Patent ID: 7298702

Claim:
A voice communication system comprising: a wireless access point connectable in a local area network (LAN); and a virtual private network (VPN) terminator on a remote network; wherein the wireless access point includes an integrated VPN client configured with a predefined set of VPN security parameters, wherein, after the wireless access point is connected in the LAN, the wireless access point uses the predefined set of VPN security parameters to establish a VPN tunnel with the VPN terminator on the remote network via a communication path comprising the LAN and a packet network, wherein, after establishing the VPN tunnel, the wireless access point receives outgoing voice-over-packet (VoP) traffic transmitted over an air interface from a wireless terminal and sends the outgoing VoP traffic via the VPN tunnel to the VPN terminator, and the wireless access point receives incoming VoP traffic transmitted over the VPN tunnel from the VPN terminator and sends the incoming VoP traffic over the air interface to the wireless terminal, whereby VoP traffic thus flows between the wireless terminal and the VPN terminator over a path comprising the air interface, the wireless access point and the VPN tunnel, and wherein the VPN terminator receives the outgoing VoP traffic transmitted over the VPN tunnel from the wireless access point and sends the outgoing VoP traffic over the remote network to a call control device that provides connectivity with a voice transport network, and the VPN terminator receives the incoming VoP traffic transmitted over the remote network from the call control device and sends the incoming VoP traffic over the VPN tunnel to the wireless access point, whereby VoP traffic thus flows between the wireless terminal and the voice transport network over a path comprising the air interface, the wireless access point, the VPN tunnel, the VPN terminator, the remote network and the call control device.