Abstract:
A method for configuring a network device is provided comprising connecting the device to a local area network that is connected to a wide area network and detecting that the device has not been configured. The method also comprises accessing within the device a pre-defined address of a configuration server located on the wide area network and sending a configuration request for a service. The configuration request is sent from the telephone to the configuration server. The configuration request includes a network identifier locating the device on the local area network within the wide area network. The method also comprises receiving the configuration request at the configuration server and preparing a configuration profile for the device at the configuration server. The configuration profile includes i) a service address for the device, ii) a wide are network address for a service provider that will provide the service. The method also comprises sending the profile to the device from the configuration server activating the profile in the device such that the device is configured access the service via the service provider.

Description:
FIELD 
       [0001]    The present specification relates generally to computing devices and more specifically relates to the configuration of end-user devices such as telecommunications devices, Internet Protocol (“IP”) telephony devices and other systems. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Those skilled in the art of IP telephony are well aware that “The Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is an application-layer control (signaling) protocol for creating, modifying, and terminating sessions with one or more participants. These sessions include Internet telephone calls, multimedia distribution, and multimedia conferences,” (See Request for Comments: 3261 (RFC 3261 at http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3261) from the Internet Engineering Task Force (“IETF”) www.ietf.org) SIP can provide a signaling and call setup protocol for IP-based communications able to support at least some of the call processing functions and features of the public switched telephone netvork (“PSTN”) as well as many advanced Web-based features, 
         [0003]    Much work has been done on SIP since RFC 3261. See for example the Internet-draft entitled  A Framework for Session Initiation Protocol User Agent Profile Delivery  at http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-sipping-config-framework-12 by Petrie et al. (“Petrie”). Petrie describes configuration scenarios for a number of important system architectures (See for example “Simple Deployment Scenario” Section 4.1 of Petrie and “Device supporting multiple users from different Service Providers” Section 4.2 of Petrie). These scenarios are all addressed from the viewpoint and necessary relationships for the end point being configured and simplifying assumptions are made regarding availability of configured network elements to assist in the process, 
         [0004]    There are many shortcomings to Petrie for at least some applications and environments. Petrie does not discuss necessary relationships between the configuration servers shown in  FIG. 1  of Petrie and the business entities supplying them. Importantly, Petrie: a) assumes specifically configured network infrastructure in the user&#39;s location for the end-user devices (end points) to become configured, b) assumes a prior relationship between the user&#39;s network or that of their access provider and either the device provider (i.e. the device vendor) or the service provider (i.e. the provider of the voice or other media communication service), and c) does not allow for end points to be directed to one of many possible service providers based on devices manufactured or distributed by a single device vendor. 
         [0005]    Petrie is also not generally suitable for configuration of a Voice over IP (“voIP”) network in a residential or small business establishment, and is not readily applicable to remote and branch office, as well as teleworking scenarios in a larger enterprise. Petrie assumes that the local network is managed by trained personnel, which is something that cannot be assumed for the home or small office market, nor can it be assumed in smaller branch offices of a larger enterprise. 
         [0006]    Petrie describes three sources of configuration information as shown in  FIG. 1  of Petrie. The SIP Service Provider supplies information (feature subscriptions etc) that is specific to the individual user. The Device Provider provides information that is specific to the device. The Local Network Provider provides information that guides the device in the use of the local network. Petrie assumes that the local network is owned by the provider of this information and will set constraints on its use (e.g. bandwidth limitations on a local WiFi hot spot in a coffee shop). 
         [0007]    Section 5.1.1.1 of Petrie describes in considerable detail how the device will obtain the required local network configuration profile. This will be obtained from a local Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (“DHCP”) server or through the use of a locally relevant Domain Name Service (“DNS”), The local DHCP and DNS server in Petrie will, in practice, need to be updated by trained personnel. No such personnel can be assumed to exist in the small business, home or small branch office markets. 
         [0008]    Section 5.1.1.2 and its subsections of Petrie describe similar processes for obtaining a device configuration profile. Again, assumptions are made regarding the availability of configured network resources to assist in this process that are invalid for small unmanaged network environments or impose significant deployment constraints on their applicability. In the case of device profiles, multiple possible methods are described in Petrie. 
         [0009]    In the first method, service provider or device manufacturer pre-configured information is used to locate the device profile server, which is functional, however presumes a pre-existing relationship between the device manufacturer and service provider in order to bring the device fully into service. No such relationship may exist, or multiple such relationships may exist (one device provider to many possible service providers, or many device providers to one service provider), either of which is ambiguous, hence final configuration cannot be immediately completed. 
