The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 21, 1999
Filed:
Dec. 19, 1996
Joseph Harvell, Austin, TX (US);
Gregory T Stovall, Garland, TX (US);
Northern Telecom Limited, , CA;
Abstract
System and method for extending the use of a VAT telephony application to originate calls into a PSTN as well as a computer network are disclosed. In a preferred embodiment, an adjunct application, referred to as a VAT signaling program ('VSP') running on the same host computer as a conventional VAT-based telephony application prompts a user to enter a destination telephone number and uses the entered number to generate a Q.931 SETUP message, which is encapsulated in a nonstandard, undefined, VAT control message (the 'VAT Q.931 message') created to enable additional signaling information to be sent. A signaling interface to the PSTN serving the designated telephone number signals to the VAT application software exactly as if the signaling interface were actually another VAT application software originating a call to the naive VAT application. The signaling interface waits until the user at the computer 'answers,' and then originates the call into the PSTN network.