Claims
- 1. A method for answering Home Network telephone calls, the method comprising:
receiving telephone calls addressed to a Home Network endpoint; routing the received calls from a Home Network gateway to the endpoint; and, automatically recording the received call at a telephone answering device (TAD).
- 2. The method of claim 1 wherein automatically recording the received call at a TAD includes recording calls that are not answered by the addressed endpoint.
- 3. The method of claim 2 wherein automatically recording the received call includes recording the received call at an entity selected from the group including a Home Network endpoint, the gateway, and an external line service provider facility selected from the group including a telephone central office and a web site.
- 4. The method of claim 3 wherein receiving telephone calls addressed to a Home Network endpoint includes receiving external line calls from communication media selected from the group including voice over ATM (VoATM), voice over cable modem (VoCM), voice over DSL (VoDSL), voice over Internet protocol (VoIP), fixed wireless access (FWA), fibre to the home (FTTH), integrated service digital network (ISDN), and plain old telephone service (POTS), and internal line calls from Home Network endpoints.
- 5. The method of claim 3 wherein receiving telephone calls addressed to a Home Network endpoint includes receiving calls addressed to an endpoint device selected from the group including telephones, fax machines, personal data assistants (PDAs), personal computers (PCs), modems, multi-function peripherals (MFPs), video-telephones, wireless communication devices, and hardwired communications devices.
- 6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
establishing a Home Network relationship between the gateway and a plurality of Home Network endpoints; wherein receiving telephone calls addressed to a Home Network endpoint includes receiving calls addressed to a first endpoint; and, wherein automatically recording the received call at a TAD includes recording the call at a second endpoint TAD.
- 7. The method of claim 6 wherein routing the received calls from a Home Network gateway to the endpoint includes the gateway:
waiting a predetermined amount of time for a response from the first endpoint; and, rerouting the call from the first endpoint to the second endpoint.
- 8. The method of claim 1 wherein automatically recording the received call includes forwarding the received call to the TAD from the gateway.
- 9. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving telephone calls addressed to a Home Network endpoint includes receiving a call addressed to an endpoint;
the method further comprising:
sending notification that a message has been recorded for the addressed endpoint.
- 10. The method of claim 9 wherein sending notification that a message has been recorded includes the gateway initiating the notification.
- 11. The method of claim 9 wherein sending notification that a message has been recorded includes:
the gateway receiving a request for the addressed endpoint TAD information; and, the gateway creating a bridge between the TAD and a requesting entity.
- 12. The method of claim 9 wherein sending notification that a message has been recorded includes sending a notification from the TAD to the addressed endpoint.
- 13. The method of claim 9 wherein sending notification that a message has been recorded includes:
sending a notification message from the TAD to the gateway that a message has been recorded; and, forwarding the notification from the gateway.
- 14. The method of claim 9 wherein sending notification that a message has been recorded includes sending information selected from the group including the calling telephone number, the name of the calling party, the time of the recording, the recording length, and the TAD memory state.
- 15. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
in response to receiving notification that a message has been recorded, requesting a message for playback; and, sending the requested message.
- 16. The method of claim 15 wherein requesting a message for playback includes requesting a message for an addressed endpoint, by a requesting entity.
- 17. The method of claim 15 further comprising:
in response to requesting a message for playback, opening an audio path with the TAD; and, bridging the audio path with an audio path to the requesting entity.
- 18. The method of claim 17 wherein bridging the audio path with an audio path to the requesting entity includes using signaling selected from the group including in-band and out-of-band signaling for:
establishing audio path connections via the TAD and the requesting entity; and, picking the recorded message for playback.
- 19. The method of claim 17 wherein opening an audio path with the TAD includes signaling to dial the TAD.
- 20. The method of claim 17 further comprising:
prior to sending the recorded message via the audio path, entering a password associated with the addressed endpoint.
- 21. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving telephone calls includes receiving caller identification information; and,
the method further comprising:
in response to receiving the call, selecting the call screening function.
- 22. The method of claim 21 wherein selecting the call screening function includes:
establishing a bridge for the TAD to receive a call addressed to the endpoint; and, establishing a bridge between the TAD and the endpoint requesting the call screening function.
- 23. The method of claim 22 wherein selecting the call screening function includes a second endpoint selecting the call screening function for a call addressed to a first endpoint.
- 24. The method of claim 22 further comprising:
supplying a password from the requesting endpoint; and, wherein establishing a bridge between the TAD and the endpoint requesting the call screening function includes establishing a bridge between the TAD and the requesting endpoint in response to entering the password.
- 25. The method of claim 22 further comprising:
muting the microphone of the endpoint requesting the call screening function.
- 26. The method of claim 25 further comprising:
following the establishment of a bridge between the TAD and the requesting endpoint, the requesting endpoint electing to answer the call; un-muting the requesting endpoint microphone; and, removing the bridge to the TAD.
- 27. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
registering endpoints with the gateway; and, arranging TAD services for registered endpoints.
- 28. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
in addition to automatically recording the received call, playing a recorded announcement.
- 29. A system for answering Home Network telephone calls, the system comprising:
at least one endpoint having a port to transceive Home Network telephone communications; a gateway having a port to transceive telephone communication between an endpoint and external communication media; and, a telephone answering device (TAD) having a port to accept and automatically record received calls addressed to, but not answered by an endpoint.
- 30. The system of claim 29 wherein the TAD is selected from the group including a Home Network endpoint, the gateway, and an external line service provider facility selected from the group including a telephone central office and a web site.
