William Curtis Barker

US Patent:

20020118671, Aug 29, 2002

Filed:

Jul 12, 2001

Appl. No.:

09/905162

Inventors:

Leven Staples - Granbury TX, US
William Barker - San Antonio TX, US
Kenneth Witt - San Antonio TX, US
David Oliver - San Antonio TX, US

Assignee:

Data Race, Inc.

International Classification:

H04L012/66

US Classification:

370/352000, 379/093010

Abstract:

A communication system, extends office telephony and network data services to remote clients through the Internet, comprises a telephony server, a local area network, a server system, and a user communication device. The telephony server (e.g. a Private Branch Exchange) provides telephony services for a plurality of office lines. The local area network couples to the Internet. The telephony server and local area network may reside within an office environment. The server system couples to the telephony server and to the local area network. The user communication device establishes a first connection to the server system through the Internet. In response to the first connection, the server system automatically provides access for the user communication device to the telephony server. Also, the server system automatically invokes a call forwarding operation in response to the first connection, so that subsequent telephone calls, intended to reach the user's office line, are forwarded to the server system. When the server system receives a first telephone call, which has been redirected by the telephony server from the user's office line, the server system forwards the first telephone call to the user communication device through the first connection. The user communication device may also establish a secure data connection to the server system through the Internet. The secure data connection provides the remote user with access to the local area network in a manner which protects the data security of the local area network.