EXHIBIT 10

Case 2:23-cv-00445-JRG Document 1-11 Filed 09/27/23 Page 1 of 16 PageID #: 171
(12) United States Patent 

Ahmed et al. 

USOO7085364B1 

US 7,085,364 B1 

Aug. 1, 2006 

(10) Patent No.: 

(45) Date of Patent: 

(54) 

(75) 

(73) 

(*) 

(21) 

(22) 

(51) 

(52) 

(58) 

(56) 

ADVANCED CONFERENCE DROP 

Inventors: Mushtaq Ahmed, Salem, NH (US); 

Kalpesh Salva, Woburn, MA (US); 

Tarek Abou-Assali, Brighton, MA 

(US); Jasjit Singh, North Andover, MA 

(US); Arun Narula, Andover, MA (US) 

Assignee: 

Notice: 

Appl. No.: 

Filed: 

Int. C. 

H04M 3/42 

H04L 12/16 

3Com Corporation, Marlborough, MA 

(US) 

Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this 

patent is extended or adjusted under 35 

U.S.C. 154(b) by 683 days. 

09/933,558 

Aug. 20, 2001 

(2006.01) 

(2006.01) 

U.S. Cl. .................................. 379/202.01; 370/267 

Field of Classification Search ................ 370/267, 

370/419; 379/202.01: 709/204, 205: 715/739 

See application file for complete search history. 

References Cited 

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS 

5.440,624 A * 

5.996,003 A * 11/1999 

6,262,979 B1* 

6,332,153 B1* 12/2001 

6,396,510 B1* 

8, 1995 

7/2001 Anderson et al. ... 

Cohen ................ 

5, 2002 Pendse et al. 

* cited by examiner 

Schoof, II .............. 379,202.01 

Namikata et al. ........... 709/205 

- - - - - 370,267 

- - - - - TO9.204 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 71.5/739 

Primary Examiner Wing Chan 

Assistant Examiner Thjuan P. Knowlin 

(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm McGlew & Tuttle, PC 

(57) ABSTRACT 

A network telephone system is provided with a distributed 

network, a network call processor, with the call processor 

connected to the network. A telephone line network interface 

is connected to a telephone line and is connected to the 

network for receiving packets from the network and sending packets to the network including packets with telephone 

voice data. A plurality of network telephones are part of the 

network telephone system with each network telephone 

connected to the network. Each network telephone has a 

display for displaying information and each network tele 

phone is capable of engaging in a concurrent telephonic 

communication. Each network telephone has an I/O device 

in electrical communication with the network for receiving 

and sending packets to other devices connected to the 

network, an input device for producing audio signals from 

an input local to the device and a packet controller in 

electrical communication with the I/O device and the input device. The packet controller generates packets from the 

audio signals received by the input device, forwards the 

generated packets to the I/O device for transmission to the 

network and combines packets received by the I/O device to 

produce an audio signal with the combined packets and the 

audio signals from the local input device. Each network 

telephone displays information on the display corresponding 

to an identity of a source of packets combined whereby the 

identity may be selected for dropping a source form a 

concurrent telephonic communication. 

20 Claims, 6 Drawing Sheets 

NETWORK TELEPHONE SYSTEM CHASSIS -12 S-10 

: POWER BUS -30 

A A A A -14 | PUBLIC 

ETHERNET NETWORKBUS | PHONE 

16 | NETWORK 

4. / : NETWORKCAL systEM PSA. H. PROCESSOR (NCP) | NETWORK CARD : i CARD LINE 24 

CARD | 

SYSTEM DATA I STORAGE P- 32 28, C-2s 

18 t NETWORK & CELL 

42 20 50 GI Riga NETWORK k NZ N 

DEVICE PAGER 52 M LOCAL | -- 42 PAGER MOBILE 

ZN as LPHONE 

 

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U.S. Patent Aug. 1, 2006 Sheet 2 of 6 US 7,085,364 B1 

X|\,|OWALEN 

OO HLIWS[gro oo

Z9 

DV/W EDIAEO 

 

 

 

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U.S. Patent Aug. 1, 2006 Sheet 4 of 6 US 7,085,364 B1 

 

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U.S. Patent Aug. 1, 2006 Sheet 5 of 6 US 7,085,364 B1 

500 

502 

Conference 504 

drop U1 & U2 in a point - to-point call 

U2 presses conference 

Enter ext. of party to conference 

Want to do a blind 

conference or screened? 

524 

Originator 

decides to either 

leave a message 

and/or disconnect 

this call. 

Hit 

conference 

button again 

510 

- screened S 511 

All parties are still in 522 

conference while the 

originator (person originating 

the conf. Call) is hearing ring 

back from the extension that 

he/she is trying to conference lil... 

Party does Ot 

aSWe Call either goes to 

the extensions 

Voice mail or some 

sort of coverage 

Party answers 

555 

Originator hits 

"conference' button again and all parties join the 

conference call 

516 

542 

U1, U2 and U3 arc?all in 

conference now 

Fig. 5A 

User attempts 'conference drop' after 536 

scrolling through the LCD/list of conference 

cal members 

Contd. On Fig. 5B 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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U.S. Patent Aug. 1, 2006 Sheet 6 of 6 US 7,085,364 B1 

From Fig. 5A 542 l 

538 

NO 540 

Does user have permission to drop 

this member? Query the connections Display NOT 

table and see if he/she has ownership ALLOWED on 

of the member they are trying to LCD of phone drop 

555 

YES 

544 2 Party is dropped and everyone 

hears a beep indicating that 

somebody has exited the 

conference call 

548 

546 

Are number of NO Call goes back 

parties in the call to a point to 

greater than 2? point call/conf. 

call. 

YES 

550 552 YES A. 

