Patent Abstract:
A hot-desking application and methods of operating the same are described. The hot-desking application can be provisioned as an explicit sequenced application for all user addresses of record in addition to being provisioned as an implicit sequenced application for all of the possible hot-desk endpoint addresses. Through such provisioning, the hot-desking application can, among other things, allow for calls to be placed directly from a hot-desk endpoint but still show the user&#39;s address of record as the calling identity.

Full Description:
FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE 
       [0001]    The present disclosure is generally directed toward communications and more specifically toward communication systems and methods. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Most large companies these days have a heterogeneous mix of Private Branch eXchanges (PBXs)/enterprise communication systems. Many of these same companies have a “Hot Desk” environment where employees are allowed to sit at a different desk and a different telephone on occasion, or even each day. These companies would like for their employees to have one single enterprise communication address that can represent that employee for all calls received and made by the employee. These companies would also like for this to be the case regardless of the type and manufacturer of endpoint (e.g., Cisco endpoint, Avaya endpoint, Siemens endpoint, etc.) at which the employee is currently sitting. 
         [0003]    Previous attempts to address the above-mentioned problem include: (1) Call Forwarding; (2) Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) “Call me/Call you”; and (3) Internet Protocol (IP) Softphone “Telecommuter” mode. The call forwarding solution simply sends incoming calls to a user&#39;s address to their hot-desk number. The SIP “Call me/Call you” can be used to have an application initiate a call from a hot-desk endpoint and make it look to the called party as if he/she was called from the user&#39;s address. The IP Softphone “Telecommuter” mode can be used to extend an incoming call to user&#39;s address out to the hot-desk number. It can also be used to initiate a call in the “Call me/Call you” paradigm described above. 
         [0004]    The available solutions fall short in several ways. First of all, the available solutions do not allow for the user to initiate calls directly from the hot-desk endpoint. Rather, the user must use an application of some sort to initiate a “Call me/Call you” flow so that the far end sees the user&#39;s address. 
         [0005]    A problem with the IP Softphone solution in particular is that an IP Softphone solution requires the IP Softphone to be running and be registered with a PBX. This softphone application consumes both desktop and PBX resources for the user&#39;s address, in addition to those being consumed by the hot-desk endpoint. 
         [0006]    A problem with the call forward solution is that the call Forward solution for redirecting incoming calls requires a Computer-Telephone Integration (CTI) link to each of the heterogeneous PBXs. As can be appreciated, these links require time and resources to establish. Another big problem with the call forward solution is that it doesn&#39;t address outbound calls. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0007]    It is with respect to the above issues and other problems that the embodiments presented herein were contemplated. In particular, embodiments of the present disclosure propose the ability to, among other things, utilize application sequencing to facilitate a better and more effective hot-desking solution. In some embodiments, every hot-desk user would be an provisioned SIP user of an enterprise communication system, even though they may not have any registered SIP endpoints. In some embodiments, a hot-desking application is provided and can be provisioned as a sequenced application for all user addresses of record. Furthermore, the hot-desking application could also be provisioned as a sequenced application for all of the possible SIP and non-SIP hot-desk endpoint addresses. 
         [0008]    In one example operation, when the user sits down at a desk, she would note the address of the endpoint at that desk. In some embodiments, she would then associate that hot-desk address with her own public Address of Record (AOR). This could be done via a Web-based User Interface (UI), a Graphical User Interface (GUI), a Telephone User Interface (TUI), or the like. The system may, in some embodiments, write to a database accessible by the hot-desk sequenced application. Alternatively, the hot-desk association could be coupled with some other sign-in process (e.g., agent login) so that an extra user action is not required to complete the hot-desk association. 
         [0009]    In some embodiments, for incoming calls to the user&#39;s AOR, all applications for the called user (e.g., termination or term-side sequenced applications provisioned for the called user) would be invoked. In this scenario, the hot-desk application would be the last such sequenced application. Upon receiving the incoming communication-initiating message (e.g., an INVITE message), the hot-desk application would check to see if the user&#39;s AOR is associated with a hot-desk address. In this case, it would find such an association, and would proxy the INVITE to the hot-desk address. Everything upstream of the hot-desk application (e.g., all previously sequenced applications) would see the communications as being with a device associated with the user&#39;s AOR, but in actuality they would be communicating with the hot-desk endpoint. 
