System and method for controlling telephone service using a wireless personal information device

• US 7,016,675 B1
• Filed: 09/27/1999
• Issued: 03/21/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/27/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: 3Com Corporation (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Schuster, Guido M., Sidhu, Ikhlaq S., Mahler, Jerry J., Dean, Frederick D., Grabiec, Jacek A.
• Primary Examiner(s): BEAMER, TEMICA M
• Application Number:
  US09/406,321
• Time in Patent Office: 2,367 Days
• Field of Search: 455/435, 455/461, 455/433, 455/515, 455/516, 455/551, 455/556, 455/557, 455/564, 455/435.1, 455/556.1, 455/466, 370/493, 370/494, 370/495, 379/211.02, 379/212.01, 379/214.01
• US Class Current: 455/433
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1053 IP private branch exchange [PBX] functionality entities or arrangements circuit switched PBXs H04M3/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1094 Inter-user-equipment sessions transfer or sharing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1096 Supplementary features, e.g. call forwarding or call holding systems providing special services or facilities to telephony subscribers H04M3/42
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42161 via computer interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/003 Click to dial services

Abstract

A system and method for accessing a data network telephony account using a wireless personal information device (PID). The user may connect over the wireless cellular infrastructure to a telephony control server via a data network for access to the user'"'"'s telephony account, which indicates the user'"'"'s telephone number in a telephone number entry. Once the connection is made, the user issues a command to set the telephone number entry in the user'"'"'s data network telephony account to a specific telephone number. The user may then invoke a contacts application in the wireless PID and select a person to call from the contacts list. The user selects the entry to send a command to initiate a telephone connection between the party selected and the user at the telephone designated by the user at the telephony control server.

Claims

1. A personal information device (PID) for controlling telephone service comprising:

a user interface comprising a display and a user input device;

a user profile having a telephone number entered by a user;

a communications function to establish a data communications channel over a wireless network to a telephony control server, the telephony control server containing the user'"'"'s telephony account; and

an account update function to send a message over the data communication channel to the telephony control server, the message containing the user profile telephone number and a request to set the user'"'"'s telephony account telephone number to the user profile telephone number.

2. The PID of claim 1 further comprising:

a contacts application operable to display a plurality of contact entries, each entry comprising a contact telephone number, the contacts application operable to send the contact telephone number over the data communications channel to the telephony control server with a message to call the contact telephone number.

3. A telephony control server comprising:

a network interface operable to provide data connectivity with a user accessible via a wireless network;

an accounts program to access a plurality of user accounts, the accounts program operable to receive a message to set a user telephone number, each user account containing a telephone number entry, the accounts program being operable to set the telephone number entry in response to the message;

a connection signaling function to receive a call message from the user and to establish a telephone connection between the user telephone number and a callee telephone number contained in the call message; and

the connection signaling function operable to initiate a telephone call having at least a portion of the telephone call connected via the data network.

4. The telephony control server of claim 3 further comprising:

a gateway locator to locate a user gateway closest to the user telephone and to locate a callee gateway closest to the callee telephone;

wherein the connection signaling function initiates the portion of the call connected via the data network between the user gateway and the callee gateway.

5. A method for modifying a user telephone account having a telephone number entry using a wireless personal information device (PID) connected over a data network, the method comprising the steps of:

updating a user profile in the wireless PID to a user telephone number; and

sending a request to set the user telephone account to the user telephone number over a data communications channel to a telephony control server wherein the telephony control server updates the user telephone number entry to the user telephone number.