Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for operating a telephone as an independent network client

US6757363B1 · kind B1 · utility

21Cited by
31References
5Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMay 31, 2000
Grant dateJun 29, 2004
Priority date
Expiry dateAug 30, 2021

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04M7/006
  • WIPO fieldTelecommunications
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A system (10) includes a packet-switched network (12). A plurality of telephones (21-26) are each coupled to the network. A call manager server (31) is also coupled to the network, in order to interact with the telephones to implement telephony functions. Each of the telephones has the capability to act as an independent network client, by using Internet-compatible protocols to communicate directly with a resource server, without the participation or even the awareness of the call manager server. The resource server may be a local server (32) coupled directly to the network, or a remote server (66-68) coupled to the network through some other network, such as the Internet (52).

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.