Patent ID: 7088808

Claim:
A network access pay telephone for accessing a digital communications network as well as for conventional voice communications, comprising: (a) a housing structure supporting a coin scanner, an escrow unit, and a payphone electronics module, the payphone electronics module having a line connector for connecting an external telephone line, a coin scanner connection for electrically connecting the coin scanner, an escrow unit connection for electrically connecting the escrow unit, and an interface connection, the payphone electronics module having circuitry for managing the conventional voice communications over the external telephone line in response to the coin scanner, the escrow unit, and signals into the interface connection; (b) a front-end interface supported relative to the housing structure and being adapted for feeding the signals into the interface connection of the payphone electronics module; (c) a handset, a hook-switch, and a dialpad, each being supported relative to the housing structure and electrically connectable to the front-end interface; (d) a network computer comprising non-volatile memory, a modem having a pass-through connection to the line connection of the payphone electronics module, a display, an input device, and a local interface port, the display and the input device being supported relative to the housing structure for operator access thereto; and (e) a control module connected to the local interface port and to the front-end interface, the control module also having pass-through connections between the coin scanner and the payphone electronics module and between the escrow unit and the payphone electronics module, the control module and the network computer being implemented for enabling the network access in response to the input device and one of the coin scanner and the local interface port.