Electronic communications system and method
First Claim
1. An electronic communications system with at least one user, comprising:
- a gatekeeper in electronic communication with a packet-switched communications network, wherein said gatekeeper is capable of associating a user'"'"'s subscriber identifier with a dynamic Internet Protocol address for the user; and
a network node in electronic communication with a circuit-switched communications network and the gatekeeper, wherein said network node is capable of transmitting data over both the circuit-switched and the packet-switched network.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for electronic communications; more specifically, a system and method for transmitting real-time or non-real-time voice and facsimile electronic data across both circuit-switched and packet-switched networks. The system may include a gatekeeper server capable of communicating with a system subscriber across a packet-switched network and a network node capable of communicatively interconnecting a circuit-switched network, such as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), and a packet-switched network utilizing the Internet Protocol for transmission. If a subscriber is not available to receive an electronic communication at his primary telephone number or IP address, the system may be capable of re-directing the communication to additional telephone numbers or IP addresses across either the circuit-switched or packet-switched networks, according to the subscriber'"'"'s preferences. The system may also include media servers, databases, notification servers, and other hardware and software to impart functionality to the communications system. A subscriber to the system is preferably identified by a single subscriber identifier, which may be associated with the subscriber'"'"'s dynamic IP address, and is able to send and receive voice calls, facsimiles, and other electronic messages to and from both subscribers and non-subscribers on the same or other communications networks. The system may also provide for non-real-time voice messaging in the event an immediate direct connection is not available or desired. The system components are preferably designed to be scalable, redundant and adapted to be replaced and upgraded while the system is running.
187 Citations
74 Claims
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1. An electronic communications system with at least one user, comprising:
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a gatekeeper in electronic communication with a packet-switched communications network, wherein said gatekeeper is capable of associating a user'"'"'s subscriber identifier with a dynamic Internet Protocol address for the user; and
a network node in electronic communication with a circuit-switched communications network and the gatekeeper, wherein said network node is capable of transmitting data over both the circuit-switched and the packet-switched network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. An electronic communications system, comprising:
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a gatekeeper in electronic communication with a packet-switched communications network;
a network node in electronic communication with a circuit-switched communications network and the gatekeeper, wherein said network node is capable of transmitting data over both the circuit-switched and the packet-switched network, further wherein said network node is capable of determining whether said transmitted data represents a facsimile. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 71, 72)
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35. An electronic communications system, comprising:
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a gatekeeper in electronic communication with a packet-switched communications network;
a network node in electronic communication with a circuit-switched communications network and the gatekeeper, wherein said network node is capable of transmitting data over both the circuit-switched and the packet-switched network, further wherein said network node is adapted to accept a voice mail message; and
means for recording a voice mail message in a digital format.
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45. A method for transmitting data, comprising the steps of:
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receiving a request to transfer data to a recipient, said request comprising a subscriber identifier for said recipient;
searching for a dynamic Internet Protocol address for said recipient associated with said subscriber identifier;
determining the appropriate communications channel to transmit the data based on the results of said searching step; and
transmitting the data to the recipient in response to said determining step.
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70. A method for registering a dynamic Internet Protocol address to a subscriber, comprising the steps of:
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assigning a subscriber identifier to the subscriber;
accepting the dynamic Internet Protocol address assigned to the subscriber in response to the subscriber'"'"'s logging into a packet-switched network; and
registering the subscriber identifier to the dynamic Internet Protocol address in a database.
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73. An electronic communications system comprising:
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means for communicatively connecting a packet-switched communications network to a circuit-switched communications network;
means for determining the dynamic Internet Protocol address for a system subscriber; and
means for registering the dynamic Internet Protocol address for the system subscriber to a subscriber identifier for the system subscriber. - View Dependent Claims (74)
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Specification