Patent ID: 6977923

Claim:
A method of activating an inactive terminal ( 6 ) of a data network ( 1 ), which terminal is connected to a telephone network ( 4 ), for establishing a connection through the data network ( 1 ) between a further terminal ( 5 ) and the terminal ( 6 ) to be activated, comprising: establishing a connection to a server ( 1 ) of the data network ( 1 ) and transmitting an identifier of the terminal ( 6 ) to be activated to the server ( 11 ) of the data network ( 1 ); receiving the identifier at the server ( 11 ) of the data network ( 1 ); interpreting the identifier at the server ( 11 ) of the data network ( 1 ) to determine the telephone number of the terminal ( 6 ) to be activated; making a telephone call from the server ( 11 ) of the data network ( 1 ) through the telephone network ( 4 ) to the terminal ( 6 ) to be activated; signaling the identity of the server ( 11 ) of the data network through the telephone network ( 4 ) to the terminal ( 6 ) to be activated; receiving the telephone call and interpreting the signaling at the terminal ( 6 ) to be activated; terminating the telephone call to the terminal ( 6 ) by the server ( 11 ) of the data network ( 1 ); and establishing a connection from the terminal ( 6 ) to be activated to the data network ( 1 ) if the signaling indicates that the telephone call came from a server ( 11 ) of the data network ( 1 ), wherein the terminal to be activated is a terminal which has not yet established a connection through the data network.