         [0010]    In a second method, it is assumed that a device profile can be located using the local network domain (supplied by DHCP) to locate the device profile server, i.e. the device profile server is in the provided local domain. Either in the local network or in the access network (e.g. the Internet Service Provide (“ISP”)), both DHCP and DNS servers would need to be configured to provide correct information for the location of the device profile server. This assumes there is a pre-existing relationship either between the local network administrator and the entity that manages the device profile server (likely the local network is effectively unmanaged in a small network environment), or there is a relationship between the user&#39;s access network (e.g. ISP) and that entity—no such relationships can be assumed (i.e. the network access and device maintainer are not in general related to each other in any way). 
         [0011]    The third method is manual configuration, which implies some level of user knowledge and interaction, and is not auto-configuration at all. 
         [0012]    In general, Petrie is not adequate for the small business and home systems of interest to this disclosure, and is also not readily applicable to a wide range of branch office and teleworking scenarios in larger enterprises. Petrie assumes that the local network will be of some sophistication. Petrie assumes that the local network has been configured with a domain identifier for example. Petrie assumes that the local DHCP server has been set up to contain this information. Pertinent to this is the implicit assumption that there are personnel responsible for the site that have the skills to set up a DHCP and/or DNS servers in specifically required ways. 
         [0013]    Petrie also assumes a pre-existing relationship between local network and the entity which maintains the device profile server, or between the user&#39;s access network and that entity. While sometimes viable (e.g. the ISP is also the device maintainer and the voice service provider), these assumptions are not true in the general case (all three entities may be unrelated). Even if such relationships could be set up, they would grow extremely complex and onerous over time, due to the highly distributed, global, and ever changing nature of Internet-based systems. 
         [0014]    Further to this, Petrie assumes that the local network is supplied with a SIP proxy server which is able to handle issues with firewall and Network Address Translation (“NAT”) in order to make contact with outside SIP facilities. This will also not be true in the general case, particularly in home and small business environments. 
         [0015]    In the home and small business situation, none of these assumptions are necessarily valid. The operative assumption is that a naive user will buy a device (SIP telephone etc.) at a consumer-level store (e.g. big box electronics outlet), or be shipped a generic device by a service provider or device provider, take it home or to the small business, and plug it into their own network. They will expect the device to function as intended without delay and without any training that cannot be obtained from a brief instruction sheet. Any requirement that the user possess or obtain specialized skills will make these devices commercially unattractive. 
         [0016]    in addition to the requirements on the local network, Petrie is silent on how the location of the SIP Service provider configuration server is found. It is assumed that this is somehow configured. 
         [0017]    A problem addressed by Peterie is the configuration of SIP User Agents (UA) (devices such as IP telephones, softphone clients on PCs etc), Petrie envisages this to be taking place on the LAN within a business or other institution, in residential small networks, or in public “hotspots” and similar. When these devices are first installed, they must be supplied with some initial configuration information. This can include (not limited to): An updated software load; Initial configuration of soft keys and other optional controls and displays and importantly for this disclosure, the location of the SIP proxy server. Petrie calls this the Discovery and Enrollment phases. The UAs will receive most of their configuration information by use of SIP Subscribe/Notify interactions with the configuration server shown  FIG. 1  of the Petrie draft. The Petrie Draft recommends that this server be given the well-known SIP user id of “_sipuaconfig”. They will issue Subscribe messages for their desired configuration and receive them by the corresponding Notification. 
         [0018]    This interaction requires that the UAs be aware of the address and port of the Configuration Server. Petrie describes several possible methods including manual loading. However, the method that Petrie foresees as being most commonly used is that of DHCP. DHCP is commonly used to provide UAs with the address of the SIP Proxy server (logically different from and not necessarily the same as the desired configuration server). The port number used on the Proxy server may be added to the DHCP server as an optional extension. With the address of the proxy server, the port number and the well-known user id of the configuration server, the configuration server&#39;s SIP URI can be constructed. A similar alternate to this uses DNS lookup, based on DHCP-supplied “local domain”, to attempt to locate the desired configuration server in the local domain. With this information the UAs can attempt to interact with the Configuration Server, 
         [0019]    The Petrie solution is characterized by: 
         [0020]    Taking place in the LAN environment (behind the firewall and/or NAT) of a single enterprise or institution, or in some other managed environment, 
         [0021]    The local network is prepared for its operation in that the DHCP and DNS servers are configured to supply the proper information and that a configuration server is supplied and properly registered with the locally known SIP proxy. 
