Patent ID: 7609827

Claim:
A method of operating a switching system to make and receive telephone calls, the method comprising: (a) responding to a request for the making of a call by: (i) obtaining an actual calling party identity assigned to an individual person; (ii) translating the obtained actual calling party identity to obtain a corresponding simulated consistent calling line identity permanently and individually associated with the calling party as an individual person; and (iii) sending a setup signalling message for establishing a call to the called party, the setup signalling message having a calling line identity field containing the obtained corresponding simulated consistent calling line identity, the simulated consistent calling line identity also enabling calls to be delivered to the individual party associated with the simulated CLI by use of translation tables which hold information as to the identity of that individual party and his/her current recorded location; and (b) responding to an incoming call by: (i) using an incoming DNIS to identify a simulated consistent CLI associated with an actual CLI permanently associated with an individual party; and (ii) connecting the incoming call to the current location of the individual party so identified.