         [0010]    In some embodiments, for outgoing calls from the hot-desk endpoint, there are two separate origination sequence vectors. There is a sequence vector associated with the hot-desk address and a second sequence vector associated with the user address. The hot-desk application would typically be the only application in the origination sequence vector for the hot-desk address. When invoked, the application checks to see if there&#39;s an association between the hot-desk address and a user AOR. In this case, it would find such an association and would then change the asserted identity (calling number) of the call to correspond to the user&#39;s AOR. The user&#39;s sequenced applications (e.g., origination or orig. applications) would then be invoked before the call is delivered to the called party. All downstream applications and/or parties would see the call as coming from the user&#39;s AOR instead of from the hot-desk number. 
         [0011]    In accordance with at least some embodiments, hot-desk users would be instructed to not call another hot-desk user directly (e.g., by dialing the hot-desk number rather than the user&#39;s AOR). If this practice is adhered to, all calls can be sequenced and have their identities manipulated. This is true even if the two parties (e.g., called and calling party) are using hot-desk endpoints on the same PBX. 
         [0012]    In accordance with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure, a method is provided which generally comprises: 
         [0013]    receiving a first message, the first message comprising an asserted identity that corresponds to a hot-desk number; 
         [0014]    determining that the hot-desk number has been associated with a calling user&#39;s address of record; and 
         [0015]    in response to determining that the hot-desk number has been associated with the calling user&#39;s address of record, changing the asserted identity of the first message to a non-hot-desk number associated with the calling user&#39;s address of record. 
         [0016]    In accordance with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure, another method is provided which generally comprises: 
         [0017]    receiving a first message, the first message comprising a Request Uniform Resource Identifier (R-URI) that comprises a non-hot-desk number which is associated with an address of record for a called user; 
         [0018]    determining that the called user&#39;s address of record is also associated with a hot-desk number; and 
         [0019]    in response to determining that the called user&#39;s address of record is associated with the hot-desk number, changing the R-URI to the hot-desk number. 
         [0020]    The term “server” as used herein should be understood to include any server, collection of servers, processors within a server, blades within a server, one or more virtual machines being executed by a server, containers or processes being executed by a server, etc. In other words, “servers” are not necessarily limited to individual hardware components with dedicated processors and memory. “Servers” are also not limited to a particular type of container executed by a server, such as a J2EE server or any other version of a Java EE server. Non-limiting examples of containers that may be executed by or constitute a server include application containers (e.g., Java Virtual Machines), applet containers (e.g., web browsers or applet viewers), Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) containers, web containers, Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), and the like. 
         [0021]    The phrases “at least one”, “one or more”, and “and/or” are open-ended expressions that are both conjunctive and disjunctive in operation. For example, each of the expressions “at least one of A, B and C”, “at least one of A, B, or C”, “one or more of A, B, and C”, “one or more of A, B, or C” and “A, B, and/or C” means A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, or A, B and C together. 
         [0022]    The term “a” or “an” entity refers to one or more of that entity. As such, the terms “a” (or “an”), “one or more” and “at least one” can be used interchangeably herein. It is also to be noted that the terms “comprising”, “including”, and “having” can be used interchangeably. 
         [0023]    The term “automatic” and variations thereof, as used herein, refers to any process or operation done without material human input when the process or operation is performed. However, a process or operation can be automatic, even though performance of the process or operation uses material or immaterial human input, if the input is received before performance of the process or operation. Human input is deemed to be material if such input influences how the process or operation will be performed. Human input that consents to the performance of the process or operation is not deemed to be “material”. 
         [0024]    The term “computer-readable medium” as used herein refers to any tangible storage that participates in providing instructions to a processor for execution. Such a medium may take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media. Non-volatile media includes, for example, NVRAM, or magnetic or optical disks. Volatile media includes dynamic memory, such as main memory. Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, or any other magnetic medium, magneto-optical medium, a CD-ROM, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, and EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, a solid state medium like a memory card, any other memory chip or cartridge, or any other medium from which a computer can read. When the computer-readable media is configured as a database, it is to be understood that the database may be any type of database, such as relational, hierarchical, object-oriented, and/or the like. Accordingly, the disclosure is considered to include a tangible storage medium and prior art-recognized equivalents and successor media, in which the software implementations of the present disclosure are stored. 
         [0025]    The terms “determine”, “calculate”, and “compute,” and variations thereof, as used herein, are used interchangeably and include any type of methodology, process, mathematical operation or technique. 
