Patent ID: 7830823

Claim:
A method of remote feature control in a network of devices employing the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) comprising: providing a central server including one or more SIP features; providing one or more local SIP enabled devices with a configurable feature, said local SIP enabled devices in communication with said central server, wherein in at least one of said local SIP enabled devices said configurable feature is incompatible with said one or more SIP features on said central server, said central server identifying a corresponding SIP feature; and remotely controlling said configurable feature of said local SIP enabled device with said central server, said central server mapping incompatible configurable features of said one or more local SIP enabled devices to corresponding ones of said one or more SIP features, wherein said central server controls said configurable feature by: receiving feature information regarding said configurable feature, wherein said feature information is sent from said SIP enabled device in a SIP message to said central server and includes a feature mapping and a feature button mapping for a respective said configurable feature, sending feature configuration information from said central server to said SIP enabled device, determining for each of said local SIP enabled devices whether said configurable feature is compatible with said one or more SIP features, and responsive to an incompatibility determination disabling said configurable feature in said SIP enabled device, receiving notification information that indicates said configurable feature has been activated, wherein said notification information is sent from said SIP enabled device to said central server, and performing a functionality of said configurable feature on behalf of said SIP enabled device after receiving said notification information; and wherein said corresponding SIP features perform an equivalent function to mapped said incompatible configurable features.