Are parties less Call ends and is torn down 

than 2 

NO 

Conference call continues and F ig 5 B 

list of users in conference is 

updated by the NBX system 

software to reflect the most up 

to-date participants. 554 

 

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US 7,085,364 B1 

1. 

ADVANCED CONFERENCE DROP 

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 

Telephone systems are known which provide a common 5 

interface between a plurality of users and a public telephone 

network. Such a PBX system includes a central box with line 

cards providing connections to assigned lines of a public 

telephone network. The central box is connected by wires 

such as twisted pair wires to individual telephone units. The 

connection from the central box to the telephone units may be by way of analogue or digital signals. More recently, 

digital signals are sent by the central unit to the phone units. 

The digital signals include voice data as well as control and 15 

messaging data. The units include a simple handset as well 

as a speaker for paging, intercom type communications and 

speaker phone applications. Typically the base unit also 

includes a microphone. The handset is a typical handset 

providing a speaker and a microphone. 2O 

10 

Telephone systems using distributed networks. Such as 

local area networks (LANs) are also generally known. With 

these systems, a distributed network is provided. Such as 

carrier sense multiple access/collision detection (CSMA/ 

CD, see IEEE 802.3) generally known as Ethernet. A tele 

phone network system is provided with a central box having 

line cards connected to the distributed network as well as 

network devices connected to the network. The network 

devices include network telephones with, for example, a 

base unit with a speaker and a microphone and a handset 

(with a speaker and a microphone). Data packets are sent over the network between network devices. A network 

control processor or network call processor (NCP) may be 

used to monitor and control the access to the public tele 

phone network. Features specific to the user may be estab 

lished with the NCP. 

Digital PBX systems and telephone systems using dis 

tributed networks are known which allow the users to 

provide a conference call. The conference call may be a 

between users of the telephone system or between a user of 

the telephone system and telephone units connected through 

outside lines. Even when the conference call is set up using the telephone system, such past systems do not allow users 

to selectively drop participants in the conference call. In as 

Such systems, the originator of the conference call may at 

best be able to drop the last participant that was added. 

Further, people do not know who all of the memners are, on 

the call at any given moment. Conference call members tend 

to constantly ask who is on the call or is not etc. Some so 

conference call systems notify the members that some user 

has just joined or departed a conference. However, this still 

makes it difficult to keep a track of the total member list. 

25 

30 

35 

SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE 55 

INVENTION 

It is an object of the invention to provide three or more 

telephone units interconnected by one or more networks 

e.g., local area network (LAN), wide area network, etc., to 60 

provide a conference call, wherein at least one of the 

telephone units receives and sends data packets including 

Voice data packets and wherein at least one telephone unit 

includes or is associated with a display showing information 

as to the other telephone units connected, e.g., telephone 65 

numbers, and includes or is associated with a button e.g., a 

physical button or soft key associated with a display or 

2 

physical button with changeable (soft key) display for 

dropping any one of a telephone units from the conference 

call. 

A further object to provide the several packet based 

telephone units with the ability to drop any telephone unit in 

the conference call where several of the units are connected 

by one or more networks to form a branch exchange 

It is still another object of the invention to provide a 

network telephone system with telephone units that receive 

information about conference call participants from a central 

call processor. The network advantageously includes net 

work telephone units as well as other network devices (such 

as computers). 

According to the invention, a conference call telephone 

system is provided with one or more networks. Three or 

more telephone units are interconnected by said one or more 

networks to provide three or more participants of a confer 

ence call, at least one of the telephone units receiving and 

sending data packets including voice data packets. A display 

is connected to the at least one of the telephone units or 

forms a part of the at least one of the telephone units. A 

device for monitoring calls, of at least one of the telephone units, provides data to the display for showing conference 

call participant information as to the telephone units par 

ticipating in the conference call. An input device is associ 

ated with the display for selecting any of the telephone units 

from the conference call participant information and drop ping the selected telephone unit from the conference call. 

Several of the three or more telephone units of the 

conference call may be network telephone devices that 

receive and send data packets including voice data packets. 

The network telephone units may be connected to a tele 

phone line network interface for receiving data packets including packets with telephone voice data. The telephone 

units from the conference call may include a telephone unit 

connected to the others by a public telephone network. The 

telephone line network interface is connected to the public 

telephone network to establish one or more line connections 

to one or more telephone units to form a branch exchange. The display may be provided as part of at least one of the 

telephone units receiving and sending data packets. The 

input device may be provided as part of the at least one of 

the telephone units receiving and sending data packets. The 

input device may then include a button positioned adjacent 

to the display with a portion of the display indicating the 

function of the button. As a further feature, or as an 

alternative, the display may be associated with a computer 

network device. The input device is provided as part of the 

computer network device. The input device may include 

web browser software operating on the computer network 

device and accessing information from the device for moni 

toring calls for showing conference call participant infor 

mation as to the telephone units participating in the confer 

ence call and for sending a command to drop any selected 

telephone unit from the conference call. 

The device for monitoring calls may be a common system 

unit connected to the telephone network or it may be 

associated with each network telephone device. A network 

call processor connected to the network may monitor data 

traffic to and from all of the plurality of network telephones. This call processor can establish a conference call including generating a list of all participants and forwarding the list to 

one or more of the network telephones in the list of all 

participants. The telephones may then send data packets as 

multicast or unicast transmissions to the network. The 

transmissions may be addressed based on the list of all 

participants. The conference call participants in the list of 

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US 7,085,364 B1 

3 

participants may include telephone units outside of the 

distributed network, connected to the distributed network 

via a line interface. These multicast or unicast transmissions 

may include transmissions addressed to the line interface. 