         [0026]    The term “module” as used herein refers to any known or later developed hardware, software, firmware, artificial intelligence, fuzzy logic, or combination of hardware and software that is capable of performing the functionality associated with that element. Also, while the disclosure is described in terms of exemplary embodiments, it should be appreciated that individual aspects of the disclosure can be separately claimed. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0027]    The present disclosure is described in conjunction with the appended figures: 
           [0028]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a communication system in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; 
           [0029]      FIG. 2  is a first call flow diagram in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; 
           [0030]      FIG. 3  is a second call flow diagram in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; and 
           [0031]      FIG. 4  is a flow diagram depicting a hot-desking method in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0032]    The ensuing description provides embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the claims. Rather, the ensuing description will provide those skilled in the art with an enabling description for implementing the embodiments. It being understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims. 
         [0033]      FIG. 1  shows an illustrative embodiment of a communication system  100  in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure. The communication system  100  may be a distributed system and, in some embodiments, comprises one or more communication networks  104  that facilitate communications between communication devices  108 ,  148 . 
         [0034]    The communication network  104  may be packet-switched and/or circuit-switched. An illustrative communication network  104  includes, without limitation, a Wide Area Network (WAN), such as the Internet, a Local Area Network (LAN), a Personal Area Network (PAN), a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), a Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) network, a cellular communications network, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network, a SIP network, a Voice over IP (VoIP) network, or combinations thereof. In one configuration, the communication network  104  is a public network supporting the TCP/IP suite of protocols. Communications supported by the communication network  104  include real-time, near-real-time, and non-real-time communications. For instance, the communication network  104  may support voice, video, text, web conferencing, or any combination of media. 
         [0035]    In some embodiments, the communication network  104  may connect one or more external communication devices  108  with an enterprise communication network  110 . The external communication devices  108  may be considered “external” because they are not fully administered by the entity or group of entities that administers the enterprise network  110 . In some embodiments, however, the communication devices  108  may be operated by enterprise users and may be partially administered in accordance with communication rules within the enterprise network  110 . 
         [0036]    In some embodiments, the enterprise network  110  corresponds to a communication network or set of communication networks that are owned and operated by a single entity. The enterprise network  110 , in some embodiments, may be distributed (e.g., a WAN) or it may be confined to a single location (e.g., a LAN). In other embodiments, multiple entities may share some or all of the components of the enterprise network  110 . 
         [0037]    In the illustrated embodiment, the enterprise network  110  is shown to include an access element having a server table  116 , a communication server  120 , one or more application servers  132  capable of providing one or multiple communication features to users, one or more internal communication devices  148 , a data store  152 , and one or multiple other servers  144 . Some or all of the components of the enterprise network  110  may be interconnected by a (trusted or secure or private) Local Area Network (LAN)  156 . 
         [0038]    It should be appreciated that some or all of the functions depicted in  FIG. 1  may be co-hosted and/or co-resident on a single server. The depiction of components in  FIG. 1  and the other figures provided herein are generally intended to be a logical depiction of the components of the system  100 . It should be appreciated that an enterprise network or multiple enterprise networks may comprise multiple LANs  156  connected via a WAN, such as the communication network  104 . A single enterprise communication network  110  is depicted in  FIG. 1  and described herein for ease of understanding and simplicity and in no way is intended to limit embodiments of the present invention to a single enterprise network  110 . 
         [0039]    Furthermore, it should be appreciated that while a single access element  112  is depicted, most larger enterprise networks  110  comprise multiple access elements  112 , which may or may not be of the same type. For example, a single enterprise network  110  may comprise a first access element  112  from a first vendor (e.g., an access element from Cisco) and a second access element  112  from a second vendor (e.g., an access element from Avaya). In accordance with at least some embodiments, the access element  112  corresponds to a PBX, multiple PBXs, or components within a PBX. More specifically, the access element  112  may provide network access capabilities similar to those provided by known PBX devices or PBX devices yet to be developed. Even more specifically, the access element  112  may be configured to make connections among the internal components of the enterprise network  110  and also connect them to the communication network  104  via trunk lines, for example. 
         [0040]    The LAN  156  can be secured from intrusion by untrusted parties by a gateway and/or firewall located between the LAN  156  and communication network  104 . In some embodiments, the access element  112  may include the functionality of the gateway and/or firewall. In some embodiments, a separate gateway or firewall may be provided between the access element  112  and the communication network  104 . 
