the portion of the telephone number includes an exchange code.

113. The method of claim 109, wherein:

the step of receiving the multiple called party identifiers includes the step of receiving at least one e-mail address; and

the step of resolving the respective addresses of the remote processors on the at least one packet data network includes using the e-mail address to resolve the address of a respective one of the multiple remote processors.

114. The method of claim 109, wherein the at least one packet data network includes at least one network that transmits data using an Internet Protocol (IP);

step of receiving the multiple called party identifiers includes the step of receiving at least one Internet Protocol (IP) address on the at least one network, wherein the at least one IP address is the address of at least one respective remote processor of the multiple remote processors.

115. The method of claim 109, wherein:

the step of receiving the multiple one called party identifiers includes the step of receiving at least one uniform resource locator (URL) as at least one called party identifier of the multiple called party identifiers; and

the step of resolving the addresses of the multiple remote processors includes the step of using the at least one URL.

116. The method of claim 115, wherein:

the step of resolving the addresses of the multiple remote processors includes the step of using a Domain Name Service (DNS).

117. The method of claim 109, wherein the multiple data signals are multiple digitized telephone signals and the step of creating packets representing the multiple data signals creates packets representing the multiple digitized telephone signals.

118. The method of claim 117, further including the step of compressing the multiple digitized telephone signals, wherein the step of creating the packets representing the multiple digitized telephone signals includes the step of creating packets representing the compressed digitized telephone signals.

119. The method of claim 117, further including the step of encrypting the multiple digitized telephone signal wherein the step of creating the packets representing the multiple digitized telephone signals includes the step of creating packets representing the encrypted digitized telephone signals.

120. The method of claim 109, further including the steps of:

creating at least one virtual called party which maps at least one called party identifier of the multiple called party identifiers into at least one further called party identifier; and

mapping, via the virtual called party, the at least one called party identifier of the multiple called party identifiers to the at least one further called party identifier prior to resolving the multiple addresses on the at least one packet data network for the multiple remote processors.

121. Apparatus for transmitting voice/sound via the Internet, comprising:

an access interface receiving an analog signal representing sound via a switched telephone network;

an analog-to-digital converter for digitizing the received signal;

a formatter for formatting the digitized signal for transmission via the internet including at least creating packets representing the received signal;

an interface to a packet data network for transmitting the packets via the Internet; and

a receiving computer for receiving the packets via the Internet and audibly playing the signal.

124. The apparatus of claim 121, wherein the formatter is further configured to multiplex the packets to form a multiplexed packet stream.

126. The apparatus of claim 121, wherein:

the access interface receives the analog signal representing sound from at least one calling device via the switched telephone network,

and the apparatus further comprises a verification unit configured to automatically verify that the at least one calling device is an authorized device.

122. Apparatus for transmitting voice/sound via the Internet, the method comprising the steps of:

an originating computer including a microphone for producing an analog signal representing sound, the originating computer being configured to digitize the analog signal representing sound and to create packets representing the digitized signal;

a special purpose computer for receiving the packets via the Internet, creating an analog signal from the received packets and transmitting the signal via a switched telephone network; and

a receiving telephone means for receiving the signal via the switched telephone network.

123. The apparatus of claim 122, wherein the originating computer is further configured to multiplex the packets to form a multiplexed packet stream and to transmit the multiplexed packet stream to the special purpose computer.