Patent ID: 6993360

Claim:
A system for providing private branch exchange (PBX) functionality to a mobile communications device, comprising: a mobile communications device ( 108 ) operable to communicate via a voice pathway ( 150 ) and a data pathway ( 152 ); a private branch exchange (PBX) ( 102 ) operable to communicate with the mobile communications device ( 108 ) via the voice pathway ( 150 ); a mobile branch exchange (MBX) server ( 110 ) operable to communicate with the mobile communications device ( 108 ) via the data pathway ( 152 ), and to monitor the PBX ( 102 ) for activity related to a user of the mobile communications device ( 108 ), and to communicate with and control the PBX ( 102 ) in accordance with commands received via the data pathway ( 152 ) from the mobile communications device ( 108 ) or in accordance with algorithms residing in the MBX server ( 110 ); the MBX server ( 110 ) operable to monitor, communicate and control the PBX ( 102 ) via a separate data connection interface ( 140 ), without being connected to the voice pathway ( 150 ) in such a way that voice calls handled by the voice pathway ( 150 ) are routed through the MBX server ( 110 ); the mobile communications device ( 108 ) having a mobile branch exchange software client (MBX client) ( 208 ) operable to communicate in parallel via a voice pathway ( 150 ) with the PBX ( 102 ), and via the data pathway ( 152 ) with the MBX server ( 110 ), the MBX client ( 208 ) also being operable to (i) monitor the mobile communications device for activity related to the voice pathway ( 150 ) between the mobile communications device ( 108 ) and the PBX ( 102 ), and (ii) control the voice pathway ( 150 ) between the mobile communications device ( 108 ) and the PBX ( 102 ) in accordance with commands received via the data pathway ( 152 ) from the MBX server ( 110 ) and from the user of the mobile communications device ( 108 ); the data pathway ( 152 ) between the MBX server ( 110 ) and the MBX client ( 208 ) being arranged in parallel with the voice pathway ( 150 ) between the mobile communications device ( 108 ) and the PBX ( 102 ); and the MBX server ( 110 ) and the MBX client ( 208 ) being in communication with each other via a Voice Data Synchronization Protocol (VDSP) implemented in both the MBX server ( 110 ) and the MBX client ( 208 ).