Patent ID: 7031454

Claim:
An interface apparatus for interfacing a telephony appliance to a telephone switching system, the interface apparatus comprising: a. a signal path through the apparatus for communicating signals between the telephony appliance and the telephone switching system; b. means for identifying a first communication protocol utilized by the telephony appliance from among a plurality of communication protocols and for configuring the signal path according to the first communication protocol, wherein configuring the signal path includes dynamically programming a control circuit within the signal path according to the identified first communication protocol; and c. means for identifying a second communication protocol utilized by the telephone switching system from among the plurality of communication protocols and for configuring the signal path according to the second communication protocol, wherein configuring the signal path according to the second communication protocol includes programming the control circuit according to conversion parameters associated with the identified second communication protocol, further wherein the first communication protocol and the second communication protocol must first be identified before the telephony appliance and the telephone switching system begin communicating with one another.