Method and apparatus for accessing a network computer to establish a push-to-talk session

Abstract

A wireless phone user registered for push-to-talk (PTT) services desires a push-to-talk session with a party on a network computer accessible via a public data network (like the Internet) that is not registered with any PTT service. The registered user enters a unique identifier, as a destination address for such computer, and a PTT server uses the unique identifier to query a Directory Service available on the public data network to obtain a PTT address for the destination computer. The PTT server then forwards or proxies the PTT request to the destination computer. As a result, the number of push-to-talk destinations available to the wireless phone user is expanded to include any number of push-to-talk enabled computers available on the Internet that are known to the Directory Service.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 10 / 302,882 filed Nov. 25, 2002, pending, entitled “Method And Apparatus For Correlating A Unique Identifier, Such As A PSTN Telephone Number, To An Internet Address To Enable Communications Over The Internet,” which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 09 / 456,646, filed Dec. 8, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,539,077, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 09 / 226,901 filed Jan. 8, 1999, now abandoned, and a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 09 / 092,764 filed Jun. 5, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,292,799, to which priority is claimed and which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] This invention relates to communications services, and in particular to the extension of a wireless push-to-talk (PTT) service to include communication with any number of network computers, not registered for PTT service, but accessible by a public data network like the Interne...

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