Remote Access to Home Communication Services
First Claim
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1. A home-link gateway for controlling communications within a home, comprising:
- a telephone network interface, for coupling to a telephone communications facility for receiving and transmitting telephone communications to a telephone network;
at least one local telephone interface, for coupling to a telephone handset at a location of the home-link gateway;
a wide-area network link, for coupling to a wide area network; and
circuitry for managing telephone communications between a remote client communicating via the wide-area network link and the telephone network, by authenticating the remote client and forwarding communications between the wide-area network link and the telephone network interface.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A home-link gateway system for providing remote access to contracted telephone services at a home or other physical location is disclosed. The home-link gateway manages communications at the home location, for example between a PSTN or VoIP telephone network and local telephone handsets. A remote client agent requests access to telephone services, via the Internet. Following authorization and registration, the home-link gateway couples the remote client agent to the telephone network, or to local handsets, as though the remote client agent were deployed at the home location.
157 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A home-link gateway for controlling communications within a home, comprising:
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a telephone network interface, for coupling to a telephone communications facility for receiving and transmitting telephone communications to a telephone network; at least one local telephone interface, for coupling to a telephone handset at a location of the home-link gateway; a wide-area network link, for coupling to a wide area network; and circuitry for managing telephone communications between a remote client communicating via the wide-area network link and the telephone network, by authenticating the remote client and forwarding communications between the wide-area network link and the telephone network interface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of providing telephone communication services at a first physical location for a client device at a second physical location remote from the first physical location, comprising the steps of:
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receiving a remote access request from the client device over a wide-area network interface; authorizing the client device for telephone communications; then receiving a communication from the remote client comprising a destination identifier for a desired telephone call; forwarding signals to a telephone network requesting placement of a call corresponding to the destination identifier; and forwarding communications signals between the telephone network and the remote client, over the wide-area network interface, to carry out the telephone communications. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification