Patent ID: 8582558

Claim:
An Internet Protocol (IP) telephone system comprising: a plurality of telephone terminals connected to an IP network; and a file server for transferring software to the telephone terminals via the IP network, wherein the file server comprises: an update notification module configured to notify an occurrence of update data of the software to the telephone terminals; and a data transfer module configured to transfer the update data to a telephone terminal in response to a request for the update data from at least one of the telephone terminals on the basis of a priority lower than that of the telephone service, and the at least one of the telephone terminal comprises: a status management module configured to manage a user status including login/logout information of a user and presence information indicating presence/absence of the user; a request module configured to request the file server to transfer the update data when the user is logged in and absent; a reporting module configured to notify the user of the occurrence of the update data; a timing input module configured to receive an update timing of the software from the user who is notified of the occurrence of the update data; and a software update module configured to switch software being used at present to software based on the update data transferred from the file server in response to the user status including the login/logout information and the presence information, wherein the request module is operable to send to the file server a request for transferring the update data at the update timing, and the request module forcibly sends the request to the file server after elapse of a fixed time when the update timing is not received.