Patent ID: 7480257

Claim:
A first IP (Internet Protocol) telephone terminal connectable to any of a plurality of second IP telephone terminals over an IP network, each of the first and second IP telephone terminals having a telephone number and an IP address allotted thereto, said first IP telephone terminal comprising: a communication section for transmitting and receiving data over the IP network to and from the plurality of second IP telephone terminals on a peer-to-peer connection basis, said communication section transmitting the telephone number of a desired one of said second IP telephone terminals over the IP network to more than one of said second IP telephone terminals when said first IP telephone terminal originates a call to the desired one of said second IP telephone terminals; and a comparing section for comparing a telephone number received over the IP network by said communication section from one of said second IP telephone terminals with the telephone number allotted to said first IP telephone terminal to produce a result from the comparison in dependence upon whether or not the telephone number received coincides with the telephone number allotted to said first IP telephone terminal.