Method and system for extending the directory number of a terminal

US6094478A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Nortel Networks Limited · CA

Inventors

• Paul Shepherd · Norton, GB
• Jin Chen · Dallas, US
• Sanjay Kulkarni · Plano, US
• Edgar Martinez · Houston, US
• James Bender · Dallas, US
• De CAI · Lo Wu, CN
• Harminder Singh · Reading, US
• Laxminarayan G. Iyengar · Raleigh, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Aug 19, 1997
• Grant date: Jul 25, 2000
• Expiry date: Aug 19, 2017

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H04W4/16
• WIPO field: Telecommunications
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

A method and system are disclosed for extending the directory number of a terminal. The invention allows service providers to provide a service which uses an existing subscriber directory number and effectively extends it to include one or more other directory numbers. To the subscriber, the terminals associated with the other directory numbers effectively look like virtual extensions. The method and system provide this flexibility without requiring any additional personal numbers being assigned to the subscriber. The subscriber can choose to have all incoming calls to a directory number (DN) of one of their existing terminals alert or ring one or more other terminals having a different DN. The terminals may for example be on the same network (e.g. all on the wireline network) or they may be on different networks (e.g. one on the wireline network and one on the wireless network). The method and system are substantially transparent to subscribers and calling parties as no additional numbers or new DNs of any sort are required.