Patent ID: 6956823

Claim:
An identification system comprising: a modem communicating with a telephonic network; a dialog processing device communicating with said telephonic network; a controller communicating with said modern and said dialog processing device to identify a terminating connection at a subscriber's premises of said telephonic network; and software that programs the system to: receive a plurality of telephone numbers relating to terminating connections, use the modern to attempt to establish an analog modem connection to a terminating connection; classify the terminating connection as an analog modem if the modem successfully establishes a connection to the terminating connection at a negotiated maximum baud rate greater than about 1000 bits/sec; classify the terminating connection as a facsimile machine if the modem successfully establishes a connection to the terminating connection at a negotiated maximum baud rate less than about 1000 bits/sec; use the dialog processing device to monitor the terminating connection during operation of the modem; classify the terminating connection as an ISDN modem if the dialog processing device detects an ISDN modem at the terminating connection; classify the terminating connection as a voice connection if the dialog processing device detects a voice connection; and record an entry relating to the classification in a database, wherein the entry includes the classification for the terminating connection as either an analog modem, a facsimile machine, an ISDN modem, or a voice connection.