The network call processor connected to the network for 

monitoring data traffic to and from the network telephones 

may also establish a conference call by generating an 

identifier associated with the conference call and forwarding 

the identifier to one or more of the network telephones in the 

list of all participants. The network telephones in the list of 

all participants may then send multicast transmissions to the 

network address based on the identifier associated with the 

conference call. Telephone units outside of the distributed 

network receive and send voice data via the line interface. 

According to a further aspect of the invention, a telephone conference call process is provided including providing a 

network, providing at least three telecommunication devices 

connected to the network (e.g., directly as network tele 

phone devices or indirectly via a line card and public 

telephone network). At least one of the three telecommuni 

cation devices receives and sends packets including voice 

data. The received packets from the other participants are 

combined by the telecommunication device for concurrent 

telephonic communications and for producing an audio 

signal with the combined packets. The process forms a list 

of telecommunication devices participating in the concur 

rent telephonic communications and displays all or a part of 

the list at one of the at least three telecommunication 

devices. A user of the packet based telecommunication 

device removes one or more of the devices participating in 

the concurrent telephonic communications by selecting the 

one or more of the devices participating in the concurrent 

telephonic communications from the list. 

A preferred embodiment uses a network telephone system 

with a distributed network, a network call processor with 

data storage forming a central database with the call pro 

cessor connected to the network. A telephone line network 

interface is connected to a telephone line and is connected to 

the network for receiving packets from the network and 

sending packets to the network including packets with 

telephone voice data. A plurality of network telephones are 

part of the network telephone system with each network 

telephone connected to the network. Each network tele 

phone has a display for displaying information and each 

network telephone is capable of engaging in a concurrent 

telephonic communication. Each network telephone has an 

I/O device in electrical communication with the network for 

receiving and sending packets to other devices connected to 

the network, an input device for producing audio signals 

from an input local to the device and a packet controller in 

electrical communication with the I/O device and the input device. The packet controller generates packets from the 

audio signals received by the input device, forwards the 

generated packets to the I/O device for transmission to the 

network and combines packets received by the I/O device to 

produce an audio signal with the combined packets and the 

audio signals from the local input device. Each network 

telephone displays information on the display corresponding 

to an identity of a source of packets combined whereby the 

identity may be selected for dropping a source form a 

concurrent telephonic communication. 

The various features of novelty which characterize the 

invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims 

annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better 

understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and 

specific objects attained by its uses, reference is made to the 

10 

15 

25 

30 

35 

40 

45 

50 

55 

60 

65 

4 

accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which 

preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated. 

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 

In the drawings: 

FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing system features 

according to an embodiment of the invention; 

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing features of a network 

telephone device according to the invention; 

FIG. 3 is a cutaway top view showing a display with 

softkey display regions for keys of a network telephone for 

dropping a conference call participant; 

FIG. 4 is a view showing an example of a web browser 

software interface used at a network device; 

FIG. 5A is a first part of a flow diagram describing 

features according to a process of the invention; and 

FIG. 5B is a second part of the flow diagram of FIG. 5A 

according to a process of the invention. 

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED 

EMBODIMENTS 

Referring to the drawings in particular, the invention 

comprises a network telephone system generally designated 

1. The system includes a network call processor (NCP) 4. 

The NCP 4 monitors the network system 1. 

The telephone network system 1 is provided as part of a 

digital distributed network (e.g., a LAN) Ethernet network 

18. The network 18 comprises network media (such as 

twisted pair of various types and categories of cable, infra 

red, wireless etc.). The preferred embodiment includes 

twisted pair wiring connected via a hub/router or switch. The 

network 1 may be established using network software (NO 

VELL, WINDOWS NT, etc.) run on a server for commu 

nication between computers 42, network telephones and 

other network devices and 46 (a network device in the form 

of a local pager 46, which may be connected to the Ethernet 

network 18 to send a radio frequency signal to a local pager 

device 48). The public telephone network 30 is connected to a cellular network 50 which communicates with mobile 

phones such as mobile phone 52, other phones connected to 

the public network and other services (e.g., wide area 

paging). Although specific examples are given, various 

connections may be made to local area networks and to wide area networks. 

A preferred embodiment of the invention provides a 

network telephone system with the network telephone 

devices 20 (e.g. telephones 20 for users at a facility). In the 

embodiment shown the NCP 4 is provided in a network 

telephone system chassis 10 that provides power through 

power bus 12 and provides a network connection through 

the Ethernet network bus 14. The NCP4 is connected to the 

Ethernet network bus 14 and the power bus 12. The system 

network card 16 provides a connection 17 from the NCP 4 

to the Ethernet network 18. The network telephones 20 are 

connected to the Ethernet network 18 as network devices. A 

line card 22 is also connected to the power bus 12 and 

Ethernet bus 14. The line card 22 is connected to a public switched telephone network (PSTN or other data network) 

30 as shown at 24. Other line cards such as a digital line card 

26 may also be provided (e.g., a T1 line). The digital line 

card 26 is also connected to the public phone network or 

other data network 30 as shown at 28. The digital line card 

26 is connected to bus 14 and may also be directly connected 

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US 7,085,364 B1 

5 

to the Ethernet network 18 as shown at 32. The NCP 4 may 

also be connected directly to the Ethernet network as shown 

at 38. 

The particular arrangement shown is not critical to the 

system of the invention. Any of the units shown in the 

network telephone system chassis 10 may be provided 

separately or in combination with other network devices. 

The invention also applies to a single unit 20 having the 

capabilities noted herein and sending voice data packets 

over the internet to other telephone units to establish a 

conference call. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 system data storage 40 is provided connected to the NCP 4. The 

system data storage 40 can also be provided separately, for 

example in a network server or in combination with other 

network devices. The system 1 may also be decentralized 

with intelligent telephone units connected by a network 

(essentially moving call processor functions to the network 

telephone devices 20). 

