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Method and apparatus for subscriber line to telephone call distribution
| Details |
Inventors: Gilboy, Christopher P; Levy, Robert Bergman;
Assignee: AT&T Corp. (New York, NY)
Primary Examiner: Kuntz; Curtis
Assistant Examiner: Barnie; Rexford N
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Levy; Robert B.
A Network Interface Unit (38, 38', 38") routes incoming calls to, and outgoing calls from, a plurality of telephone sets (12-22) at a subscriber premises (24). The Network Interface Unit continuously monitors for incoming calls and the availability of telephone sets. Upon receipt of a call, the Network Interface Unit determines which telephone sets are idle and applies a distinctive ring to each idle telephone set o identify the telephone line or equivalent on which the call was received. Once a telephone set goes off hook, the Network Interface Unit routes the call to that set and releases the remaining telephone sets for subsequent calls. When a subscriber initiates an outgoing telephone call, the Network Interface Unit detects the call and routes it on an idle outgoing telephone line or equivalent. |
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION Briefly, in accordance with the invention, there is provided a method for dynamically routing calls to and from each of a plurality of telephone sets at a subscriber's premises to allow each set to receive or initiate a call on one of a plurality of incoming lines or their equivalent.
On a continuous basis, the communications path to each telephone set is monitored for availability.
When a call is received on a particular incoming line or equivalent, a check is made to determine which communication path (and which telephone set) is idle.
Thereafter, a distinctive ringing signal is applied on each idle path.
The ringing signal causes each telephone set on that idle path to generate a distinctive ring that is typically associated with the particular telephone line or equivalent on which the call was received.
The idle communications paths are thereafter monitored to determine whether any of the telephone sets on an idle path have gone off-hook to answer the call, whereupon, the call is routed to the off-hook telephone set on the associated communications path.
The remaining idle communications paths (i.
e.
, the communications paths on which the telephone sets remain on hook) are released for future calls.
When a subscriber seeks to initiate an outgoing telephone call, the subscriber goes off-hook on a telephone set associated with a particular communications.
The off-hook condition is detected and in response, the call initiated from the now-off hook telephone set is routed to an idle outgoing telephone line or equivalent.
If the subscriber seeks to place that outgoing call on a particular outgoing line or its equivalent that is idle, then the call is routed on that particular line or equivalent.
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Ring Tones 