- 31. The system of claim 30 further comprising:
an external line communication medium to transceive telephone communications with the gateway, the communication medium selected from the group including voice over ATM (VoATM), voice over cable modem (VoCM), voice over DSL (VoDSL), voice over Internet protocol (VoIP), fixed wireless access (FWA), fibre to the home (FTTH), integrated service digital network (ISDN), and plain old telephone service (POTS).
- 32. The system of claim 31 wherein the endpoints are selected from the group including telephones, fax machines, personal data assistants (PDAs), personal computers (PCs), modems, multi-function peripherals (MFPs), video-telephones, wireless communication devices, and hardwired communications devices.
- 33. The system of claim 29 further comprising:
at least a first and a second Home Network endpoints; wherein the gateway receives calls addressed to a first endpoint; and, wherein the second endpoint records the call addressed to the first endpoint.
- 34. The system of claim 33 wherein the gateway waits a predetermined amount of time for a response from the first endpoint and reroutes the call from the first endpoint to the second endpoint.
- 35. The system of claim 29 wherein the gateway polls the Home Network for endpoints and registers the acquired endpoints for TAD services.
- 36. The system of claim 29 wherein the gateway forwards received calls to the TAD.
- 37. The system of claim 29 wherein the gateway sends a notification message in response to a message being recorded by the TAD.
- 38. The system of claim 37 wherein the gateway sends a notification message as follows:
the gateway initiates the sending of the notification message; and, the gateway receives a request for endpoint TAD information and creates a bridge between the TAD and the requesting entity.
- 39. The system of claim 37 wherein the gateway notifies an endpoint of a message in TAD, addressed to that endpoint.
- 40. The system of claim 39 wherein the TAD sends a notification message to the gateway, indicating that a message has been recorded; and,
wherein the gateway forwards the notification to the addressed endpoint.
- 41. The system of claim 39 wherein the gateway sends notification information selected from the group including the calling telephone number, the name of the calling party, the time of the recording, the recording length, and the TAD memory state.
- 42. The system of claim 29 wherein the gateway, in response to sending notification that a message has been recorded, receives a request for message playback.
- 43. The system of claim 42 wherein the gateway receives a request for message playback of a message addressed to a first endpoint, from a second endpoint.
- 44. The system of claim 42 wherein the gateway, in response to receiving a request for message playback, opens an audio path with the TAD and bridges the audio path with an audio path to the requesting entity.
- 45. The system of claim 44 wherein the gateway opens an audio path with the TAD by using signaling selected from the group including in-band and out-of-band signaling for establishing audio path connections via the TAD and the requesting entity, and selecting the recorded message for playback.
- 46. The system of claim 45 wherein the gateway opens an audio path with the TAD by signaling to dial the TAD, and signaling to pick the recorded message for playback.
- 47. The system of claim 44 wherein the TAD, prior to sending the recorded message via the audio path, receives a password associated with the endpoint to which the call was addressed.
- 48. The system of claim 29 wherein the endpoints include a user interface to select a call screening function.
- 49. The system of claim 48 wherein the requesting endpoint receives caller identification information;
wherein a requesting endpoint selects the call screening function in response to a call; and, wherein the gateway establishes a bridge for the TAD to receive the call, establishes a bridge between the TAD and the requesting endpoint requesting the call screening function.
- 50. The system of claim 49 wherein a second endpoint selects the call screening function for calls addressed to a first endpoint.
- 51. The system of claim 49 wherein the TAD permits a bridge to be established between the TAD and the requesting endpoint in response to receiving a password from the requesting endpoint.
- 52. The system of claim 49 wherein the requesting endpoint has a user interface microphone muting function.
- 53. The system of claim 52 wherein the requesting endpoint, following the establishment of a bridge between the TAD and the requesting endpoint, elects to answer the call, and un-mutes the microphone; and,
wherein the gateway removes the bridge to the TAD.
- 54. The system of claim 29 wherein the TAD, in addition to automatically recording the received call, plays a recorded announcement.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of a pending patent application entitled, PRIVACY MODE SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR HOME NETWORK TELEPHONE, invented by Mansfield et al., Ser. No. 10/066,486, filed Jan. 31, 2002.
[0002] This application is a continuation-in-part of a pending patent application entitled, SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR VIRTUAL MULTILINE TELPHONY IN A HOME NETWORK TELEPHONE, invented by Mansfield et al., Ser. No. 10/140,402, filed May 6, 2002.
[0003] This application is a continuation-in-part of a pending patent application entitled, SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DATA BACKUP IN HOME NETWORK TELEPHONE, invented by Mansfield et al., Ser. No. 10/066,487, filed Jan. 31, 2002.
[0004] This application is a continuation-in-part of a pending patent application entitled, SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR A HOME NETWORK TELEPHONE UNIVERSAL PHONEBOOK, invented by Mansfield et al., Ser. No. 10/102,245, filed Mar. 20, 2002.
[0005] This application is a continuation-in-part of a pending patent application entitled, UNIVERSAL CALL-LOG SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR HOME NETWORK TELEPHONE, invented by Mansfield et al., Ser. No. 10/112,909, filed Mar. 27, 2002.
Continuation in Parts (5)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10066486 |
Jan 2002 |
US |
Child |
10313863 |
Dec 2002 |
US |
Parent |
10140402 |
May 2002 |
US |
Child |
10313863 |
Dec 2002 |
US |
Parent |
10066487 |
Jan 2002 |
US |
Child |
10313863 |
Dec 2002 |
US |
Parent |
10102245 |
Mar 2002 |
US |
Child |
10313863 |
Dec 2002 |
US |
Parent |
10112909 |
Mar 2002 |
US |
Child |
10313863 |
Dec 2002 |
US |