         [0041]    Although only certain numbers of each server (e.g., a single access element  112 , a single communications server  120 , two application servers  132 , etc.) is depicted in  FIG. 1 , one, two, three, four, or more instances of any server type may be provided in a single enterprise network  110  or across multiple separate LANs  156  owned and operated by a single enterprise, but separated by communication network  104 . In configurations where an enterprise or an enterprise network  110  includes two or more servers of a single type (e.g., multiple communication servers  120 ), each server may comprise similar functionality, but may be provisioned for providing its features to only a subset of all enterprise users. In particular, as a non-limiting example, a first communications server  120  may be authoritative for and service a first subset of enterprise users whereas a second communications server  120  may be authoritative for and service a second subset of enterprise users, where the first and second subsets of users generally do not share a common user. This is one reason why the access element  112  may be provided with a server table  116 —the server table  116  may comprise the information that maps a user to their authoritative communication server  120 . 
         [0042]    Additionally, multiple servers can support a common user community. For example, in geo-redundant and other applications where users aren&#39;t necessarily bound to a single application server, there may be a cluster of equivalent servers where a user can be serviced by any server in the cluster. 
         [0043]    The communications server  120  can be included in the access element  112  (e.g., be incorporated into PBX functionality). Alternatively, or in addition, the communication server  120  may comprise an enterprise server, components or applications executed within a server, a virtual machine provided by a server, combinations thereof, or other type of telecommunications system switch or server. The communication server  120  is, in some embodiments, configured to enable the execution of telecommunication functions such as the suite of applications and services made available via Avaya Aura™ platform of Avaya, Inc., including Communication Manager™, Avaya Aura Communication Manager™, Avaya IP Office™, Communication Manager Branch™, Session Manager™, MultiVantage Express™, and combinations thereof. 
         [0044]    In some embodiments, the access element  112  is responsible for routing communications within the enterprise network  110  to the communications server  120  responsible for servicing a particular user involved in a communication session. For example, if a first enterprise user is being called by an external communication device  108 , then the access element  112  may initially receive the inbound call, determine that the call is directed toward the first enterprise user, reference the server table  116  to identify the authoritative communications server  120  for the first enterprise user, and route the inbound call to the authoritative communications server  120 . Likewise, communications between internal enterprise users (e.g., internal communication devices  148 ) may first be serviced by the originating user&#39;s authoritative communications server  120  during the origination phase of communications set-up. After the origination phase is complete, the authoritative communications server  120  of the terminating (or called) user may be invoked to complete the termination phase of communications set-up. In some embodiments, the communications server  120  for the originating and terminating user may be the same, but this is not necessarily required. In situations where more than two enterprise users are involved in a communication session, authoritative communications servers  120  for each of the involved users may be employed without departing from the scope of the present invention. Additionally, the authoritative communications servers  120  for each user may be in the same enterprise network  110  or in different enterprise networks  110 , which are owned by a common enterprise but are separated by the communication network  104 . 
         [0045]    Each communications server  120  may include user preferences  124  and a feature sequencer  128 . The feature sequencer  128  provides the communication server  120  with the ability to route messages to the appropriate servers within the network  110 . Specifically, the feature sequencer  128  may be invoked in response to receiving a request to initiate a communication session (e.g., an INVITE message in a SIP environment, an HTTP GET request, an inbound or outbound phone call, an email message, a Short Message Service (SMS) message, etc.) or a request for some other type of information (e.g., a request for presence information such as via a SUBSCRIBE message, a database query, etc.). Once invoked, the feature sequencer  128  may be configured to refer to the user preferences  124  to determine which server is to be activated next (e.g., receive the message next). More specifically, the communication server  120  may be configured to establish a chain of Back-to-Back User Agents (B2BUAs) or proxies in at least one of a dialog and media path of a communication session by sequencing each B2BUA into an application sequence one-by-one until the entire application sequence has been constructed. 
         [0046]    The user preferences  124  for a communication server  120  contains the feature/communication preferences for each user for which it is authoritative. As one non-limiting example, the user preferences  124  may define which applications  136 ,  140  from the application server  132  should be invoked for a particular user&#39;s application sequence. In some embodiments, the user preferences  124  may be in a table format and may be provisioned by users and/or by administrative personnel. The user preferences  124  for a particular user are referenced by the feature sequencer  128  to determine which, if any, applications  136 ,  140  should be invoked for the user. 