         [0022]    There are trained personnel servicing the network. For example, to update the DHCP server with the optional extension including the port address of the Proxy server and/or DNS entries for the configuration server, and to ensure the configuration server is known to the Proxy server. 
         [0023]    The devices on the LAN have been configured by a single entity (a single vendor such as the local system manager, a value-added reseller or a manufacturer) and as such are adapted to work together. 
         [0024]    If the configuration server is in a foreign network (not the same as the local network), information for the configuration server can be known to the local administration, and can be configured successfully in the local network, or is configured in the access network to which the local network is connected. This assumes a prior arrangement between the local or access network and the network(s) hosting the configuration servers. 
         [0025]    There are several drawbacks and limitations to this approach, as discussed above and there are other drawbacks and limitations that will now occur to those skilled in the art. 
         [0026]    Current VoIP service providers such as Vonage or Skype use proprietary devices. Vonage supplies a specific piece of hardware that connects standard telephones to its VoIP network, Skype supplies a software client that operates on standard personal computers. However these solutions are operable on only the networks supplied by these providers. The systems are self-configuring because of this limitation. One deficiency of these systems is that users cannot buy equipment from a provider of their choice and attach it to these networks, 
       SUMMARY 
       [0027]    This specification describes the dynamic configuration of SIP end points although there is nothing in the specification that precludes the same techniques from being used for the configuration of other types of devices or using other network technologies. 
         [0028]    This specification discusses a system architecture that Petrie does not discuss and necessary relationships between the configuration servers shown in  FIG. 1  of Petrie and the business entities supplying them. Importantly, the present specification does not assume configured network infrastructure in the users location to become configured, does not assume any prior relationship between the user&#39;s network or their access provider and either the device provider or the service provider, and allows for end points to be directed to one of many possible service providers based on devices manufactured or distributed by a single device vendor. 
         [0029]    This specification describes the configuration of a VoIP network in a residential or small business establishment, and is also readily applicable to remote and branch office, as well as teleworking scenarios in a larger enterprise. 
         [0030]    The same techniques described here may also be readily applicable to a wide range of larger enterprise market, wishing to reduce their administrative overhead or use a hosted VoIP service rather than a service they maintain themselves. 
         [0031]    Although the emphasis in this specification is on the small business and home market, the teaching herein can also be useful for branch office and teleworker applications in large enterprise applications. Devices can be configured on local networks in branch office and home locations that are not normally serviced by trained personnel from these large enterprises. The devices can be directed to connect to the enterprise network in the same manner as described for the connection to the service provider networks for small business and home applications. The business relationships for this case will be between the owning large enterprise and the device supplier. The device supplier may be the device manufacture or a representative, or may be an organization within the enterprise. They will be directly analogous to the business relationships described between the device provider and service provider. Server interactions can be the same in both cases. 
         [0032]    The present specification describes how SIP telephones and other devices can be configured on local networks by nave users, without specific network preparation. A user will buy a generic device at a general-purpose store, or alternatively have it shipped to them. The device will come from a vendor and a retailer neither of which may have any obvious relationship with the SIP service provider. This specification describes a business relationship and methods that will allow the device to access the desired service provider user and device profile configuration server(s) without requiring onerous tasks on the part of the user. 
         [0033]    This specification can address the issue of the configuration of service for a residential or small business environment in which there is no possibility of preparing the network, In particular, no trained personnel are available who can set up a local DHCP or DNS servers to allow for the configuration of SIP devices in connection with external device configuration services such as the device vendor or representative and/or service provider service plans. This specification describes business relationships between device providers and service providers that will enable methods by which device configuration can be done automatically with as little user intervention as possible. The specification extends the standard SIP configuration as described in Petrie. 
         [0034]    This specification envisages a local SIP network set up by peer to peer methods. Taken in conjunction with Petrie, this vision raises a “chicken and egg” scenario: How can a SIP proxy be elected before it is configured? The methods describes in this specification can address the “chicken and egg” scenario and can allow the creation of peer to peer SIP systems on previously unprepared local networks. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0035]      FIG. 1  is a schematic representation of a configurable IP telephony system in accordance with an embodiment. 
           [0036]      FIG. 2  is a schematic representation of an IP telephone from the system of  FIG. 1 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
       [0037]    Referring now to  FIG. 1 , a configurable IP telephony system in accordance with an embodiment is indicated generally at  50 . System  50  includes a network  52  such as a small business computing network or a home computing network. Network  52  is generally serviced by a generic firewall/NAT  54  and a DHCP server  58 . Firewall/NAT  54  is in turn connected to a wide area network (WAN)  62  such as the Internet or a larger enterprise network. WAN  62  provides a point of interconnection for various network components from a service provider  66  and a device provider  70 . 
