PEER-TO-PEER, INTERNET PROTOCOL TELEPHONE SYSTEM WITH AUTO-ATTENDANT

• US 20120177031A1
• Filed: 01/10/2011
• Published: 07/12/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/10/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: VTech Telecommunications Limited (VTech Holdings Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: VTech Telecommunications Limited (VTech Holdings Ltd.)
• Inventors: Rose, Christopher, Knopp, Gerry, Chitty, Jen T'ai
• Granted Patent: US 8,737,384 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/352
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/66 Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0823 characterised by the purposes of a change of settings, e.g. optimising configuration for enhancing reliability for optimising operational conditions of wireless networks H04W24/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0063 where the network is a peer-to-peer network

Abstract

Various embodiments of the invention provide a Peer-to-Peer (P2P, Internet Protocol (IP) telephone system. The telephone system includes a plurality of terminals coupled together via an IP network. The terminals cooperate with one another to provide telephony features without a dedicated central controller such as a PBX and/or a KSU controller. The terminals may store system-wide configuration data and files referenced by the system-wide configuration data. The terminals may further determine whether the system-wide configuration data references a file that is not stored in the terminal, and requesting the file from another terminal of the telephone system in response to determining the terminal does not have a copy of the file.

Claims

1. A terminal of a peer-to-peer telephone system, comprising:

circuitry configured to couple the terminal to an Internet Protocol (IP) network of the telephone system, store system-wide configuration data for the terminal, and store files for the terminal; and

a server configured to determine whether the system-wide configuration data references a file not stored by the circuitry, and request the file from another terminal of the telephone system in response to determining the terminal does not have a copy of the file.

2. The terminal of claim 1, wherein

the circuitry is further configured to store a lock count for each stored file, and

the server is further configured to increment the lock count of a file in response to determining that the system-wide configuration data newly references the file.

3. The terminal of claim 1, wherein the server is further configured to decrement the lock count of a file in response to determining that the system-wide configuration data no longer references the file.

4. The terminal of claim 1, wherein the server is configured to establish an auto-attendant session in response to an inbound call, and to increment the lock count of a file associated with the auto-attendant session in response to establishing the auto-attendant session.

5. The terminal of claim 4, wherein the server is configured to decrement the lock count of a file associated with the auto-attendant session in response to terminating the auto-attendant session.

6. The terminal of claim 5, wherein the server is configured to delete the file in response to determining that the lock count has a predetermined value.

7. The terminal of claim 5, wherein the server is configured to delete the file in response to determining that the lock count has a predetermined value for a predetermined time period.

8. A method for maintaining files in a peer-to-peer telephone system, comprising:

storing system-wide configuration data and files referenced by the system-wide configuration data in a terminal of the telephone system;

determining whether the system-wide configuration data references a file that is not stored in the terminal; and

requesting the file from another terminal of the telephone system in response to determining the auto-attendant terminal does not have a copy of the file.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

storing a lock count for each stored file; and

incrementing the lock count of a file in response to determining that the system-wide configuration data newly references the file.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising decrementing the lock count of the file in response to determining that the system-wide configuration data no longer references the file.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

establishing an auto-attendant session in response to the terminal receiving an inbound call; and

incrementing the lock count of a file associated with the auto-attendant session in response to establishing the auto-attendant session.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising decrementing the lock count of a file associated with the auto-attendant session in response to terminating the auto-attendant session.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising deleting a file in response to determining that the lock count for the file has a predetermined value.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising deleting a file in response to determining that the lock count for the file has a predetermined value for a predetermined time period.

15. A computer readable medium comprising a plurality of instructions, that in response to being executed, configure an Internet Protocol (IP) telephone terminal of a peer-to-peer telephone system to:

store system-wide configuration data and files referenced by the system-wide configuration data;

determine whether the system-wide configuration data references a file that is not stored in the terminal; and

request the file from another terminal of the telephone system in response to determining the terminal does not have a copy of the file.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the plurality of instructions further configure the telephone terminal to:

store a lock count for each stored file; and

increment the lock count of a file in response to determining that the system-wide configuration data newly references the file.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the plurality of instructions further configure the telephone terminal to decrement the lock count of the file in response to determining that the system-wide configuration data no longer references the file.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the plurality of instructions further configure the telephone terminal to:

establish an auto-attendant session in response to an inbound call; and

increment the lock count of a file associated with the auto-attendant session in response to establishing the auto-attendant session.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein the plurality of instructions further configure the telephone terminal to decrement the lock count of a file associated with the auto-attendant session in response to terminating the auto-attendant session.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 19, wherein the plurality of instructions further configure the telephone terminal to deleting a file in response to determining that the lock count for the file has a predetermined value.