Patent ID: 7266195

Claim:
A communication system, comprising: phone line side circuitry that is configured to be coupled to a telephone network, said phone line circuitry including hookswitch circuitry and at least one capacitor; and surge clamp circuitry within the phone line side circuitry, the surge clamp circuitry being configured to activate one or more components of said hookswitch circuitry upon occurrence of a longitudinal surge event to discharge any voltage present across said at least one capacitor; wherein said surge clamp circuitry is configured to activate said one or more components of said hookswitch circuitry only when said longitudinal surge event exceeds a threshold current value; and wherein said surge clamp circuitry is configured to selectively activate one or more components of said hookswitch circuitry only when said longitudinal surge event produces a current to ground through said surge clamp circuitry that exceeds a selected threshold current value.