Patent ID: 7039685

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: slave boards, a patch board containing a plurality of jacks each connected to a corresponding telephone line; cables each having one end connected to one slave board and the other end terminated at one of the jacks of the patch board; each slave board is arranged and constructed to receive commands and perform at least one operation on the telephone line to which it is coupled via the cable and patch board; a master board; connected to the slave boards by a local data bus, the master board coupled to a remote terminal via an internet connection, wherein the master board is arranged and constructed to receive instructions from the terminal by the internet connection and issue the commands to the slave boards by the local data bus in order to prompt the et slave boards to perform the at least one operation on the connected telephone line; the slave boards being arranged and constructed to receive at least one result of the at least one operation and transmit a message containing the one result to the master board, the master board in turn transmits the message containing the one result by the internet connection to the terminal.