Patent ID: 7486649

Claim:
A method of adding a communications device to a personal communications network, the method comprising: receiving from the communications device a request to join the personal communications network, where the personal communications network is identified by a personal communications network number, the request comprising a unique identifier that uniquely identifies the communications device and payload data indicating a change request; determining one or more communications services available to the personal communications network from at least one communications service provider, the one or more communications services capable of being used by the communications device; and updating a database containing data corresponding to the personal communications network, the database containing information usable to provide communications services available generally to the personal communications network to particular communications devices within the personal communications network, to reflect the addition of the communications device to the personal communications network, to disconnect in the database the one or more communication services from a second communications device if the one or more communication services are determined to be connected in the database to the second communications device, and to connect in the database the one or more communication services to the communications device by relating in the database the unique identifier that uniquely identifies the communications device and data representing the one or more communications services, where the unique identifier that uniquely identifies the communications device is not a telephone number.