Patent ID: 6990328

Claim:
A method for routing emergency telephone calls via an IP softphone to a public safety answering point, comprising the steps of: communicating non-emergency telephone calls via a wide area network by the IP softphone; detecting an emergency telephone call being originated by the IP softphone; originating always a direct communication path for the emergency telephone call via an cellular radio interface and a cellular network to the public safety answering point whereby the emergency telephone calls are always communicated via the cellular radio interface and the cellular network to the public safety answering point; communicating the emergency telephone call via the communication path via the cellular network to the public safety answering point whereby the public safety answering point responds to the emergency telephone call and determines a location of the IP Softphone; detecting a termination of the emergency telephone call by the IP softphone; and re-communicating non-emergency telephone calls via the wide area network by the IP Softphone whereby non-emergency telephone calls are always communicated via the wide area network.