         [0047]    The applications  140  that can be included in a particular application sequence (e.g., via the communication server  120  and application server  132 ) are generally included to accommodate the user&#39;s preferences  124  and to provide communication services in accordance therewith. Applications  140  may vary according to media-type, function, and the like. Illustrative types of applications  140  include, without limitation, a fixed mobile convergence application, a call setup application, a voicemail application, an email application, a voice application, a video application, a text application, a conferencing application, a call recording application, a communication log service, a security application, an encryption application, a collaboration application, a whiteboard application, mobility applications, presence applications, media applications, messaging applications, bridging applications, and any other type of application that can supplement or enhance communications. Additionally, one, two, three, or more applications of a given type can be included in a single application sequence without departing from the scope of the present invention. 
         [0048]    The hot-desk application  136  corresponds to a specific type of application  140  that enables hot-desking for users within the enterprise  110 . More specifically, the hot-desk application  136  may be configured to analyze messages transmitted during a communication session or during setup of a communication session to determine: (1) if the message is received from a hot-desk number, (2) if the message is received from a user that has associated themselves and their AOR with a hot-desk number, (3) if the message is directed toward a hot-desk number, and/or (4) if the message is directed toward a user that has associated themselves and their AOR with a hot-desk number. As will be discussed in further detail herein, if the hot-desk application receives a message that meets one of the above criteria, the hot-desk application may be configured to alter one or more of the message&#39;s To value, Request Uniform Resource Identifier (R-URI), From header, Contact header, and P-Asserted-Identity (PAI) prior to forwarding the message to the next destination. The alteration of the message may occur within one or more message headers or in any other way allowed/defined by applicable standards and protocols. 
         [0049]    The internal communication devices  148  can be similar or identical to the external communication devices  108  except the internal communication devices  148  are provisioned, and often owned, by the enterprise administering the network  110 . As can be seen in  FIG. 1 , some internal communication devices  148  may be connected to the access element  112  via the LAN  156  while other internal communication devices  148  (e.g., analog and digital stations) may be connected directly to the access element  112 . Illustrative types of communication devices  148  include, without limitation, cellular phones, smartphones, laptops, Personal Computers (PCs), Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), digital phones, analog phones, and/or any other type of capable phone, softphone or digital telephone. Examples of suitable telephones include the 1600™, 2400™, 4600™, 5400™, 5600™, 9600™, 9620™, 9630™, 9640™, 9640G™, 9650™, 9608™, 9611™, 9621™, 9641™, and Quick Edition™ telephones, IP wireless telephones (such as Avaya Inc.&#39;s IP DECT™ phones), video phones (such as Avaya Inc.&#39;s Videophone™), and softphones such as Avaya Flare™. 
         [0050]    The other server(s)  144  may correspond to any other type of server or collection of servers within the network  110 . In some embodiments, the other servers  144  may include one or more of voicemail servers, email servers, calendar servers, presence servers, Instant Messaging (IM) servers, backup servers, virtual machines, or the like. 
         [0051]    The data store  152  can be configured to include enterprise subscriber information, such as name, job title, electronic address information (e.g., telephone number, email address, instant messaging handle, direct dial extension, and the like), subscriber contact lists (e.g., contact name and electronic address information), other employee records, user preferences  124 , and the like. Information contained in the data store  152  can be updated by any of the components within the network  110  (assuming such devices have permissions to do so) and/or made available to one or more of the components within the network  110  via various types of databases, servers, Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), etc. 
         [0052]    The various servers and components depicted in  FIG. 1  may be implemented separately (i.e., on different servers) or together (i.e., on a single server). In particular, two or more depicted components (e.g., communication server  120  and application server  132 ) may be implemented on a single server without departing from the scope of the present invention. Thus, a single device may provide the functionality of several components depicted separately in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0053]    With reference now to  FIG. 2 , a call flow and method of processing a call initiated by a user with a hot-desk endpoint  204  will be described in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. The hot-desk endpoint  204  may correspond to any communication device  148  that is shared by two or more enterprise users or is made available for temporary use by an enterprise user. In some embodiments, the hot-desk endpoint  204  comprises any type of communication device. 
