METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COMMUNICATING WITH ONE OF PLURAL DEVICES ASSOCIATED WITH A SINGLE TELEPHONE NUMBER
Inventor: Stephen P. Forte, West Hills, CA (US)
Assignee: Ascendent Telecommunications, Inc. CA (U S)
Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days.
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Filed: Oct. 29, 2007
Prior Publication Data
US 2008/0107252 A1 May 8, 2008
Related U.S. Application Data
Continuation of application No. 09/593,543, filed on Jun. 14, 2000, now Pat. No. 7,305,079.
Provisional application No. 60/139,498, filed on Jun. 14, 1999, provisional application No. 60/185,070, filed on Feb. 25, 2000.
Int. Cl.
H04M 3/42 (2006.01)
U.S. Cl. ....... .. 379/211.01; 379/211.02; 379/207.02; 379/355.01; 455/445
Field of Classification Search ........... .. 379/211.01,
379/211.02, 207.02, 216, 355.01; 455/445 See application file for complete search history.
(56) References Cited
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(Continued)
FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS EP 9219085 10/1986 (Continued)
Primary Examiner * Quynh Nguyen (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm * Norton Rose Canada LLP
A system for (and a method of) selectively establishing communication with one of plural devices associated with a single telephone number is provided. In a preferred embodiment, the system includes a wireless connect unit connected between an enterprise private branch exchange (PBX) network and a public switched telephone network. The wireless connect unit preferably serves as a gateway between the PBX and one or more remote communication devices. The remote devices can be used as standard PBX office telephones for both inbound and outbound telephone calls. Thus, features of the PBX network (e.g., voice mail, direct extension dialing, corporate calling plan, etc.) are available to the remote device even though they are not physically connected to the PBX. When the system receives an incoming call, it can route the call to an office telephone and one or more of the remote devices simultaneously or as desired by the user.
11 Claims, 5 Drawing Sheets
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16 PR1 I__I ___i— 1221/ f -5 I83 PBX 30 W1 , . DIGITAL M RELESSCONNECT ' TELEPHONE % LA)\/ 126/ E ANALOG 180 ACCOUNTlNG/ TELEPHONE BILLING W80 SYSTEM -I//' 56 51 .1’ A FIREWALL " - O 70 N m REMOTE X X _ ADMINISTRATION 50 \/ <3 CELLULAR ____ __ ~__m-E PHONE ( 4 R WIRELESS ’ 62 SWITCII 60 FIG. 1
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