Complementary VoIP service

• US 7,894,590 B2
• Filed: 08/12/2005
• Issued: 02/22/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/12/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Arlington Technologies, LLC (Dominion Harbor Enterprises, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Inventors: Benveniste, Mathilde
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen; Quynh H
• Application Number:
  US11/203,356
• Publication Number:
  US 20060034261A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,020 Days
• Field of Search: 370/352, 379/211.01, 379/211.02, 379/211.03, 379/221.01, 379/221.08, 379/207
• US Class Current: 379/211.01
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42102 Making use of the called party identifier
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42263 where the same subscriber uses different terminals, i.e. nomadism
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42314 in private branch exchanges
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42331 Direct inward dialling
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/54 Arrangements for diverting calls for one subscriber to another predetermined subscriber based on the calling party profile H04M3/42059; based on location H04M3/42348; based on presence H04M3/42365; to voice mail H04M3/53308
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/1205 where the types of switching equipement comprises PSTN/ISDN equipment and switching equipment of networks other than PSTN/ISDN, e.g. Internet Protocol networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/123 where the packet-switched network is an Internet Protocol Multimedia System-type network
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/128 Details of addressing, directories or routing tables

Abstract

A technique is disclosed that enables a voice call to be initiated on the Public Switched Telephone Network and directed to a VoIP telephone on the Internet without the association of a unique telephone number to the VoIP telephone. In accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention, a user who has a PSTN wireline telephone or a PSTN cell phone associates his or her VoIP telephone with the telephone number of the PSTN wireline telephone or the PSTN cell phone or with both numbers. In other words, the VoIP telephone is not assigned its own telephone number but shares the telephone number of the PSTN telephones of its owner.

Claims

1. A method for sharing a telephone number of a telephone device that is in the Public Switched Telephone Network with an Internet Protocol device that is outside the Public Switched Telephone Network, the method comprising:

receiving, at a gateway, a call set-up message for a voice telephone call that was originally addressed to the telephone device that is in the Public Switched Telephone Network, wherein the call has been forwarded from the telephone number of the telephone device that was originally called, and wherein

telephone number is an address in the address space of the Public Switched Telephone Network; and

attempting, without human intervention and without intervention by an interactive-voice-response system, to establish the voice telephone call with the Internet Protocol device, wherein the Internet Protocol device (i) has an address in the address space of the Internet, and (ii) lacks a unique telephone number in the address space of the Public Switched Telephone Network;

wherein the address of the Internet Protocol device is found from an association between (i) the telephone number of the originally-called telephone device and (ii) an Internet-telephony-address, wherein the association resides in a Subscriber Identification database.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the telephone number of the originally-called telephone device is further associated with the address of the Internet Protocol device in the address space of the Internet.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the address of the Internet Protocol device is found indirectly from the association, and further comprising:

finding the address of the Internet Protocol device in the address space of the Internet from the Internet-telephony-address; and

finding the Internet-telephony-address from the association.

4. A gateway for sharing a telephone number of a telephone device that is in the Public Switched Telephone Network with an Internet protocol device that is outside the Public Switched Telephone Network, the gateway comprising:

a receiver for receiving a call set-up message for a voice telephone call that was originally addressed to the telephone device that is in the Public Switched Telephone Network, wherein the call has been forwarded from the telephone number of the telephone device that was originally called, and wherein

the telephone number is an address in the address space of the Public Switched Telephone Network;

a transmitter for attempting, without human intervention and without intervention by an interactive-voice-response system, to establish the voice telephone call with the Internet Protocol device, wherein the Internet Protocol device (i) has an address in the address space of the Internet, and (ii) lacks a unique telephone number in the address space of the Public Switched Telephone Network; and

an association between (i) the telephone number of the originally-called telephone device and (ii) an Internet-telephony-address, wherein the address of the Internet Protocol device is found from the association.

5. The gateway of claim 4 wherein the telephone number of the originally-called telephone device is further associated with the address of the Internet Protocol device in the address space of the Internet.

6. The gateway of claim 4 further comprising a Subscriber Identification database that comprises the association, wherein the address of the device is found indirectly from the Subscriber Identification database.

7. The gateway of claim 6 further comprising a proxy server for finding the address of the Internet Protocol device in the address space of the Internet from the Internet-telephony-address.

8. A method for sharing a telephone number of a telephone that is in the Public Switched Telephone Network with an Internet Protocol device that is outside the Public Switched Telephone Network, the method comprising:

receiving, by a gateway, a call set-up message for a voice telephone call that was originally addressed to the telephone device that is in the Public Switched Telephone Network, wherein the call has been forwarded from the telephone number of the telephone device that was originally called;

finding, at a Subscriber Identification database, an Internet-telephony-address from an association between (i) the telephone number of the originally-called telephone device and (ii) an Internet-telephony-address;

finding an Internet Protocol address of the Internet Protocol device from the Internet-telephony-address, wherein (i) the Internet Protocol address is an address in the address space of the Internet, and (ii) the Internet Protocol device lacks a unique telephone number in the address space of the Public Switched Telephone Network; and

attempting, without human intervention and without intervention by an interactive-voice-response system, to establish the voice telephone call with the Internet Protocol device using the Internet Protocol address.

9. A system for sharing a telephone number of a telephone that is in the Public Switched Telephone Network with an Internet Protocol device that is outside the Public Switched Telephone Network, the system comprising:

a receiver for receiving a call set-up message for a voice telephone call that was originally addressed to the telephone device that is in the Public Switched Telephone Network, wherein the call has been forwarded from telephone number of the telephone device that was originally called, and wherein the telephone number of the telephone device is an address space in the space of the Public Switched Telephone Network;

a Subscriber identification database for finding an Internet-telephony-address from an association between (i) the telephone number of the originally-called telephone device and (ii) the Internet-telephony-address;

a proxy server for finding an Internet Protocol address of the Internet Protocol device from the Internet-telephony-address, wherein (i) the Internet Protocol address is an address in the address space of the Internet, and (ii) the Internet Protocol device lacks a unique telephone number in the address space of the Public Switched Telephone Network; and

a transmitter for attempting, without human intervention and without intervention by an interactive-voice-response system, to establish the voice telephone call with the Internet Protocol device using the Internet Protocol address.