         [0038]    Network  52  comprises a plurality of devices that connect thereto, which in a present embodiment comprise at least one computer  77  and at least one IP telephone  78 - 1 ,  78 - 2  (Collectively IP telephones  78  and generically IP telephone  78 ). Computer  77  and IP telephones  78  connect to WAN  82  via DHCP  58  and firewall  54 , and accordingly, computer  77  and telephones  78  are able to interact with hardware connected to WAN  62  including hardware associated with service provider  66  and device provider  70 . 
         [0039]    Service provider  66  acts as the service provider for network  52  and includes all of the appropriate necessary and/or infrastructure therefor, including, but not limited to a configuration management server (“CMS”)  74  which connects to WAN  62  through a Service Provider CMS (“S/CMS”)  78 . Service provider  66  also includes a hosted proxy  82  that connects directly to WAN  62 . 
         [0040]    Device provider  70  assists in the provisioning of IP telephones  78  as they are connected to network  52 , and includes a Device Configuration Management Server  86  (“D/CMS”) and a STUN server  90  both of which connect directly to WAN  62 . The structure and function of STUN server  90  can be understood by reference to Request for Comments 3489 (“RFC 3489”), entitled  Simple Traversal of User Datagram Protocol  ( UDP )  Through Network Address Translators  ( NATs ) found at http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3489.txt and by further review of the teachings herein. 
         [0041]    A user U is associated with network  52 . User U, it is assumed, is not capable of customizing the operation of either the DHCP server  58  or the firewall/NAT  54  or in preparing network  52  in any significant way. It is assumed that user U has purchased a device, such as telephone  78 - 2  at a consumer electronics store, or possibly it has been shipped to them by some means. It is assumed that user U intends to connect telephone  78 - 2  to network  52  and expects to be able to make telephone calls using telephone  78 - 2 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , telephone  78  contains among other things a SIP user agent (UA)  100  and a STUN client  104 . (Again, see RFC3489 where STUN is discussed as a protocol that is intended to deal with the issues of NAT traversal for SIP and other protocols.) Telephone  78  also includes a standard suite of telephony circuits to manage voice and/or dual-tone-multi-frequency (“DTMF”) tones and the like. 
         [0042]    It should be noted that the teachings herein are not limited to telephone  78  and that there can be a wide variety devices that can be purchased with SIP capability. (Indeed, the teachings herein are also applicable to computer  77  which can run software to emulate telephone  78 ). At a minimum, telephones can range from simple telephone sets to larger telephone handsets with large display and full keyboards. These varying capabilities affect the methods whereby configuration data can be obtained or entered by the user. However, as a minimum, these telephone are able to make voice telephone calls and will contain some method of DTMF signaling (keyboard or otherwise). For this specification, the minimum device capability will be assumed. 
         [0043]    At this point it is to be clarified that the present teachings reflect a specific embodiment, SIP is a non-limiting example of a protocol—the protocol does not need to be SIP, it is just a current example used in the present embodiment. Further, the device does not need to be telephone  78 , the device can be any device that needs auto-configuration by untrained users and which communicates across a WAN such as the Internet (e.g. VoIP Gateway, Media Server, IVR, network game device, entertainment device such as IPTV, medical monitoring, security systems and the like). 
         [0044]    For purposes of configuration, the manufacturer of telephone  78  will have equipped telephone  78  with a bootstrap program that will function automatically as much as possible. Telephone  78  will also be supplied with a unique identifier (device id). This could be, for example, its Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (“IEEE”)  802  Media Access Control address (“MAC”) address or the like. 
