Patent ID: 7412521

Claim:
A method of identifying a session endpoint for a communication session between a first endpoint associated with a user and a second endpoint in a network, comprising: at the first endpoint generating an endpoint identifier wherein: a combination of the endpoint identifier with user information of the user associated with the first endpoint is unique within the network, the combination identifies the first endpoint independently of an IP address of the first endpoint, the endpoint identifier is the same across a plurality of SIP sessions for the first endpoint, the endpoint identifier is unique to the first endpoint and distinguishes the first endpoint from other endpoints associated with the user, and when a second user establishes a communication session from the first endpoint, a second combination of the endpoint identifier with user information of the second user distinguishes the communication session of the second user from the communication session of the first user, such that the first endpoint can be used by multiple users; at the first endpoint constructing a Session Initiation Protocol compliant request for transmission to the second endpoint, wherein the request further comprises the endpoint identifier; and transmitting the request from the first endpoint to the second endpoint.