With a system having a main control processor 4, this 

NCP 4 may be connected to multiple data storage facilities. 

The NCP 4 may be a stand alone unit or it may be in the 

same chassis as cards 16, 26 and 22, or NCP 4 may be 

provided with the server. 

The NCP 4 monitors telephone network traffic and other 

network features. The processor cooperates to establish 

conference calls and establishes system user data. The 

processor may also monitor other network functions or may receive packets from other network control devices relating 

to network functions such as status, errors, faults etc. The 

NCP 4 may use the direct connection 38 to the Ethernet 

network 18 via a MAC device and physical interface. As an 

alternative to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the NCP 4 

may be directly connected to the server which itself is 

connected to the Ethernet network 18. The data storage 40 

may be connected to the server. 

FIG. 2 shows features of a network telephone unit 20. The 

network telephone 20 includes a packet controller 60 for 

receiving packets, sending packets and forwarding packets 

received from the network 1 to an associated network device 

42, when the packet is addressed to the associated device 42. 

The device 20 may be used such that multiple collision 

domains may be provided. Two different collision domains 

(using CSMA/CD) are established in the example, one at the 

side of the computer system 42 and one at the network 1 (this 

is explained in application Ser. Nos. 09/204,102: 09/203, 

542; and 09/204,107, which are hereby incorporated by 

reference). The network telephones may be provided as 

described in U.S. application Ser. No. 09/204,102; and/or 

U.S. application Ser. No. 09/203.542; and/or U.S. applica 

tion Ser. No. 09/204,107. The network device may also be 

a remote device connected to the NCP4 and other telephone units. For conference calls, the members may be connected 

over one or more network (e.g., more than one Ethernet 

collision domain) including connections by public telephone 

lines and the Internet (e.g., conference members across one 

or more IP router). According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, 

the network telephone 20 includes a base unit with handset. 

Basic function keys (numbers etc.) may be provided (e.g/, on 

the handset or on the base). The network telephone 20 has 

a connection to the Ethernet type network 18 discussed 

above. Each unit 20 has at least a MAC device 62 connecting 

the unit via a physical interface 64 to the network 18. 

Preferably another MAC device 66 is provided connecting 

the unit via physical interface 68 to an associated network 

device 42. Such as a network interface card of a computer 

system 42. Packets are sent and received over the network 

10 

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30 

35 

40 

45 

50 

55 

60 

65 

6 

18 and packets are sent and forwarded to the computer 

system 42 via the packet controller 60 from the network 18 

or packets are forwarded from the computer system 42 via 

the packet controller 60 to the network 18. A memory 70 is 

provided whereby packets can be queued as shown at 72 for 

play out, for mixing or some other memory functions can be 

provided. A local input 74 in the form of a microphone is 

provided in the handset with an analog to digital converter 

device 76 providing the local input to the packet controller 

60. At the output side a digital to analog converter device 78 

converts packets to audio signals which are amplified at 

amplifier80 and produced at local output (speaker) 82. The 

network telephone 20 includes input/output control circuitry 

84 for controlling a display 94 as well as for receiving input 

signals from keys such as keys 86, 88 and 90 via connection 

circuitry 92 (see FIG. 3). The display 94 is preferably a 

liquid crystal display (LCD). The packet controller 60 may 

include a timer, a digital signal processor (DSP), a processor 

(e.g., an ARM processor), a direct memory access (DMA) 

controller, control circuitry, an address table, and a memory 

controller coupled to each other by a signal bus. The DSP is 

in electrical communication with the A/D device 78 via a 

signal path and in electrical communication with D/A device 

78 via a signal path. The memory controller is in electrical 

communication with the memory 70 by signal lines. The 

DMA controller is in electrical communication with the 

MAC devices 62, 66 by signal lines. The address table stores 

addresses that are of importance to the network telephone 

20. Examples of such addresses include the address of the 

other network telephones 20, or network devices (e.g., line 

card 26, 22 connecting to telephones via outside lines or 

internet connection IP address) for a call or a conference 

call, or an identifier for a conference call, and a general 

broadcast address. 

In operation, a network is established with a processor 4 

monitoring some network system attributes and receiving 

signals from other network devices. Calls are initiated by 

users at the user telephone network devices 20 under the 

control of the NCP 4. The NCP 4 establishes a user database 

with system memory or system data storage facility 40 as 

indicated at 89 in FIG. 4. The data can include system user 

preferences such as the allocation of actuation key functions 

on the user's network telephone unit 20. The database may include other preferences such as ring tones, speaker phone 

use, message preferences and other features. The data par 

ticularly includes names, addresses and associated telephone 

numbers or other connection data including numbers or 

addresses. 

The units 20 function like an ordinary PBX type tele 

phone. A telephone call from the outside telephone line is 

either sent directly to the unit 20 or it is sent to the unit 20 

via another network device acting as an operator (this is 

either with human intervention oran automatic system). The 

NCP 4 monitors and controls voice packets and sends 

control packets to the network telephone units 20. When the 

user takes the handset into an off hook condition, the packet controller 22 begins receiving voice packets which are 

queued in a queue 72 and are sent to the speaker 82 after 

digital signal processing, at the DSP, if necessary. The signal 

is converted at D/A converter device 78, it is amplified at the 

amp 80 before being output at the speaker 82. The device 20 

also provides the ability to engage in a conference call by combining received packets. A page or further input may 

also be combined from another device connected to the local 

telephone network 10. 

The NCP 4 maintains state information for all devices 

(network telephones and interface devices cards connected 

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7 

to PCs attached to the network) in the telephone network. 