         [0045]    When telephone  78  is first powered up and connected on local area network associated with network  52 , telephone  78  will detect that it has not been configured. To support configuration, the manufacturer (which may or may not be device provider  70  itself of telephone  78  has equipped telephone  78  with a bootstrap program and has pre-configured the addresses on WAN  62  (e.g. Uniform Resource Identifier (“URI”)) for D/CMS  86  and, optionally, STUN server  90 . (Of note, STUN server  90  is only needed to support configuration scenarios where NAT devices are imposed—if the device is already using a routable IP address directly, the STUN client and server are unnecessary). On power up, telephone  78  will have been supplied a locally significant UP address from a generic DHCP server  58  in the standard well-known way. The bootstrap program will use this local IP address with STUN client  104  to contact STUN server  90  and obtain the globally significant IP address and port that is being supplied to it by Firewall/NAT  54 . The bootstrap program will then combine the device id of telephone  78  with the supplied NAT address and port to form an effective SIP URI unique to telephone  78 . It will use this SIP URI as its SIP FROM and CONTACT addresses to issue a SUBCRIBE message to the D/CMS server  86  for the current device configuration files. This SUBSCRIBE request will be addressed to the pre-configured D/MCS  86  URI, using the SIP To: field, and can be sent directly to the D/CMS  86 , possibly via DNS lookup. Optionally, the URI of D/CMS  86  may correspond to an inbound SIP Proxy server in the device provider&#39;s network (not shown) to which SIP signaling (Subscribe/Notify, SIP calls etc) from telephone  78  can be directed and routed via normal SIP processing once in that destination network. 
         [0046]    The D/CMS  86  can be configured to ascertain the required configuration files respective to telephone  78  by linking the device id of telephone  78  to the model type and appropriate revision. D/CMS  86  can then supply the required configuration files in a responding Notification message back to the telephone  78 . The subscription can remain open and any updates to telephone  78  configuration can be supplied in subsequent Notification messages. 
         [0047]    Device provider  70  of telephone  78  can optionally supply telephone  78  with necessary information about a subscription available from service provider  66  depending on the business relationship between the vendor of telephone  78  and service provider  66 . There are several cases. 
         [0048]    A) No Business Relationship 
         [0049]    This case is similar to the scenario described in Petrie. In this case device provider  70  can offer no help and service provider  66  will supply instructions to the user as to how to contact S/CMS  76 . 
         [0050]    B) Pre-Arranged Device Registration 
         [0051]    i) Location Pre-Configuration 
         [0052]    A relationship can be established so that the vendor (not shown) of telephone  78  and service provider  66  have previously arranged to have telephone  78  sold in association with a particular offering from service provider  66 . For example, telephone  78  can be sold in service provider packaging with an associated plan. 
         [0053]    In this type of situation device provider  70  can supply the required addresses of the S/CMS  76  as part of pre-configuration of telephone  78 . In this situation, telephone  78  will contact S/CMS  76  in the same way that telephone  78  connected the D/CMS  86  and receive any necessary information, Such pre-configuration can be done at time of manufacture, as a preshipping configuration step, or as some other post-manufacturing process. 
         [0054]    Either the device provider  70  or service provider  66  can then arrange so that telephones such as telephone  78  are provided to user U (and or other users like user U with networks like network  52 ) that are specifically pre-configured with the address of S/CMS  76  corresponding to specific service provider  66 , possibly through store visit from the customer or by direct shipping. 
         [0055]    Alternatively, the D/CMS  86  can fulfill the role of the S/CMS  76  and directly supply the configuration files to telephone  78  corresponding to those that otherwise would have been supplied by service provider  66 . D/CMS  86  can then have been configured to hold the required configuration information for service provider  66 . As a further alternative, D/CMS  86  can act as a relay between telephone  78  and S/CMS  76 . In both of these cases, the same configuration as previously-discussed can be used, with the exception that the location of the D/CMS server  86  is configured instead of S/CMS  76  associated with service provider  66 . 
         [0056]    C) Pre-Registered Telephone lDs 
         [0057]    As an alternative to placing the address of S/CMS  76  in the pre-configuration files of telephone  78 , device provider  70  and service provider  66  can pre-register the device id of each telephone  78  that is to be used in a service offering. Either device provider  70  or service provider  66  then arranges to provide user U (and other users like user U) with telephones  78  that are specifically pre-configured with one of these previously known device ids, corresponding to the specific service plan and user U, possibly through store visit from the customer or by direct shipping. 
         [0058]    Such pre-registration can be done in blocks or as groups of individual device ids. When telephone  78  contacts D/CMS  86 , the device id of telephone  78  can indicate the service provider and service offering that is to be supplied. As in the previous example, D/CMS  86  can either supply the location of the S/CMS  76  to telephone  78  or perform the function of accessing of S/CMS  76  itself depending on the relationship between the device provider  70  and service provider  66 . In the former case, the URI for the S/CMS  76  can be returned as part of the profile data for telephone  78 . 
