Method and apparatus for providing advanced IP telephony services in an intelligent endpoint

Abstract

A method and apparatus in a communications system for providing advanced Internet Protocol (IP) telephony services in an intelligent endpoint. The apparatus and method of the present invention provides a user with the capability to update a local directory from a directory server, perform click to call functions, and perform intelligent processing of incoming calls.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method in a communications system for updating, from a network directory server, a local telephony directory on a telephony device, comprising: 
 establishing a communication connection between the telephony device and the network directory server;    sending an update request to the network directory server through the communication connection;    receiving updated telephony directory information from the network directory server through the communication connection; and    updating the local telephony directory based on the updated telephony directory information.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein establishing a communication connection between the telephony device and the network directory server includes initiating an applet to facilitate communication with the network directory server and with the telephony device.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the applet communicates with the network directory server using hypertext transfer protocol and communicates with the telephony device directly.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein receiving updated telephony directory information from the network directory server includes identifying telephony directory information for transmitting to the telephony device based on at least one of an identification of a user that initiated the sending of the update request, parameters entered by the user, and a time since the last update of the local telephony directory.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising identifying a first directory listing in the updated telephony directory information that corresponds to a second directory listing in the local telephony directory.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising displaying the first directory listing and the second directory at a same time.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising receiving a user selection of one of overwriting the second directory listing with the first directory listing, keeping the second directory listing, overwriting selected information in the second directory listing with information from the first directory listing, and adding a new directory listing in the local telephony directory corresponding to the first directory listing.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising displaying results of updating the local telephony directory.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the establishing, sending, and receiving steps are performed using a network browser application and an applet for downloading updated telephony directory information.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the network browser application and the telephony device reside on the same computing device.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the network browser application resides on a computing device and the telephony device is coupled to the computing device.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the telephony device is an IP telephony device.  
     
     
         13 . A computer program product in a computer-readable medium for use in a data processing system for updating, from a network directory server, a local telephony directory on a telephony device, comprising: 
 first instructions for establishing a communication connection between the telephony device and the network directory server;    second instructions for sending an update request to the network directory server through the communication connection;    third instructions for receiving updated telephony directory information from the network directory server through the communication connection; and    fourth instructions for updating the local telephony directory based on the updated telephony directory information.    
     
     
         14 . A telephony apparatus for communicating over a network, comprising: 
 a controller;    a network interface coupled to the controller; and    a directory update device coupled to the controller, wherein the controller establishes a communication connection between the telephony apparatus and a network directory server via the network interface, the directory update device sends an update request to the network directory server, the directory update device receives updated telephony directory information from the network directory server, and wherein the directory update device updates a local telephony directory based on the updated telephony directory information.    
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the controller establishes a communication connection between the telephony device and the network directory server by initiating an applet to facilitate communication with the network directory server and with the telephony device.  
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the applet communicates with the network directory server using hypertext transfer protocol.  
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the directory update device identifies a first directory listing in the updated telephony directory information that corresponds to a second directory listing in the local telephony directory.  
     
     
         18 . A method in a communications system for updating, from a network directory server, a local telephony directory on a telephony device, comprising: 
 establishing a communication connection between the telephony device and the network directory server;    receiving an update request from the telephony device through the communication connection;    sending updated telephony directory information from the network directory server through the communication connection, the updated telephony directory information being used by the telephony device to update the local telephony directory.    
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising sending instructions to the telephony device to display results of updating the local telephony directory.  
     
     
         20 . A telephony apparatus that initiates a telephony call, over a network having a network directory server, to a receiving telephony device, comprising: 
 a network interface;    a controller coupled to the network interface; and    a user interface coupled to the controller, wherein the controller receives directory information, from a directory on the network directory server, via the network interface, and receives, via the user interface, a user selection of a directory listing from the directory information, and wherein the controller initiates a telephony call from the telephony apparatus to the receiving telephony device based on the user selection.    
     
     
         21 . The apparatus of  claim 20 , further comprising a display that displays the directory information.  
     
     
         22 . The apparatus of  claim 20 , wherein the controller downloads, from the network directory server to the telephony apparatus, directory listing information for the receiving telephony device in response to receiving the user selection, and wherein the telephony call is initiated from the telephony apparatus based on the downloaded directory listing information.  
     
     
         23 . The apparatus of  claim 20 , wherein the user interface includes a graphical user interface.  
     
     
         24 . A method in a communications system for intelligent processing of an incoming telephony call, the intelligent processing being performed in an endpoint device, comprising: 
 receiving, in the endpoint device, the incoming telephony call from a call source via a network;    identifying, in the endpoint device, a call screening entry associated with the call source; and    screening the incoming telephony call based on the call screening entry.    
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the call screening entry identifies at least one screening function to be performed when a call from the call source is received.  
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein the at least one call screening function is performed based on at least one of time of day, day of the week, a date range, and always being performed.  
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein the at least one call screening function includes at least one of ignoring the call, playing a greeting, forwarding the call to another telephony address, forwarding the call to a web page address, forwarding the call to an electronic mail address, and executing an application.  
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein the at least one call screening function is performed based on more than one of time of day, day of the week, a date range, and always being performed.  
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein the at least one call screening function includes more than one of ignoring the call, playing a greeting, forwarding the call to another telephony address, forwarding the call to a web page address, forwarding the call to an electronic mail address, and executing an application.  
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein, if the at least one call screening function includes forwarding the call to a web page address, the method further includes sending a command to the call source instructing the call source to initiate a web browser application and inserting the web page address in the web browser application such that a desired web page is displayed on the call source.  
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein, if the at least one call screening function includes forwarding the call to an electronic mail address, the method further includes sending a command to the call source, via the network interface, instructing the call source to initiate an electronic mail application and inserting the electronic mail address in the electronic mail application.  
     
     
         32 . A computer program product in a computer-readable medium for use in a data processing system for intelligent processing of an incoming telephony call, the intelligent processing being performed in an endpoint device, comprising: 
 first instructions for receiving, in the endpoint device, the incoming telephony call from a call source via a network;    second instructions for identifying, in the endpoint device, a call screening entry associated with the call source; and    third instructions for screening the incoming telephony call based on the call screening entry.    
     
     
         33 . A telephony apparatus for use with a network, comprising: 
 a network interface coupled to the network for communicating via the network;    a controller coupled to the network interface, and    a storage device, wherein the controller receives an incoming telephony call from a call source via the network interface, identifies a telephony call screening entry stored in the storage device associated with the call source, the telephony call screening entry identifying a different communication type from the telephony call to use in communicating with the telephony apparatus, and wherein the controller screens the incoming telephony call based on the telephony call screening entry.    
     
     
         34 . A method of initiating a telephony call, over a network having a network directory server, from a sending telephony device to a receiving telephony device, comprising: 
 identifying, from a directory on the network directory server, an identifier of the receiving telephony device;    downloading, from the network directory server to the sending telephony device, directory listing information for the receiving telephony device; and    initiating a telephony call from the sending telephony device to the receiving telephony device based on the downloaded directory listing information.