When a call is made from a network telephone 20, each digit 

that is pressed is sent to the NCP. The NCP collects the digits 

and, using an internal dial plan, determines how to route the 

call (internal call, external call, etc.). In addition, the NCP 4 

may be used to record the dialed number and store it in a 

database in storage 96 where it can be accessed later via the 

phone's LCD 94 or via the Web Based interface 100. 

The user of the network telephone device 20 can engage 

in a conference call (i.e., a conversation with users of two or 

more other telephone sets connected to the network 1). The 

other telephone sets may be network telephone devices 20 in 

the telephone network system 1. The other telephone sets 

may also be remote telephone sets connected to the tele 

phone network system 1 via a line card 22 or some other 

connection to another network (e.g., the public phone net 

work, a wireless network, the internet, etc). From audio 

signals produced by the user, the network telephone device 

20 generates packets including voice data. The network 

telephone device 20 then transmits the generated packets to 

the network 12. 

In one embodiment, each telephone set involved in the 

conference call receives a list of all participants at the start 

of the conference call. This list may be generated by the NCP 

4. This list of participants can be generated prior to the start 

of the conference call and can change as participants are 

added or dropped. The network telephone device 20 gener 

ates a unicast packet for each other telephone set on the list 

of participants. For example, when the network telephone 

device 20 is engaged in a conference call with two other 

participants, the network telephone device 20 generates two 

unicast packets having the same voice data and the network 

telephone device 20 as the source address. The destination 

address in one of the two unicast packets is the address of 

one of the two other telephone sets, and the destination 

address in the second unicast packet is the other of the two 

other telephone sets. The address may be the line card 22 

(for connection via an outside line to a remote telephone 

set). Several of the conference call participants may be 

remote telephone sets connected to the telephone network 

system 1 via a line card 22 or some other connection Such 

as digital line card 26. 

When the network call processor 4 forwards the list of 

conference call participants to a network telephone device 

20, the network telephone device 20 (or other connected 

network device 42) uses the list for information for a display 

as shown in FIG. 3. If participants drop out of the conference 

call, the NCP 4 updates the list such that the display 94 can 

be updated. Depending upon the system settings a user of the 

network telephone device 20 can drop one or more of the 

conference participants. Further, control of the ability to 

drop or add participants can be selected and even changed 

during a conference call. For example, extension 101 can 

initiate the call and include two other participants from the 

telephone network system 1 and two other participants using 

outside lines connected to one or more line card 22. The user 

at extension 101 uses the conference feature to select the 

outside lines, make the connection as well as to select the 

other extensions to make the connection and join the parties 

in a conference call. The control of the other telephone sets, which are participating, may Subsequently be given to 

extension 127. Participant 127 may then drop extension 101 

or drop one of the participants from the outside lines or 

otherwise have control of participants (other participants 

may be joined). 

Various options may be provided. The display 94 pro 

vided on the telephone unit 20 preferably includes soft keys 

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35 

40 

45 

50 

55 

60 

65 

8 

89 and associated buttons 88 for making selections and for 

control of the content of the display. Pressing button 88 

under “select can be used to open further a display screen 

(a window) whereby further actions may be taken such as 

dropping the participant from the conference participants. 

The system may allow other actions such as dropping two 

participants to form a separate call or droping three partici 

pants from the conference participants wherein these three 

participants form a further conference call. 

The ability to drop any of the conference participants is 

only limited in situations where the conference call is 

initiated at a telephone set outside of the telephone network 

system 1, in which case conference participants in the 

already established conference call cannot be dropped by the 

user of the telephone unit 20. However, where a conference 

call is originated by a telephone set outside of the telephone 

network system 1, the user of the telephone unit 20, or even 

Some other network device 42 can be given rights to drop 

one or more of the participants which are part of the 

telephone network system 1. In such a case a signal may be 

sent to the network call processor 4 to disconnect one or 

more of the telephone units 20 (e.g., by dropping the unit 

from the list of participants) from the conference call con 

nected to an outside line by a line card 22. 

In another embodiment according to the invention, at the 

start of the conference call, each telephone set receives an 

identifier associated with the conference call. This identifier 

can be generated prior to the start of the conference call by 

the NCP4 and can change during the conference call (when 

participants change or for other reasons). The network 

telephone device 20 generates multi-cast packets that 

include the identifier associated with the conference call. In 

each multi-cast packet, the network telephone device 20 is 

the source address and the identifier can be the destination 

address. 

The network telephone device 20 combines only those 

packets from telephone sets known to be engaged in the 

conference call. For unicast packets, the source address of 

the received packets can be compared against the list of 

participants. For multi-cast packets, the identifier can indi 

cate whether the packet came from a participant of the 

conference call. 

According to this further embodiment, a line card 22, or 

other connection to outside networks, such as digital line 

card 26, also prepares multicast packets with the identifier. 

This can indicate that the packet comes from a participant of 

the conference call. The NCP 4 may selectively be used to 

provide a list of participants to any network device Such as 

network telephone unit 20 or even computer 42 whereby the 

user of the network device can select participants and then 

drop participants of the conference call. 

In both of the embodiments noted above, when the 

network telephone device 20 receives a packet, the network 

telephone device 20 determines that the packet came from a 

participant in the conference call, produces audio signals corresponding to the Voice data in the packet, and outputs 

the audio signals to the handset (or speaker). When multiple 

packets arrive at a telephone set from different sources, that 

telephone set combines the received packets and outputs 

audio signals corresponding to the Voice data of the com 

bination. The network telephone device 20 can combine 

packets received from other telephone sets with packets 

generated by the network telephone device 20 from locally 

received audio signals (i.e., from the local input 74). 