         [0059]    D) User-Registered Device IDs 
         [0060]    Another possible business relationship is one in which user U pre-registers the device id of telephone  78 . User U obtains telephone  78  from device provider  70 . The device id will be available to user U in a ready manner. It can be printed on telephone  78 , on the packaging, on an instruction sheet etc. User U will contact service provider  66  to obtain a service plan. As part of this process, service provider  66  will request the device id and name of device provider  70 . Service provider  66  will then contact the device provider  70  to register the device id against the service plan. The registration of telephone  78  can then be performed as described above in the pre-registered device id section. As in the previous examples, the D/CMS  86  can either supply the location of the S/CMS  76  to the device or perform the S/CMS  76  function itself depending on the relationship between device provider  70  and the service provider  66 . In the former case, the URI for S/CMS  76  can be returned as part of the device configuration profile data. 
         [0061]    E) Service Provider Registered Device IDs 
         [0062]    Another alternative business relationship is driven by initial user contact with service provider  66 . User U will contact service provider  66  directly to arrange a service plan. Service provider  66  allocates and configures a device id corresponding to user U and telephone  78 , and provides this device id to user U for entry at an initial configuration time. The device id can be provided to the user in a number of ways, such as by e-mail, by telephone contact, setter mail, directly due to customer visit, etc. The device id is formatted such that it can uniquely identify service provider  66  to the D/CMS  86 . (Note that it is not necessary for device provider  70  to be able to derive the specific service plan and user, only the correct service provider  66 ). User U can optionally have previously purchased the device from device provider  70 , at a retail outlet, or by other means. Or, service provider  66  may arrange to provide telephone  78  to user U, for example by shipping or due to customer visit to a service provider outlet. The service provider  66  will then contact the device provider  70  to register the device id against the service plan, or the device id may be selected from a previously arranged group of ids already enabled for that service provider at the device provider D/CMS. At initial device configuration, user U is asked to enter their device id into a user interface, and it is then used along with the pre-configured location of D/CMS  86  to create a SIP URI to be used in contact with D/CMS  86 , which can then be mapped to service provider  66 . As in the previous examples, D/CMS  86  can either supply the location of the S/CMS  74  to telephone  78  or perform the S/CMS function itself depending on the relationship between device provider  70  and service provider  66 . In the former case, the URI for the S/CMS  76  can be returned as part of the device configuration profile data. 
         [0063]    The Device ID may be stored in a non-volatile memory in telephone  78  so that telephone  78  can identify itself automatically for later operations in event of power interruption due to disconnect, power failure, reboot, and so on. User U wilt not be required to remember the Device id. 
         [0064]    F) User Service Registration at Device Configuration Time 
         [0065]    Another possible method of performing service registration is to request user U to do so at the time of configuration of telephone  78 . Depending on the type of telephone  78 , there are multiple methods by which interaction with user U can be effected. 
         [0066]    As described above, SIP addresses (from STUN server  90  or other NAT traversal process) are exchanged during configuration of telephone  78  to allow for the subscription/notification process. The possession of these addresses can allow interactions with user U to obtain information about the service plan that they have selected or to assist them in selecting a service plan. 
         [0067]    For the simplest version of telephone  78 , which will lack displays and full keyboard, a voice connection can be set up between telephone  78  the D/CMS  86 . Such a voice connection can be effected using standard SIP methods, or similar. Either D/CMS  86  or telephone  78  can be configured to initiate the connection at time of initial configuration contact with the D/CMS  86 . 
         [0068]    At the time of registration of telephone  78 , telephone  78  will ring (or alert in some other way) and when user U answers, he/she will be prompted with questions in a voice dialogue for information required to complete service registration. This dialogue may be with a human service representative, or may be via an automated server for example an interactive voice response (“IVR”) system. User U can be prompted to reply either with DTMF or by voice if D/CMS  86  is equipped with an automatic speech recognition device. 
         [0069]    For more capable telephones  78  with displays and keyboards, (perhaps even computer  77 ) the service registration dialogue can be accomplished by the exchange of forms. These can be passed back and forth between telephone  78  and D/CMS  86  for example by use of SIP Message messages in the same manner as an instant messaging exchange, or may be via Web access using hyper text markup language (“HTML”), or other means. 
         [0070]    Mixed mode text and voice negotiations are also possible. D/CMS  86  can send lists of options as text to the display of telephone  78  and accept replies in either text or voice. For such a method, both a voice and text connection can be set up between telephone  78  and the D/CMS  86 . 
         [0071]    For this method, user U can have already registered for a service plan or may request assistance in the selection of a service provider and plan. The dialogue can initially ask user U if they have registered for a plan and if so the service provider identity and a registration number supplied to user U as in the previous method. If user U requests assistance in selecting a plan, the dialogue can provide information on plans from service providers that the device provider  70  has business relationships with. This can be done by D/CMS  86  exclusively or in cooperation by D/CMS  86  and/or other servers supplied by the various service providers. When the service provider and plan have been selected, service configuration can be performed in the manner described in the previous sections. This can be done by D/CMS  86  itself or D/CMS  86  can supply telephone  78  with the location of S/CMS  76  of the selected service provider  66 . 
