Patent ID: 7995611

Claim:
A method for selecting one of a plurality of VoIP phone protocols to establish a VoIP phone connection in a communication network, comprising: listening on a multiplicity of available IP ports of a first VoIP phone device for an incoming call, the incoming call utilizing at least one of a predetermined plurality of VoIP phone protocols, the plurality of VoIP phone protocols co-existing on the first VoIP phone device; detecting the incoming call originating from a second VoIP phone device based upon the listening on the multiplicity of IP ports, the first VoIP phone device checking for availability of a communication line after detecting the incoming call, and in response to detecting an available communication line, determining which one of the plurality of VoIP phone protocols is associated with the incoming call; and establishing a VoIP phone connection on the available communication line with the second VoIP phone device utilizing the VoIP phone protocol determined to be associated with the incoming call.