Patent ID: 8605870

Claim:
A telecommunications system for associating multiple telephone numbers with a single terminating device, the telecommunications system comprising: a signaling gateway that interfaces to a telephone network and operates as a termination point for a call directed to a subscriber assigned number, wherein the subscriber assigned number is a virtual number having a unique service account and is associated with a terminating device, and wherein the terminating device is also associated with a primary number having a unique service account; a media server for providing an interactive user interface to a party calling the subscriber's virtual number, the media server being operable to: provide an interactive user interface to the calling party; receive and store a message from the calling party directed towards the subscriber; provide a message notification to the subscriber; allow retrieval of stored messages; in response to receiving a call directed toward a virtual number, modify the calling party number such that the call can be distinguished at the subscriber's terminating device from calls directed toward the terminating device's primary number, wherein the modification uniquely associates the number with the virtual number service account and directing the call to the subscriber's associated terminating device; and a provisioning system, accessible over an IP network by the media server, wherein the provisioning system is configured to provide message storage services and message retrieval services associated with the subscriber's virtual number service account.