Patent ID: 7961716

Claim:
An apparatus providing self-provisioning of VoIP telephony service to a subscriber of the VoIP telephony service comprising: one or more processors; means for receiving a first notify command from an un-provisioned residential gateway that is associated with the subscriber, wherein said first notify command is sent in response to a telephone receiver connected to said residential gateway going off-hook; wherein said un-provisioned residential gateway has not been provisioned into a provider delivery system and has not been assigned a residential gateway IP address; means for provisioning said un-provisioned residential gateway, comprising: means for instructing said residential gateway to collect a subscriber numeric identity that uniquely identifies said subscriber; means for instructing said residential gateway to collect a Personal Identification Number (PIN) information that is associated with said subscriber; means for receiving and verifying said subscriber numeric identity and Personal Identification Number (PIN) information; means for assigning an IP address, that is associated with one or more Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP) messages that are sent by said residential gateway, as the residential gateway IP address for said residential gateway in response to successful verifying of said subscriber numeric identity and PIN information associated with said subscriber; and means for using said residential gateway IP address to provision said residential gateway that is associated with said subscriber.