Patent ID: 7852831

Claim:
A Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) system with one or more processors, comprising in combination: a serial line interface circuit (SLIC) configured for interfacing with a telephone handset, detecting when the telephone handset is off hook and initiate ringing on the telephone handset for voice calls; a data access arrangement (DAA) circuit configured for connecting to a telephony network and initiating and receiving voice calls through the telephone handset; an audio coder/decoder (CODEC) for encoding and decoding voice information for VoIP voice calls; a universal serial bus (USB) for providing Internet Protocol (IP) communications for VoIP voice communications between the VoIP system and a network device and providing the network device with operating power; a USB port for accepting a USB cable to connect a network device to the USB port; a caller identification decoder for providing caller identification of an incoming voice call; a foreign exchange office (FXO) interface for interfacing with a telephony switch on a telephony network and for providing an off-hook and an on-hook indicator to a network device; a foreign exchange solution (FXS) interface providing voice calls to and from the telephony network and providing dial tone, battery current and ring voltage; a peer-to-peer (P2P) VoIP application for providing VoIP voice communications via a communications network using Internet Protocol (IP) data packets via the USB port, FXO interface or FXS interface, wherein the VoIP system allows the network device to provide and control VoIP voice communications via virtual private network infrastructure interconnecting other network devices using the same VoIP system using IP data packets on the communications network but without using any public VoIP gateways or any public VoIP services on the communications network; and a plurality of P2P gateways each with one or more processors and including the P2P VoIP application, wherein the plurality of P2P gateways communicate and share data directly with each other, provide a P2P networking model for VoIP communications on the communications network and provide private P2P VoIP communications on the communications network.