         [0054]    The method begins when a first message is transmitted from the hot-desk endpoint  204  to an access element  112  (step S 201 ). In some embodiments, the first message may correspond to a session-initiating message, such as a SIP INVITE message or variants thereof. In this particular example, the calling user (e.g., Alice) may be initiating a call to a called user (e.g., Bob). While the calling user, Alice, corresponds to an enterprise user, it is not a necessary condition that the called user, Bob, also be an enterprise user. Certain embodiments of the present disclosure, however, contemplate that Alice and Bob may both be enterprise users and both may or may not be utilizing a hot-desk endpoint. It should be noted that if the hot-desk endpoint  204  corresponds to a SIP endpoint, then the first message would not necessarily traverse the access element  112  but rather may be routed directly to the communication server  120 , thereby skipping step S 201 . 
         [0055]    In the examples discussed herein, assume that Alice has a first AOR within the enterprise  110  and that first AOR is or has been associated with a first direct-dial number or extension (e.g., administratively associated). More specifically, certain communication systems and system providers enable a direct-dial number to actually be an AOR or vice versa. As an example, a user, such as Alice and Bob, may have an AOR as an alphanumeric AOR (e.g., Alice@enterprise.com), an E.164 AOR (e.g., +1303123456), and/or an enterprise canonical numeric AOR (e.g., 4567). For ease of understanding the example, assume that Alice&#39;s AOR is +13031234567. Thus, when other users want to call Alice directly, they dial Alice&#39;s AOR (e.g., +13031234567) or some variant thereof (e.g., extension 4567) depending upon the dial-plan assigned to Alice. In this example, assume that Alice has called Bob at +19089353456. This dialed number (e.g., Bob&#39;s number) may or may not correspond to a number internal to the enterprise network  110 . 
         [0056]    Continuing the example of  FIG. 2 , the access element receives the first message from the hot-desk endpoint  204  and routes the message to the appropriate communication server  120  (step S 202 ). Upon receiving the first message, the communication server  120  determines that the number from which the message was originated (e.g., the number of the hot-desk endpoint  204 , which for example may be 444-1234) corresponds to or falls within a number range that is configured to be sequenced to the hot-desk application  136 . At this point, the communication server  120  implicitly sequences the hot-desk application  136  by forwarding the message to the hot-desk application  136  (step S 203 ). It should be noted that the communication server  120 , in some embodiments, may sequence the hot-desk application  136  as the first application in the sequence of applications for Alice although this may not be necessary since the hot-desk application  136  will have already served its purpose by mapping the hot-desk number to the enterprise AOR. 
         [0057]    Thus, when the hot-desk application  136  receives the message from the communication server  120 , the hot-desk application  136  determines that the number from which the message was originated (e.g., 444-1234) has been associated with Alice&#39;s AOR. In some embodiments, the hot-desk application  136  is made aware of the association between Alice&#39;s AOR and the hot-desk number because Alice registered herself (and her AOR) with the hot-desk endpoint  204  when she sat down and started using the hot-desk endpoint  204 . Details of this registration process are not described herein and it should be appreciated that any registration process or set of processes may be used. For instance, Alice may enter a TUI code or series of TUI codes at the hot-desk endpoint  204  to register herself and her AOR with the hot-desk endpoint  204 . As another example, Alice may use a web-based UI upon sitting down at the hot-desk endpoint  204  to communicate directly with the hot-desk application  136  and register herself and her AOR with the hot-desk endpoint  204 . Other registration examples will become readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. 
         [0058]    Furthermore, the hot-desk application  136  may be configured to analyze the From, Contact, and/or PAI header of the message to determine if the value contained in the analyzed header (e.g., 444-1234) is actually associated with a user&#39;s AOR. Once the hot-desk application  136  determines that the value in the From, Contact, and/or PAI header of the message has been associated with Alice&#39;s AOR, the hot-desk application changes the value in the header(s) to correspond to Alice&#39;s AOR (e.g., +13031234567). This causes the message to appear as though it was actually originated by Alice at her personal endpoint rather than Alice at the hot-desk endpoint  204 . 
         [0059]    After the From, Contact, and/or PAI header value has been changed to Alice&#39;s direct-dial number or extension, the hot-desk application  136  returns the message back to the communication server  120  (step S 204 ). At this point, the communication server  120  now recognizes the message as being originated by Alice, rather than by hot-desk endpoint  204 , and invokes the feature sequencer  128 , which refers to Alice&#39;s communication preferences in the user preferences  124 . Upon looking up Alice&#39;s communication preferences, the communication server  120  is enabled to sequence other origination applications  208  for Alice in accordance with her user preferences  124 . In particular, the communication server  120  can forward the message along to other origination applications  208  (step S 205 ) and each of the other origination applications  208  can insert themselves into the communication session (e.g., dialog and/or media path) as a B2BUA or proxy, depending upon the nature of the other origination applications  208 . In some embodiments, the other origination applications  208  may correspond to various applications  140 . After each application has been appropriately sequenced for Alice, the method continues with the last origination application  208  providing the message back to Alice&#39;s communication server  120  (step S 206 ) so that the message can be forwarded along to Bob or Bob&#39;s communication server  120 , depending upon whether Bob is an enterprise user or not. 