         [0072]    Handoff of Configuration Service 
         [0073]    In any of the foregoing methods, it is possible for the ongoing maintenance of the profile data for telephone  78  to be provided by service provider  66 , rather than being effected by the device provider  70 . This is useful to service provider  66  in order to maintain a more complete service. It can also be useful to device provider  70 , since it allows for the latest software to be loaded, license checking, inventory management, and other functions, yet it offloads the ongoing maintenance of the actual profile data of telephone  78 , which could become very large. 
         [0074]    Upon initial connection with D/CMS  86 , telephone  78  can be provided with initial configuration corresponding to that specific telephone  78  (e.g. initial/updated software load, device profile containing default key configurations, generic service settings, etc). After all telephone-specific generic configuration has been accomplished (which may take more than one Subscribe/Notify cycle to complete), the current D/CMS  86  can issue a profile updating Notify to telephone  78  which contains the location of a different instance of a D/CMS (not shown) other than D/CMS  86 , which may be maintained by the service provider (such as, for example, service provider  66 , in a D/CMS that is maintained by service provider  66 ) or maintained by some other 3 rd  party entity, and may or may not be resident on the same physical server as S/CMS  76 . Based on this change, telephone  78  can drop the existing subscription to the current D/CMS  86 , and then subscribe to the different instance of the D/CMS. Future Subscribe operations for that profile of telephone  78  could then be directed to the different instance of the D/CMS, based on stored data (e.g. the URI of service provider&#39;s D/CMS, which may be same as same as S/CMS  76 ) held in telephone  78 . Should a previously handed-off telephone  78  re-arrive at the original D/CMS  86  for some reason, that telephone  78  would be handed-off again in the same manner. 
         [0075]    After handoff and subscription to different instance of the D/CMS, any locally generated changes to the profile data (e.g. user re-programs a key etc) of telephone  78  can then be pushed up to the different instance of the D/CMS by well known means (e.g. via HTTPS or similar), and update the copy of the profile data that is held by different instance of the D/CMS for later retrieval. The different instance of the D/CMS does not need specific awareness of the meaning of this data, since it is specific to telephone  78  and is specified by telephone  78 , so the updates can be treated transparently. There may be reasons why the service provider does want to have access to this data and/or be able to apply policy to its use—this is not prohibited, but would require specific handling. 
         [0076]    Service Provider Specific Customization 
         [0077]    In any of the above methods, since the device id is known to the device provider  70 , and can be mapped to the specific service provider  66 , device provider  70  can provide content specific to that service provider  66 . For example, device provider  70  may maintain different customized software for different service providers other than or including service provider  66 , or different profiles for telephone  78  with different default key maps, directory entries, or similar. 
         [0078]    Data Exchanges Between Device and Service Providers 
         [0079]    The above-described service implies commercial agreements and systems interfacing between device provider  70  and service providers  66 . If a device provider  70  directs a device to a service provider  66 , device provider  70  may expect to receive consideration, perhaps in the form of payment, be paid for the referral. To receive consideration, a method can effected whereby device provider  70  can identify telephone  78  that has been provided with this service that cannot be repudiated by service provider  66 , since device provider  70  and service providers  66  need to exchange information, including the device ids, between their systems. The relationships may be many-to-one (i.e. one device provider  70  can may have arrangements with one or more different service providers  66 , and a service provider may also have arrangements with one or more different device providers  66 ). There are several methods by which the foregoing can be accomplished. 
         [0080]    A) For the cases in which device provider  70  operates an CMS (such as D/CMS  86  or even S/CMS  76  itself on behalf of service provider  66 , or acts as relay in the interactions between the S/CMS  76  and telephone  78 , the negotiation can be set up so that the CMS being operated by device provider  70  can extract a service plan identifier from S/CMS  76 . This could be done for example using an HTTPS or similar well known means, with device provider  70  sending the device id of telephone  78  to be mapped to S/CMS  76 , with service provider  66  returning the corresponding service instance id for that device and corresponding user service plan and profile data corresponding to user U. Telephone device id and service instance id can be crafted for example with encryption hash or other technology so that they can only have been created by the device provider  70  to service provider  66 , respectively. For example, the device id could be a hash of the device MAC Address, and the service id could be a hash of the user&#39;s SIP Address of Record (“AOR”). These encrypted ids can act as the non-repudiateable id set for billing purposes. 
