Patent ID: 8498393

Claim:
A multimedia terminal device, comprising: a memory to store instructions; and a provisioning element including a processor coupled to the memory, wherein responsive to executing the instructions, the processor performs operations comprising: selectively establishing a multimedia telephony usage profile for each of a plurality of users sharing the terminal device; and enabling validations of network connections to a service provider's communication system, wherein the telephony usage profile of each user comprises settings selected from a group of telephony features, the telephony usage profile of each user determines operations of the terminal device with respect to that user, a select one of the plurality of users of the terminal device is an administrator and each remaining user in the plurality of users is a limited user, the administrator establishes an administrative setting in the telephony usage profile of each of the plurality of users, each limited user is prevented from modifying the administrative setting, and each limited user establishes a user preference setting in the telephony usage profile of that limited user, wherein the terminal device operates in a communication network of the service provider, the service provider providing the telephony features to the communication network, and wherein a validation of a network connection with respect to a user comprises: receiving input from the user representing an identification number, each valid user having an assigned personal identification number, and if the input matches the personal identification number for the user, presenting the user a setup sequence.