         [0060]    With reference now to  FIG. 3 , a call flow and method of processing a call directed toward a user employing a hot-desk endpoint  304  will be described in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. The hot-desk endpoint  304  may by similar or identical to the hot-desk endpoint  204  in that it may correspond to any communication device  148  that is shared by two or more enterprise users or is made available for temporary use by an enterprise user. 
         [0061]    Furthermore, with respect to the example of  FIG. 3 , assume that Bob has a second AOR within the enterprise  110  and that second AOR is or has been associated with a second direct-dial number or extension (e.g., administratively associated). For ease of understanding the example, assume that Bob&#39;s AOR is +19707654321. Thus, when other users (e.g., Alice) want to call Bob directly, they dial Bob&#39;s AOR (+19707654321) or some variant thereof (e.g., extension 4321) depending upon the dial-plan assigned to Bob. 
         [0062]    Although the call flow of  FIG. 3  is depicted as being separate and distinct from the call flow of  FIG. 2 , it should be appreciated that the flow of  FIG. 3  may, in some embodiments, pick up where the flow of  FIG. 2  left off. Specifically, step S 301  may be performed after step S 206 . It should also be appreciated that the flow of  FIG. 3  can be performed independent of the flow depicted in  FIG. 2 . For instance, the flow of  FIG. 3  may be initiated in response to Bob receiving a call from an external communication device  108 . 
         [0063]    In some embodiments, the call flow for the call to Bob begins with the communication server  120  (e.g., Bob&#39;s authoritative communication server) invoking the feature sequencer  128  to determine Bob&#39;s communication preferences from the user preferences  124 . Once this determination has been made, the communication server  120  invokes the application sequence for Bob via one or more other termination applications  308  (step S 301 ). In some embodiments, the termination applications may correspond to one or more applications  140  that are sequenced as B2BUAs or proxies by the communication server  120  so as to fulfill Bob&#39;s communication preferences. The communication server  120  knows that Bob&#39;s preferences should be fulfilled because the message is addressed to Bob&#39;s AOR or a direct-dial number associated with Bob&#39;s AOR. Every time an application is sequenced, the message may be transmitted back to communication server  120  to determine if another termination application is to be sequenced for Bob (step S 302 ). This back-and-forth between the communication server  120  and the other termination applications  308  continues until all of Bob&#39;s applications have been sequenced. 
         [0064]    Thereafter, the communication server  120  sequences the hot-desk application  136  on behalf of Bob, in-case Bob is sitting at a hot-desk endpoint  304  (step S 303 ). Upon receiving the message, the hot-desk application  136  determines that Bob has associated himself with the hot-desk endpoint  304  having a hot-desk number (e.g., 555-6789). Bob may have associated himself and/or his AOR with the hot-desk endpoint  304  in a registration step that is similar or identical to the registration step discussed above. 
         [0065]    When the hot-desk application  136  determines that the received message is associated with Bob and, therefore, also associated with a hot-desk endpoint  304 , the hot-desk application  136  is configured to change one or more of: the message&#39;s To value and a value of the message&#39;s R-URI header from Bob&#39;s AOR (e.g., +19707654321) to the hot-desk number (e.g., 555-6789). After the hot-desk application  136  has changed the To value and/or R-URI header of the message, the method continues with the hot-desk application  136  returning the message to the communication server  120  (step S 304 ). 
         [0066]    As can be seen above, the hot-desk application  136  may correspond to the last sequenced application for Bob. In other words, the other termination applications  308  may be sequenced prior to sequencing the hot-desk application  136 . Therefore, when the communication server  120  receives the message from the hot-desk application  136 , it is most likely that no further applications need to be sequenced by the communication server  120 . Accordingly, the method continues with the communication server  120  forwarding the message to the access element  112  associated with the hot-desk endpoint  304  (step S 305 ), which subsequently provides the message to the hot-desk endpoint  304  at which Bob is sitting and has registered with (step S 306 ). 
