Patent ID: 7092379

Claim:
An arrangement for providing telephonic communication which may be selectively transmitted via the Internet using standard Internet protocols, comprising: a telephone; and an interface unit coupled to the telephone and configured and arranged to receive audio information designating a telephonic communication addressee from the telephone, the interface unit including a first output port configured to be coupled to a standard switched telephone communications network, a second output port configured to be coupled to an Internet communications network, and a processing unit configured and arranged to analyze the audio information as a function of Internet protocol connectivity status of the telephonic communication addressee and, in response to the analysis, to determine whether the audio information received from the telephone is to be coupled to the first output port to establish a standard telephonic communication using the standard switched telephone communications network, or if the audio information is to be processed in accordance with the standard Internet transfer protocols and coupled to the second output port to establish an Internet communication using the Internet communications network to communicate the processed audio information in accordance with the standard Internet transfer protocols.