Wireless telephone system including voice over IP and POTS

Abstract

A telephone capable of placing or receiving calls over the PSTN or a packet network. The telephone can store multiple telephone numbers for each potential called party along with preferences that govern the order of selecting telephone numbers to service any given outgoing call. Some or all of the telephone numbers can be associated with a presence service. Presence indicators stored in the telephone are dynamically updated via the packet network connection and are used as part of the telephone number selection algorithm. The preferred embodiment is a wireless system having a base station and a remote device.

1. A method for telephone call connecting using a base station and a mobile device, the base station having a first connection to a circuit switched telephone network and a second connection to a packet network and storing one or more telephone numbers associated with each of a plurality of potential called parties and a preference order in which to call the telephone numbers for the potential called parties having more than one telephone number associated therewith, the mobile device adapted for communicating speech to the base station using a wireless protocol and storing names for potential called parties, the method comprising:
 selecting, at the base station when one of the stored names is selected for calling at the mobile device, either the first connection or the second connection to service a call from the mobile device based on the stored preference order  a route preference associated with the selected stored name, further comprising selecting the first connection when a first telephone number in the preference order is associated with the circuit switched telephone  said route preference so dictates use of a circuit switched network and the second connection when the first telephone number is associated with the packet network  said route preference so dictates use of a packet switched network.  
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the selecting is performed by a switch, and the base station further comprises a packet interface and protocol stack between a first port of the switch and the second connector and a telephone interface between a second port of the switch and the first connector. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , further comprising a central processing unit under control of programmed instructions for controlling the switch to select either the packet interface or the telephone interface to service a call based on whether the telephone number is associated with the packet network or the circuit switched telephone. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 3 , wherein the packet interface converts signals from the mobile device into digital packets compatible with the protocol stack connected to the second connection. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 3 , wherein the packet interface converts packets received from the protocol stack into signals for transmission to the mobile device. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 3 , wherein the telephone interface converts signals from the mobile device into analog signals for transmission to the first connector. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 3 , wherein the telephone interface converts analog signals from the first connector into signals for transmission to the mobile device. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 2 , wherein the protocol stack is a TCP/IP stack. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1 , wherein if the calls fails after the first telephone number is called, the selecting selects a second telephone number in the preference order, the selecting configured to select the first connection when the second telephone number in the preference order is associated with the circuit switched telephone and the second connection when the second telephone number is associated with the packet network. 
     
     
       10. A method for calling a telephone number associated with a selected name from a telephone system base station, based on a preference order associated with the selected name, comprising:
 storing one or more telephone numbers associated with each of a plurality of potential called parties and a preference order in which to call the telephone numbers for the potential called parties having more than one telephone number associated therewith, and  
 selecting, at the base station when one of the stored names is selected for calling at a mobile device, either a first connection to a circuit switched telephone network or a second connection to a packet network to service a call from the mobile device based on the stored preference order  a preferred route associated with the selected stored name, wherein selecting either a first connection or a second connection selects the first connection when a first telephone number in the preference order is associated with the circuit switched telephone and the second connection when the first telephone number is associated with the packet network  said preferred route dictates use of a circuit switched network and said second connection when said preferred route dictates use of a packet switched network.  
 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 10 , further comprising selecting a second telephone number in the preference order if the call fails after the first telephone number is called, wherein selecting either a first connection or a second connection further comprises selecting the first connection when the second telephone number in the preference order is associated with the circuit switched telephone and the second connection when the second telephone number is associated with the packet network. 
     
     
       12. A telephone system for placing a call to a telephone number associated with a selected name, said telephone system comprising:
   a handset, said handset being associated with a base station, said handset having a plurality of names therein, said plurality of names being received at said handset from said base station, said handset being constructed to transmit at least information about said selected name to said base station to initiate said placing of said call, said selected name being one of said plurality of names;        said base station comprising,      a first connection to a packet network,        a second connection to a circuit switched network,        a third connection to said handset through which said base station receives said selected name from said handset, and        a stored route preference through which said base station determines whether to place said call as a VOIP call using said first connection to a packet network or as a POTS call using said second connection to a circuit switched network, said stored route preference being associated with at least said selected name.