         [0067]    To further understand embodiments of the present disclosure, if the examples of  FIGS. 2 and 3  were combined, then Alice would call Bob at (+19707654321) from hot-desk endpoint  204  (444-1234). After the message has been processed by hot-desk applications  136  for Alice and Bob, the message would ultimately reach Bob at the hot-desk endpoint  304  (555-6789) and it would appear to Bob and all other origination and termination applications  208 ,  308  as though Alice is actually calling from her direct-dial line (+13031234567). Furthermore, all of Alice&#39;s origination applications  208  and Bob&#39;s termination applications  308  will be sequenced even if Alice and Bob happen to be using hot-desk endpoints  204  and  304  that are hosted on the same access element  112 . 
         [0068]    With reference now to  FIG. 4 , a method of hot-desking will be described in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure. The method is initiated when a user notes a hot-desk address of a communication device (e.g., a hot-desk endpoint) at a particular workstation or desk (step  404 ). The user then associates that hot-desk address with their AOR (step  408 ). In some embodiments, the user associates their hot-desk address with their AOR by performing a registration process. This registration process may occur via a web-based GUI or by implementing some sort of single sign on (SSO) process that is coupled with the user simply logging into the network  110  from the hot-desk endpoint. The registration process may also be accomplished via a TUI or the like. 
         [0069]    The registration process causes the user&#39;s AOR to be stored with a logical association in the hot-desk application  136  or at some location that is accessible to the hot-desk application  136  (e.g., data store  152 ) (step  412 ). In some embodiments, the hot-desk application  136  maintains an internal record of the fact that the user associated their AOR with the hot-desk endpoint and specifically with the hot-desk number assigned to the hot-desk endpoint. By having this information available the hot-desking application  136  can easily invoke the hot-desking features discussed herein whenever the hot-desk application  136  is sequenced by the communication server  120  (step  416 ). As discussed above, the communication server  120  is configured to implicitly sequence the hot-desk application  136  for calls originating from the hot-desk endpoint and then sequence other applications for the user that is calling from the hot-desk endpoint. Likewise, the communication server  120  is configured to sequence the hot-desk application  136  for a called user that has been identified as sitting at or using a hot-desk endpoint. 
         [0070]    In the foregoing description, for the purposes of illustration, methods were described in a particular order. It should be appreciated that in alternate embodiments, the methods may be performed in a different order than that described. It should also be appreciated that the methods described above may be performed by hardware components or may be embodied in sequences of machine-executable instructions, which may be used to cause a machine, such as a general-purpose or special-purpose processor (GPU or CPU) or logic circuits programmed with the instructions to perform the methods (FPGA). These machine-executable instructions may be stored on one or more machine readable mediums, such as CD-ROMs or other type of optical disks, floppy diskettes, ROMs, RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, flash memory, or other types of machine-readable mediums suitable for storing electronic instructions. Alternatively, the methods may be performed by a combination of hardware and software. 
         [0071]    Specific details were given in the description to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. For example, circuits may be shown in block diagrams in order not to obscure the embodiments in unnecessary detail. In other instances, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques may be shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring the embodiments. 
         [0072]    Also, it is noted that the embodiments were described as a process which is depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a data flow diagram, a structure diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flowchart may describe the operations as a sequential process, many of the operations can be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of the operations may be re-arranged. A process is terminated when its operations are completed, but could have additional steps not included in the figure. A process may correspond to a method, a function, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a process corresponds to a function, its termination corresponds to a return of the function to the calling function or the main function. 
         [0073]    Furthermore, embodiments may be implemented by hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, firmware, middleware or microcode, the program code or code segments to perform the necessary tasks may be stored in a machine readable medium such as storage medium. A processor(s) may perform the necessary tasks. A code segment may represent a procedure, a function, a subprogram, a program, a routine, a subroutine, a module, a software package, a class, or any combination of instructions, data structures, or program statements. A code segment may be coupled to another code segment or a hardware circuit by passing and/or receiving information, data, arguments, parameters, or memory contents. Information, arguments, parameters, data, etc. may be passed, forwarded, or transmitted via any suitable means including memory sharing, message passing, token passing, network transmission, etc. 
         [0074]    While illustrative embodiments of the disclosure have been described in detail herein, it is to be understood that the inventive concepts may be otherwise variously embodied and employed, and that the appended claims are intended to be construed to include such variations, except as limited by the prior art.

Technology Classification (CPC): 7