Patent ID: 7715540

Claim:
A system comprising: a computing device connected to a first network, the computing device configured to execute telecommunications management software; a telephone connected to a second network; a call control facility configured to receive a command corresponding to a telephone control function from the computing device via the first network, and further configured to manage telephony services with the telephone via the second network in response to the received command; a keyboard including an interface to the computing device, a plurality of generic use input devices, and a plurality of dedicated telephone control input devices, each dedicated telephone control input device corresponding to one of a plurality of telephone control functions provided through the telecommunications management software; and a device driver stored and executed by the computing device to detect operation of one of the plurality of dedicated telephone control input devices and allow the corresponding one of the plurality of telephone control functions provided through the telecommunications management software to be initiated in response to said operation, the telecommunications management software being configured to send a command via the first network to the call control facility, the command corresponding to the telephone control function.