Patent ID: 6959172

Claim:
A docking station for connecting a cellular telephone with one or more landline telephones, the docking station comprising: a line-connection switch configured to detect a condition of at least one landline of a premises and to establish a connection with a landline based on a detected condition, wherein each of the one or more landline telephones is connected to the docking station through the landline; a processor configured to control a plurality of functions of the docking station; and a cellular-telephone interface configured to connect with any of a plurality of types of cellular telephones, wherein the cellular-telephone interface includes a connector configured to connect with a plurality of types of cables through which the docking station communicates with corresponding cellular telephones, wherein an electrical characteristic of a cable connected to the cellular-telephone interface is used by the processor to identify a type of a cellular telephone connected to the docking station, wherein the processor is programmed to communicate with a plurality of types of cellular telephones, and wherein the processor is programmed to enable a landline telephone connected to the docking station to send or to receive calls via the cellular telephone connected to the docking station, based on an identified type of the cellular telephone connected to the docking station, by: translating signals transmitted from the landline telephone to the cellular telephone into signals recognizable by the cellular telephone, and translating signals from the cellular telephone to the landline telephone into signals recognizable by the landline telephone.