Harris Corporation

James D Coleman

Edward J Zoiss

Michael F Kennedy

Linda L Hathorn

Glen Holt Humphrey

Ronald S Squires

A wireless butt set for testing a telephone line includes a base station that is connectable to tip and ring leads of a line under test and is configured to be operated by a wireless telephone handset. The handset is detachably nestable with the base station to form a hand-held integrated butt set assembly. This configuration allows a craftsperson to directly or remotely control the test set using controls of the wireless telephone handset. The internal circuitry of the base station is placed in a high impedance line-monitoring mode without going off-hook, in response to one 'click' of a talk switch of the handset, and goes off-hook in response to a 'double-click' of the talk switch the handset.

Wireless butt set

The control software of a central office-installed ringback test device is augmented to allow a craftsperson to test the operability of a caller identification, call-waiting (CIDCW) class of service of a line, without participation of another technician at the central office. Rather than instructing the craftsperson to go back in-hook, the SASS's microcontroller maintains the trunk circuit through which the incoming call is coupled to the SASS in a suspended, continuously monitored state, so as to effectively busy out the calling line. The SASS then places a return call to the calling number by way of the ringback line, which by-passes the trunk, to the central office switch. If the line circuit from which the call is being placed is equipped with CIDCW class of service, the incoming call from the SASS will exercise its functionality--including providing a ringing signal back to the SASS, and an indication to the calling technician of another call, including the originating telephone number of that call--but it will not return a busy tone to the SASS. If the SASS receives busy tone, it knows that the line of interest is not properly equipped with CIDCW class of service.

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Malibu, CA, United States of America

James D Coleman