         [0081]    B) Another case is one in which device provider  70  will expect service provider  66  to supply device provider  70  with the non-repudiateable id. This Is exemplified by the “Service Provider Registered Device IDs” and “User-registered Device IDs” scenarios previously-described. After the configuration process at S/CMS  76 , service provider  66  can indicate to device provider  70  that a telephone  78  with a specific device id has been configured and validated. The device id can be formed using the encryption techniques above. The data exchange in this case would be initiated by service provider  66  and can use well known means such as HTTPS, providing the validated device id to D/CMS  86 , with D/CMS  86  returning a confirmation id. D/CMS  86  can then permit the specific device id to be configured and come into service as previously-described. 
         [0082]    C) As a variation on the above case, service provider  66  can pre-validate a range of device ids that device provider  70  can then allow to be configured and go into service. This could use the same exchange between systems associated with service provider  66  and device provider  70 , with the difference that multiple device ids are provided. 
         [0083]    D) Another case is one in which service provider  66  can expect device provider  70  to supply service provider  66  with the non-repudiateable id. This is exemplified by the “User Service Registration at Device Configuration Time” scenario described previously. After the configuration process at the D/CMS  86 , device provider  70  can indicate to service provider  66  that a telephone  78  with a specific device id has been configured and validated against a particular service id. The device id and service id can be formed using the encryption techniques above. The data exchange in this case would be initiated by device provider  70  and can use well known means such as HTTPS, providing the validated device id and service id to S/CMS  76 , with S/CMS  76  returning a confirmation id. Additional information regarding the specific user can also be transferred to service provider  66  at this time, such as the user&#39;s SIP AOR, any preferences, and specific service plan selected. D/CMS  86  can then allow the specific device id to be configured, and S/CMS  76  can allow the specific user corresponding to the service id to be configured and come into service as previously described. 
         [0084]    E) As a variation on the above case, device provider  70  can pre-validate a range of service ids that service provider  66  can then allow to be configured and go into service. This could use the same exchange between systems respective to device provider  70  and service provider  66 , with the difference that multiple service ids are provided. 
         [0085]    To enforce the above cases, the entity operating the CMS (either device provider  70  or service provider  66 ) has the capability of disabling telephones  78  for which that entity has received no proof of valid service-provider and/or device provider configuration, or which otherwise appear to be invalid. The relevant CMS has the capability of updating the configuration of the telephone  78 . This is normally done to update profile data, correct device software bugs etc. However, the CMS can issue configuration that will disable the telephone  78 , or simply refuse to provide initial software load or any configuration at all. Optionally, depending on the specific inter-provider interactions, a timeout can be set after telephone  78  receives its device configuration. If no non-repudiateable id is received during that timeout, a configuration can be issued to disable the telephone  78 . 
         [0086]    Use of HTTP 
         [0087]    The previous sections have described the registration process as being accomplished with the SIP Subscription/Notification capability. There are multiple advantages to this process Firstly telephone  78  can use SIP as part of its normal function and so will have that capability as a default. Secondly the use of a permanent subscription can allow either D/CMS  86  or S/CMS  76  to update telephone  78  at any time required. There is no need for telephone  78  to poll the relevant CMS (i.e. D/CMS  86  or S/CMS  76 ). With large numbers of telephones  78  (or computers  77 ), this could present a significant problem with scalability. Also as indicated above, the SIP process can have difficulty with NAT traversal, HTTP will have no difficulty with NAT traversal. However HTTP does not have a Subscription/Notification possibility. The processes described above are possible using HTTP instead of SIP, if telephone  78  will periodically poll the configuration servers for any required updates. The dialog process described above may be done by HTTP with the exchange of HTML forms and the voice dialog may be accomplished, as one example, by the use of specialized applets or other well known means. 
         [0088]    Other protocols beyond SIP or HTTP are also feasible. 
         [0089]    Security and Encryption 
         [0090]    It is understood that it can be desirable for privacy and security reasons to encrypt the configuration procedures. Both SIP and HTTP provide well-known mechanisms of encryption for both secrecy and validation for both control and media streams. These well-known mechanisms can be used for this purpose. 
         [0091]    While the foregoing provides discussions about certain embodiments, it is to be understood that combinations, variations and/or subsets of those embodiments are contemplated. 
         [0092]    It is to be noted that all third party documents referenced herein are hereby incorporated herein by reference.