Network based distributed PBX system
First Claim
1. A personal computer based private branch exchange system distributed across a packet based network, comprising:
- a plurality of telephony clients coupled to said network, each telephone client coupled to said network via a network interface card and adapted to interface to a standard analog telephone set;
at least one telephony server coupled to said network, said telephony server for providing centralized call switching capabilities to said plurality telephony clients, communications within said system realized through the transfer of packets over said network wherein said packets contain voice data, said packets containing voice data originating within said system having a priority equal to packets containing non-voice data on said network, said at least one telephony server operative to provide call setup, status monitoring and tear down functions for calls placed by said plurality of telephony clients; and
a system administrator coupled to said network said system administrator for providing management and administration capabilities to said system.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A network based distributed private branch exchange (PBX) system is described. Telephony clients communicate using regular telephone sets connected to telephony client modules installed in a host computer. Central office (CO) telephone lines terminate on telephony server modules installed in another host computer. A telephony server provides call switching functionality to the system. To transfer voice over the network, analog voice data is first digitized, packetized and then placed onto the network by the host computer. At the destination host computer, the packets are depacketized and converted back to analog voice. Packets generated from digitized voice data are no treated no differently on the network then regular non-voice traffic and are not given any special priority over non-voice traffic. The system includes client related features typically found in conventional PBX equipment such as call forwarding, conferencing, transfer, park, etc., in addition to server related features such administration, interactive voice response, voice mail, automatic call distribution, billing, etc. A remote subscriber interface module connects telephone sets that lack a host computer, to the network.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A personal computer based private branch exchange system distributed across a packet based network, comprising:
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a plurality of telephony clients coupled to said network, each telephone client coupled to said network via a network interface card and adapted to interface to a standard analog telephone set; at least one telephony server coupled to said network, said telephony server for providing centralized call switching capabilities to said plurality telephony clients, communications within said system realized through the transfer of packets over said network wherein said packets contain voice data, said packets containing voice data originating within said system having a priority equal to packets containing non-voice data on said network, said at least one telephony server operative to provide call setup, status monitoring and tear down functions for calls placed by said plurality of telephony clients; and a system administrator coupled to said network said system administrator for providing management and administration capabilities to said system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of communicating voice information across a network based distributed private branch exchange system from a source to a destination for the duration of a call, comprising the steps of:
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converting analog voice data received at said source into digital voice data; packetizing said digital voice data into a plurality of voice packets; placing said plurality of voice packets onto said network wherein said voice packets have equal priority with non-voice packet on said network; depacketizing said plurality of voice packets received at said destination; converting said digital voice dam back into said analog voice data; and providing centralized call management for effecting call setup status monitoring and tear down of calls between the source and the destination.
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18. A personal computer based private branch exchange system distributed across a packet based network, comprising:
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a plurality of telephony clients coupled to said network, each telephone client coupled to said network via a network interface card and adapted to interface to a standard analog telephone set; at least one telephony server module coupled to at least one external telephone line provided from a central office and installed in a second host computer, said second host computer coupled to said network; at least one telephony server coupled to said network, said telephony server for providing centralized call switching capabilities to add plurality of telephony clients, communications within said system realized through the transfer of packets over said network wherein said packets contain voice data, said packets containing voice data originating within said system having a priority equal to packets containing non-voice data on said network, said at least one telephony server operative to provide call setup, status monitoring and tear down functions for calls placed by said plurality of telephony clients; and a telephone administrator coupled to said network, said system administrator for providing management and administration capabilities to said system. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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Specification