Patent ID: 7657012

Claim:
A telephone terminal connected to a communication network that transmits voice packets and is connected to a terminal control unit, the telephone terminal comprising: a display configured to display a character string representing an operational state of the telephone terminal in a plurality of display lines, the operational state relating to a telephone call placed to or from the telephone terminal; an input buffer that temporarily stores text display information including the character string, the text display information being received from the terminal control unit via the communication network; an acquisition unit that acquires display control information from the terminal control unit via the communication network, the display control information including a format identifier for identifying a display layout used for dividing the character string into a plurality of character strings for display in the plurality of display lines, the plurality of character strings including a character string identifying a party who is placing or receiving the telephone call; a storage unit that stores a plurality of display layouts, including the display layout identified by the format identifier; and a controller that reads the text display information stored in the input buffer, divides the character string into the plurality of character strings based on the display layout identified by the format identifier, and controls the display to display the character strings in the plurality of display lines, the plurality of character strings being divided such that the character string identifying the party who is placing or receiving the telephone call is displayed within one of the plurality of display lines.