Patent ID: 8085759

Claim:
A method for operating a communication network, the communication network having a plurality of communication terminals connected to a databank having information of the terminals needed for the terminals to place outgoing calls to a server, the communication terminals comprising a first communication terminal and a second communication terminal, the method comprising: the first communication terminal registering with the server; the second communication terminal sending a first message to the databank to subscribe to receive notification of incoming calls to the first communication terminal, the second communication terminal not registered with the server; in response to the first message, the databank storing data for use in informing the second communication terminal when an incoming call for the first communication terminal is received; the first communication terminal receiving a second message from the server, the second message being sent to establish a call with the first communication terminal; informing the databank that an incoming call is arriving for the first communication terminal; the second communication terminal receiving a third message from the databank or the first communication terminal informing the second communication terminal that the incoming call is arriving at the first communication terminal; the second communication terminal sending a fourth message to one of the first communication terminal and the databank requesting to answer the incoming call for the first communication terminal; the first terminal querying the databank for address information of the second communication terminal used by the second communication terminal to receive calls external to the communication network; and the first terminal sending a fifth message to the server indicating the address information of the second communication terminal such that the incoming call is routed by the server to the second communication terminal.