To produce the combination, the network telephone 

device 20 can combine the voice data of the received packets 

or select for processing (i.e., producing audio signals from 

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the Voice data packets) one or more of the packets according 

to some predetermined criteria. One criterion can be to 

process the packet with the Voice data having the highest 

volume (i.e., loudest). The telephone device 20 can discard 

or forward unused voice data packets. The telephone device 

20 can also combine voice data packets along with Sound 

data which can be heard only by the user of the telephone 

device 20. This can be for example a tone to indicate that 

another call is come in or it may be a synthetic voice 

announcing the addition or drop of a conference participant. 

Other features include a timing tone to indicate elapsed time 

or even an interrupting voice data packet from another 

telephone device 20 (assistant device) or from an outside SOUC. 

One or more members of the conference call may drop a 

member of a conference call preferably by asking if the party initiating the drop if they are sure they would like to drop the 

party they just selected to drop. If the user confirms, then the 

party being dropped should ideally be notified just before 

being dropped that they will be dropped in a few seconds. 

These few seconds can be used up by the user confirming the 

drop. All conference members using system features of the 

invention see on their LCD 94 (or other display) the mem 

bers of the Conference call and/or users who are not a 

member of the conference call. The LCD on the device 20 

is preferably large enough to display, if not all, most of the 

parties of the conference call. The list of users is tied with 

the user associated with the particular device 20 or outside 

line, or other connection. All members have a marker on the 

LCD beside their name and an extension identifier identi 

fying them as the members associated with the user of that 

device. The identifier identifying is then used to indicate 

permission to drop. 

The invention addresses the most annoying feature in 

today’s conference call by allowing members to know who 

all of the members are on the call at any given moment. The 

invention may be provided with a very large and advanced 

GUI on the LCD or display of an associated computer. 

Information is stored with the NCP about the ownership of 

conference call members, i.e. who added them to the call and 

as a result who has permission to remove them from the call. 

Information is stored about the sequence of the members 

who joined a conference call. Information is maintained 

with regard to the order in which each member has entered 

the conference call. This facilitates the system prioritization 

of the members if required. This is particularly beneficial in 

a situation where there are limited resources when calling 

over a bridge into a conference call and there are only a 

specified number of resources (ports) to dial into. In Such a 

situation the call originator may wish to drop a party who's 

been on the call for a long time and introduce a more 

important member to the conference call. Maintaining the 

sequential order of conference call members joining is 

beneficial when a blind drop is made (as in prior art 

telephone systems) or where the LIFO (Last In First Out) 

scheme is used to drop members. The order and identity as 

well as other information may be used for dynamic call 

conference management. 

The user does not have to enter his/her user profile (such 

as their name, number, phone's MAC address etc.). The 

system handles this automatically once the member joins the 

conference call. For callers that are internal, the system has 

all the pertinent information to display anything ranging 

from the user phone's MAC address, the phone extension, 

the full name of the user and any other relevant information. 

This is possible when implementing the system using a 

UML (Unified Modeling Language) based real-time object 

10 

15 

25 

30 

35 

40 

45 

50 

55 

60 

65 

10 

oriented modeling tool for the call processing/control sys 

tem. The external conference call participants may also be 

managed using caller ID information, IP address information 

or stored numbers from past calls made (and IP addresses 

from past connections made via IP routers). 

Other ways of providing a conference drop include using Voice recognition whereby a user can e.g., say drop 7677 

and the system will translate this information into a signal that triggers the NCP to initiate the process of dropping 

extension 7677 from the conference call. 

Another alternative way of dropping uses touch sensitive 

screens on the phone or connected computer device whereby 

all conference call members are listed on the LCD 94 display of the phone and instead of pressing a conference drop 

button, the user may select a member on the screen by a 

simple touch of the screen. This will send the signal to the 

NCP to check if this person is allowed to drop this party and 

if so, drop him/her from the call and update the LCD display. 

The conference drop feature may also be provided via a 

web interface (browser). The system supports a web browser 

called NetSet that gives administrators and user access to 

system settings and configurations. Advanced Conference 

Drop is then tailored to work in tandem with this UI. One 

can either be logged into the web interface as a user or as an 

administrator. The behavior for both should be the same, for 

the most part. However the administrator should have some 

extra permissions, for example, maybe to drop any member 

on the conference call. The user can only drop those whom 

they added or have a drop preivilidge value assigned to 

assign drop rights. 

The procedure is as follows: The user logs into the web 

interface using a password and user ID. The user pulls up a 

Conference Call List tab. This tab?window displays all 

members of the conference call in the order that they joined 

or any order that should be able to be user configurable. All 

members whom the browser has permission to drop are 

uniquely identified by a unique marker (either a star, or a 

different colored font or larger font etc.). The user selects a 

member by clicking on a conference call member and 

pushes a drop button on the web page. A new screen pops-up with the presenting one of the following options: 

a. Are you sure you want to drop this member? 

b. ERROR! “Not Allowed to drop this member. 

When a user confirms according to option (a) that yes, 

they intend to drop that member from the call, a second 

window pops-up prompting the user the following options. 

A. Notify member that he will be dropped? 

B. Play audible beep warning to everyone to notify them 

that someone has exited the conference call as a result of 

being dropped. 

Update display (e.g., the LCDs 94) on ALL the conference 

call members phones by removing the user who just got 

dropped from the list. 

An example of the web page preferably lists all members 

in the conference call. The users tab may be a Conference 

Call Users’ tab listing all members just as they are shown 

here in our current existing web interface for the NBX 

system. 

As shown in FIG. 4 the NCP 4 web browser Software 

interface 100 (e.g., NETSCAPE or MICROSOFT 

EXPLORER) is established on at least one network device 

42. The browser software 100 provides access with the 

network device 42 by entering the NCP/database location in 

the browser location window or “go to window. This 

address is established with respect to the NCP4 and the data 

storage. The browser 100 then accesses the web pages (e.g. 

