| US 7,567,551 B1 | ||
| Method for completing internet telephony calls | ||
| John Jutten Lawser, Holmdel, N.J. (US); and Larry Arnise Russell, Atlantic Highlands, N.J. (US) | ||
| Assigned to AT&T Corp., New York, N.Y. (US) | ||
| Filed on Dec. 14, 2004, as Appl. No. 11/11,463. | ||
| Application 11/011463 is a continuation of application No. 09/030601, filed on Feb. 25, 1998, granted, now 6,847,631. | ||
| This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer. | ||
| Int. Cl. H04L 12/66 (2006.01); H04M 11/06 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 370—352 [370/356; 379/93.09; 379/215.01] | 13 Claims |
| 1. A method for completing a call dialed from a calling party to a Plain Old Telephony Service (POTS) number associated with
a called party, comprising:
receiving the call dialed to the POTS number associated with the called party at a hub in a telecommunications network;
launching an inquiry to a dialed number database from said hub to determine whether the called party is a subscriber to Internet
telephony (IT) services using the POTS number;
if the called party is said subscriber to said IT services,
determining an identity of an Internet Service Provider (ISP) serving the called party; and
offering the call to the ISP serving the called party;
determining whether the called party is on-line via said ISP;
forwarding the call to the called party via said ISP serving the called party if said called party is an IT subscriber and
is on-line; and
routing the call to the called party if said called party is off-line.
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