Multiple Line Appearance Engine for IP Telephony
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Solution Overview
Problem
IP telephony systems lack the capability to connect multiple phones to a single line, monitor the states of multiple lines, and seamlessly manage call connections and states, unlike standard wired telephony systems.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a system with an IP telephony switch and server that uses a multiple line appearance engine to manage call states across multiple lines, enabling visual indicators on phones to show call states and allowing users to answer, hold, or transfer calls by manipulating buttons, with notifications and display updates transmitted between devices and servers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If standard wired telephony infrastructure is used, then multiple phones can be connected to a single line with line state monitoring, but IP telephony systems cannot achieve the same functionality
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a line appearance engine as an intermediary component between the IP telephony switch and the phones. This engine creates virtual line appearances that allow multiple phones to monitor and interact with the same call states, emulating traditional wired telephony behavior over IP networks. The line appearance engine receives call state notifications from the switch and distributes them to multiple phones, enabling reliable line state monitoring without requiring physical line connections.
2Loss of information
If IP telephony uses traditional line-based architecture, then call states can be monitored on multiple devices, but the distributed nature of IP telephony prevents this capability
Solution Approach 1:
The line appearance engine serves multiple functions simultaneously: it acts as a call state notification receiver, a state management system, and a multi-phone interface provider. By making this single component universal, the system can support multiple phones monitoring the same lines without requiring separate infrastructure for each phone, thus reducing overall system complexity while preventing information loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates virtual copies of line appearances for each phone that needs to monitor call states. Instead of requiring actual physical line connections to each phone, the line appearance engine generates virtual representations of line states that can be distributed to multiple devices. This copying approach allows call state information to be available on multiple devices without duplicating the physical telephony infrastructure.
3Ease of operation
If visual indicators and button manipulation are implemented, then users can intuitively manage multiple calls, but the system requires complex notification and display update mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements a feedback mechanism where the line appearance engine continuously monitors call states and automatically updates visual indicators on phone displays. When call events occur (incoming calls, held calls, transferred calls), the engine sends notifications to the appropriate phones, which then update their displays to reflect current call states. This automated feedback loop makes call management intuitive for users while centralizing the complexity in the notification system rather than requiring complex user actions.
Data Source
AI summary
Displaying an IP call status is disclosed. An IP call status notification is received from an IP telephony device. A display update is caused by transmitting a display notification to an IP telephone.