HTML pages) 91 set up on the system (saved in the central 

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database on storage 40). Some of the content is provided with the system while other data is entered into the system 

after installation. Upon accessing the web pages, the user 

can then enter preferences, enter data, revise data which is 

provided and revise old data as shown at 95. This allows the 

user to add names, telephone numbers, addresses and other 

information. The web browser software interface 100 can 

receive a list 93 of conference call participants. The user can 

then use the interface to select a conference call participant 

and then drop the selected participant. In FIG. 4, the web 

browser interface screen is shown with “User Configura 

tion' written on the tab of the window, in the case of 

Advanced Conference Drop, there would be a similar tab 

with a label saying “Conference Call Members’. 

FIGS. 5a and 5b show a flow chart of a conference call 

setup with advanced conference drop according to the 

invention. In this example U1, U2 and U3 are either other 

telephone units 20 in the system or are parties reached 

through outside lines through one of the line cards. But other 

connections are possible. Further, obviously either party 

could initiate a conference call and various combinations are 

possible generally following the procedure shown in 5a and 

Sb. 

The conference call is initiated at 500 with U1 dialing U2. 

U2 answers at 502. At step 504 U1 and U2 are in a point to 

point call. Either party may then press the conference button 

or send a code representing pressing the conference button on one of the units 20. At 508 U2 enters the extension of the 

party to be conferenced in or some other address or outside 

line phone number to establish the conference call. The 

process can consider whether the conference is to be a blind 

or a screened conference at step 510. In the case of a 

screened conference at 511 all parties are still in conference 

while the originator (person originating the conference call) 

is hearing a ring from the extension number that is trying to 

be conferenced in. This is indicated at step 512. Of course 

if the party does not answer at 520 the caller however goes 

to a machine or Voice mail or some other type of coverage 

at 522 and the originator U2 decides either to leave a 

message or disconnect at 524. 

For the party answers as indicated at 514 the originator hits the conference button again Such that all parties join the 

conference call as indicated at 516. Parties U1, U2, and U3 are all in conference as indicated at 518. In the case of a 

blind conference as indicated at 530 the originator U2 hits 

“conference again as indicated at 532. Again it is consid 

ered whether the party answers or not at 534 and a confer ence is established at 518. 

During the course of the call a user (user U1, U2, U3 . . . Un) may attempt to make a conference drop. This is 

accomplished by scrolling through a list either on the LCD 

94 or on an associated computer, the list comprising infor 

mation as to the conference call members. The information 

may obviously be simple numbers but may also be names 

depending upon the information collected as to the particular 

connection. At step 538 it is considered whether the user has 

permission to drop the particular member. The connections 

table established by the NCP is then queried to see if the 

particular person has ownership rights or conference control 

rights of the particular member for which a drop is 

requested. Based on the software established or even the 

limitations of a particular user (not having a display or an 

interface for making the conference drop) the drop is denied 

at 540 and as shown at step 542 the users are all still in the 

conference call. 

If a particular user that requests a conference drop has 

rights to do this, the process proceeds as indicated at 544 

10 

15 

25 

30 

35 

40 

45 

50 

55 

60 

65 

12 

where a party is dropped. Preferably some information is 

provided to indicate that someone has exited the conference 

call. This may simply be via the display 94 or computer 

interface (other wireless or other interface) thereby an 

indication is provided visually that someone has left the 

conference call. Of course an audio signal may also be 

provided including a voice synthesized Voice indicating the 

name of the person who has left the conference call. The 

process proceeds at 546 where it is considered whether the 

number of parties in the present call are greater than two 

(does a conference call still exist?). If a conference call does 

not exist the call proceeds at 548 back to a point to point call. 

At 550 it is considered whether less than two parties are on 

the call. In Such case the call is broken down as indicated at 

552. If sufficient members of a conference call still exist, the 

conference call continues an a list of users in the conference 

is updated by System software Such as operated through the 

NCP such that the users of the system have displays which 

reflect the most up to date participants as indicated at 554. 

The invention provides various possibilities with regards 

to a system that provides all traditional features of a PBX 

system as well as the potential for interconnections includ 

ing sending Voice packets over IP routers for connection to 

remote users of a telephone device 20 or a similar device. 

Various different possibilities of conference calls with users 

at a location of the NCP as well as users connected to the 

NCP through various sources are possible. The invention 

does contemplate conference calls primarily using the inter 

connected devices 20 wherein if all conference users are 

external to the system (the last link through a line card to a 

user 20 is disconnected), the conference call would end, unless an appropriate substitute control facility is provided. 

While specific embodiments of the invention have been 

shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of 

the principles of the invention, it will be understood that the 

invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from Such principles. 

What is claimed is: 

1. A conference call telephone system, comprising: 

one or more network; 

three or more telephone units interconnected by said one 

or more network to provide three or more participants 

of a conference call, at least one of said telephone units 

receiving and sending data packets including voice data 

packets; 

a display connected to at least one of said telephone units 

or forming a part of at least one of said telephone units: 

a device for monitoring calls of at least one of said 

telephone units to provide data to said display for 

showing conference call participant information as to 

the telephone units participating in the conference call; 

an input device associated with said display for selecting 

any of the telephone units from the conference call 

participant information and dropping the selected tele 

phone unit from the conference call. 

2. A conference call telephone system according to claim 

1, wherein at least two of said three or more telephone units 

receive and send data packets including voice data packets. 

3. A conference call telephone system according to claim 

1, further comprising a telephone line network interface, 

said one or more network including a first network con 

nected to said at least one of said telephone units receiving and sending data packets and connected to said telephone 

line network interface for receiving data packets including 

packets with telephone voice data, said one or more network 

including a public telephone network, said telephone line 

network interface being connected to said public telephone 

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network to establish one or more line connections to one or 

more telephone units to form a branch exchange. 

