Patent ID: 6304637
Filing Date: 2001-10-16
Classification: H04L,H04M,Y10S

Abstract:
A computer system comprising:a storage medium having stored therein a plurality of programming instructions for implementing a set of communication services on said computer system for establishing and facilitating a voice call to a PSTN extension on behalf of a client computer, the client computer being already communicatively connected to the computer system via a varying plurality of network nodes of a data network, wherein the communication services include services for newly establishing a first direct PSTN connection from the computer system to the PSTN extension on behalf of the client computer to establish and facilitate said voice call through said previously established variable data network connection and said newly established first direct PSTN connection, and services for conditionally causing, at a later time during the voice call, a second direct PSTN connection to be newly established between the client computer and the computer system to replace the earliest established variable data network connection between the client computer and the computer system and continue to facilitate said voice call through said newly established replacement second direct PSTN connection and said second earliest established first direct PSTN connection instead, wherein the services for conditionally causing the replacement second direct PSTN connection to be newly established between the client computer and the computer system, include services for monitoring quality of the voice call between the client computer and the PSTN extension while the voice call is being facilitated through said earliest established variable data network connection and the second earliest established first direct PSTN connection, and services for notifying the client computer when the quality of the voice call drops below a predetermined quality threshold while the voice call is being facilitated through said earliest established variable data network connection and the second earliest established first direct PSTN connection; andan execution unit, coupled to the storage medium, for executing the plurality of programming instructions.