Multi-line telephone calling

• US 9,042,538 B2
• Filed: 04/19/2012
• Issued: 05/26/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/20/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qwest Communications International Incorporated (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Qwest Communications International Incorporated (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Stevens, J. Clark, Glynn, F. Joseph
• Primary Examiner(s): Laekemariam, Yosef K
• Application Number:
  US13/451,416
• Publication Number:
  US 20120201239A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,132 Days
• Field of Search: 379/207.07, 379/219, 379/100.12, 379/88.17, 379/56.2, 379/93.09, 379/207.08, 379/220.01, 379/221.01, 379/272, 379/273, 370/352, 370/299, 370/493, 370/494, 370/353
• US Class Current: 379/207.07
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0057 Services where the data services network provides a telephone service in addition or as an alternative, e.g. for backup purposes, to the telephone service provided by the telephone services network
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0066 Details of access arrangements to the networks where the access arrangement is a PSTN/ISDN access H04M7/122
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0069 comprising a residential gateway, e.g. those which provide an adapter for POTS or ISDN terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 9/00 Arrangements for interconnection not involving centralised switching

Abstract

Network architectures, methods, and operations for routing telephone calls are disclosed. A customer premise includes a conventional POTS dedicated communication line to a central office switch and a broadband connection to a data network. The central office switch and the data network are connected by a communication link. A first telephone call originated at the customer premise may be connected via the dedicated communication link. A second or subsequent call originated at the customer premise may be connected via the data network. Optionally, the same call identifier may be assigned to the first and second or subsequent calls.

Claims

1. A method of connecting a plain old telephone service (POTS) telephone call over a data network, the method comprising:

receiving, at a class 5 central office switch, a POTS telephone call from a public switched telephone network (PSTN), wherein the telephone call is directed to a telephone number associated with a dedicated voice telephone line at a customer premises, the dedicated voice telephone line having connected thereto a plurality of telephones, at least some of which are configured to conduct POTS calls and voice over Internet Protocol (“

VoIP”

) calls;

determining, with the class 5 switch, whether one or more telephones associated with the telephone number are available to receive the call;

if none of the one or more telephones are available to receive the call, returning a busy signal in response to the POTS telephone call;

determining whether the dedicated voice telephone line is available to receive the telephone call as a POTS call;

if the dedicated voice telephone line is available, routing the telephone call to the dedicated voice telephone line;

if the dedicated voice telephone line is not available;

forwarding the telephone call from the class 5 end office switch to a data network service provider for completion over a data network;

transmitting a signal from the class 5 central office switch requesting that the data network service provider complete the call, the signal including the telephone number associated with the dedicated voice telephone line;

receiving, at a voice over VoIP gateway in the data network, the forwarded telephone call and the signal;

identifying at least one of the one or more telephones available to receive the call as a VoIP call;

establishing a data connection between the VoIP gateway and the identified at least one telephone, the at least one telephone being a VoIP telephone;

determining whether the VoIP telephone is available to receive the telephone call;

transmitting, based on a determination that the VoIP telephone is available, a ring signal from the VoIP gateway to the VoIP telephone;

determining, with the VoIP gateway, that the telephone call has been answered at the VoIP telephone;

setting a flag, at the data network service provider, indicating that the VoIP phone is busy;

reporting, from the data network service provider, notification that the telephone call has been answered by the VoIP telephone using Signaling System 7 (“

SS7”

) signaling;

receiving, at the class 5 central office switch, the notification from the data network service provider that the call has been answered; and

setting, at the class 5 central office switch, a status of the secondary telephone to busy.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the signal comprises a status flag indicating the availability of the voice connection.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the signal is associated with the POTS telephone call.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising routing the call to a connection point associated with the telephone number.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the connection point comprises a DSL modem connected that maintains a connection to the data network and to the dedicated telephone line.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the connection point comprises a cable modem connected that maintains a connection to a cable network and to the dedicated telephone line.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from the VoIP telephone, a signal indicating that the VoIP telephone changed from an on-hook state to an off-hook state; and

in response to the change in state, connecting the call to the VoIP telephone.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

receiving, from VoIP telephone, a signal indicating that the VoIP telephone changed from an off-hook state to an on-hook state; and

in response to the change in state, terminating the data connection between the gateway and the VoIP telephone associated with the telephone number.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising recording the change in state of the VoIP telephone in a memory location associated with the data network.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising transmitting a signal indicating that the VoIP telephone changed from an off-hook state to an on-hook state to the telephone network.

11. A system for connecting a plain old telephone service (POTS) telephone call over a data network, the system comprising:

a class 5 central office switch configured to;

receive a POTS telephone call from a public switched telephone network (PSTN), wherein the telephone call is directed to a telephone number associated with a dedicated voice telephone line at a customer premises, the dedicated voice telephone line having connected thereto a plurality of telephones, at least some of which are configured to conduct POTS calls and voice over Internet Protocol (“

VoIP”

) calls;

determine whether one or more telephones associated with the telephone number are available to receive the call;

if none of the one or more telephones are available to receive the call, returning a busy signal in response to the POTS telephone call;

determine whether the dedicated voice telephone line is available to receive the telephone call as a POTS call;

if the dedicated voice telephone line is available, route the telephone call to the dedicated voice telephone line;

if the dedicated voice telephone line is not available;

forward the telephone call from the class 5 end office switch to a data network service provider for completion over a data network;

transmit a signal from the class 5 central office switch requesting that the data network service provider complete the call, the signal including the telephone number associated with the dedicated voice telephone line;

receive a notification from the data network service provider that the call has been answered, the notification being delivered using Signaling System 7 (“

SS7”

) signaling; and

set a status of the secondary telephone to busy.

12. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

a voice over Internet Protocol (“

VoIP”

) gateway in the data network, the VoIP gateway being configured to;

receive forwarded telephone call and the signal;

identify a VoIP telephone connected to the dedicated voice communication line;

establish a data connection between the VoIP gateway and the identified VoIP telephone connected to the dedicated voice communication line;

determine whether the VoIP telephone is available to receive the telephone call;

transmit, based on a determination that the VoIP telephone is available, a ring signal from the VoIP gateway to the VoIP telephone;

determine that the telephone call has been answered at the VoIP telephone;

set a flag, at the data network service provider, indicating that the VoIP phone is busy; and

report the notification that the telephone call has been answered by the VoIP telephone.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the signal comprises a status flag indicating the availability of the dedicated voice line.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the signal is associated with the POTS telephone call.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the VoIP gateway routes the call to a connection point associated with the telephone number.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the connection point comprises a DSL modem connected that maintains a connection to the data network and to the dedicated telephone line.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the connection point comprises a cable modem connected that maintains a connection to the data network and to the dedicated telephone line.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the VoIP gateway receives, from the VoIP telephone, a signal indicating that the VoIP telephone changed from an on-hook state to an off-hook state, and in response to the change in state, the VoIP routes gateway the call to the VoIP telephone.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the VoIP gateway receives, from the VoIP telephone, a signal indicating that the VoIP telephone changed from an off-hook state to an on-hook state, and, in response to the change in state, the VoIP gateway terminates the data connection between the gateway and the VoIP-telephone associated with the telephone number.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the VoIP gateway records the change in state of the VoIP-telephone in a memory location associated with the data network and transmits a signal indicating that the VoIP telephone changed from an off-hook state to an on-hook state to the telephone network.