4. A conference call telephone system according to claim 

1, wherein said display is provided as part of at least one of 

said telephone units receiving and sending data packets and 

said input device is provided as part of at least one of said 

telephone units receiving and sending data packets. 

5. A conference call telephone system according to claim 

4, wherein said input device includes a button positioned adjacent to said display and a portion of said display 

indicating the function of said button. 

6. A conference call telephone system according to claim 

1, wherein said display is a display associated with a 

computer network device, and said input device is provided 

as part of said computer network device. 

7. A conference call telephone system according to claim 

6, wherein said input device includes web browser software 

operating on said computer network device. 

8. A network telephone system comprising: 

a distributed network; 

a plurality of network telephones, each network telephone 

being connected to said distributed network, each net 

work telephone having a display for displaying infor 

mation, each network telephone being capable of 

engaging in a concurrent telephonic communication 

with two or more of said plurality of network tele 

phones to establish a conference call, each of said 

plurality of network telephones including an I/O device 

in electrical communication with the network for 

receiving and sending packets to other devices con 

nected to the network and a packet controller in elec 

trical communication with the I/O device and the input device, the packet controller combining packets 

received by the I/O device: 

a display connected to or associated with at least one of 

said plurality of network telephones: 

an input device connected to or associated with said 

display, said display displaying all or part of a list on 

said display corresponding to an identity of each Source 

of packets combined whereby an identity may be 

Selected for dropping a source, thereby dropping a 

participant from the conference call. 

9. A conference call telephone system according to claim 

8, further comprising a telephone line network interface for 

receiving data packets including packets with telephone 

Voice data and being connected to a public telephone net 

work to establish one or more line connections to one or 

more telephone units to form a branch exchange. 

10. A conference call telephone system according to claim 

9, further comprising a network call processor connected to 

said distributed network for monitoring data traffic to and 

from said plurality of network telephones, said call proces 

Sor establishing a conference call including generating a list 

of all participants and forwarding the list to one or more of 

said plurality of network telephones in said list of all 

participants for sending multicast or unicast transmissions to 

the network address based on said list of all participants. 11. A conference call telephone system according to claim 

10, wherein the conference call participants in said list of 

participants include telephone units outside of said distrib 

uted network, connected to said distributed network via said 

line interface, said multicast or unicast transmissions includ 

ing transmissions addressed to said line network interface. 

12. A conference call telephone system according to claim 

10, further comprising a network call processor connected to 

said distribution network for monitoring data traffic to and 

from said plurality of network telephones, said call proces 

10 

15 

25 

30 

35 

40 

45 

50 

55 

60 

65 

14 

Sor establishing a conference call including generating an 

identifier associated with the conference call and forwarding 

the identifier to one or more of said plurality of network 

telephones in said list of all participants for sending multi 

cast transmissions to the network address based on said 

identifier associated with the conference call. 

13. A conference call telephone system according to claim 

12, wherein the conference call participants of said identifier 

associated with the conference call includes telephone units 

outside of said distributed network, connected to said dis 

tributed network via said line interface, unicast transmis 

sions including transmissions addressing said line network 

interface. 

14. A conference call telephone system according to claim 

8, wherein said display is provided as part of at least one of 

said network telephones receiving and sending data packets 

and said input device is provided as part of at least one of 

said network telephones receiving and sending data packets, 

wherein said input device includes a button positioned adjacent to said display and a portion of said display 

indicating the function of said button. 

15. A conference call telephone system according to claim 

8, wherein said display is a display associated with a 

computer network device, and said input device is provided 

as part of said computer network device and includes web 

browser Software operating on said computer network 

device. 

16. A telephone conference call process, comprising the 

steps of 

providing a network; 

providing at least three telecommunication devices con 

nected to the network; 

receiving and sending packets from each device to other 

devices connected to the network by one of a network 

connection associated with the telecommunication 

device and an interface to the network via a public 

network or the internet; 

combining packets received by the telecommunication 

devices for a concurrent telephonic communications 

and producing an audio signal with the combined 

packets; 

forming a list of telecommunication devices participating 

in the concurrent telephonic communications and dis 

playing all or a part of the list at one of said at least 

three telecommunication devices; and 

removing one or more of the devices participating in the 

concurrent telephonic communications by selecting the 

one or more of the devices participating in the concur 

rent telephonic communications from said list. 

17. A network telephone system comprising: 

a distributed network; 

a network call processor with data storage forming a 

central database, said call processor being connected to 

said distributed network; 

a telephone line network interface connected to a tele 

phone line and connected to said distributed network 

for receiving packets from said distributed network and 

sending packets to said distributed network including 

packets with telephone voice data; 

a plurality of network telephones, each network telephone 

being connected to said distributed network, each net 

work telephone having a display for displaying infor 

mation, each network telephone being capable of 

engaging in a concurrent telephonic communication 

and including: 

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an I/O device in electrical communication with the dis- may be selected for dropping a source form a concur 

tributed network for receiving and sending packets to rent telephonic communication. 

other devices connected to the network; 18. A telephone system according to claim 17, wherein: 

an input device for producing audio signals from an input said identity is different than an identity of a respective 

local to the device; 5 said network phone. 

a packet controller in electrical communication with the 19. A conference call telephone system according to claim 

I/O device and the input device, the packet controller 8, wherein: 

generating packets from the audio signals received by said identity is different than an identity of a respective 

the input device, forwarding the generated packets to said network phone. 

the I/O device for transmission to the network com- 10 20. A telephone conference call system according to claim 

bining packets received by the I/O device and produc- 8, wherein: 

ing an audio signal with the combined packets and the said removing includes selectively removing any one of 

audio signals from the local input device and display said devices. 

information on a display corresponding to an identity of a source of packets combined whereby said identity k . . . . 

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