Patent ID: 8923278
Filing Date: 2014-12-30
Classification: H04L,H04M

Abstract:
1. A telephone system, comprising a plurality of telephone terminals, wherein: a first telephone terminal of the plurality of telephone terminals is configured to conduct a telephone call over an Internet Protocol (IP) network, and to broadcast on the IP network a beacon signal comprising a first configuration identifier for system-wide configuration data stored by the first telephone terminal; a second telephone terminal of the plurality of telephone terminals is configured to conduct a telephone call over the IP network with the first telephone terminal, and to receive the beacon signal via the IP network, wherein the first telephone terminal is further configured to store a revision history of configuration identifiers, to determine whether a second configuration identifier provided by a verification request from the second telephone terminal matches a configuration identifier of the revision history, and to remove the second telephone terminal from the telephone system if a match of the second configuration identifier is not found in the revision history, wherein the first telephone terminal is further configured to transmit to the second telephone terminal an update notification in response to the verification request if the second configuration identifier provided by the verification request matches a configuration identifier of the revision history of configuration identifiers, wherein the revision history of configuration identifiers are transferrable from the first telephone terminal to the second telephone terminal at a master handoff request by the second telephone terminal to the first telephone terminal, and wherein the system-wide configuration data comprises data used to configure the plurality of telephone terminals for one or more telephony features of the telephone system, wherein the second telephone terminal is configured to transmit to the first telephone terminal the master handoff request comprising a configuration identifier for the system-wide configuration stored by the second telephone terminal, and to assume a master coordinator role in response to receiving an acknowledgement from the first telephone terminal, and wherein the first telephone terminal, in response to the master handoff request, is configured to send a configuration-branch response to the second telephone terminal in response to determining based upon the configuration identifier of the master handoff request that the system-wide configuration data of the second telephone does not match the system-wide configuration data of the first telephone terminal and does not correspond to prior system-wide configuration data tracked by the revision history, wherein the second telephone terminal, in response to changing the system-wide configuration data for the telephone system, is configured to update the configuration identifier, and to broadcast beacons including the updated configuration identifier on the IP network.