Telecommunications feature server

Claim 2

The telecommunications system of claim 1 wherein: the second telecommunications controller operates as a telecommunications feature server for the first telecommunications controller.

Claim 3

The telecommunications system of claim 1 wherein: the first telecommunications controller responds to features being provided by the second telecommunications controller to the first telecommunications endpoints by providing both the basic and the other telecommunications connections that implement the provided features to the first telecommunications endpoints.

Claim 4

The telecommunications system of claim 1 wherein: the first telecommunications controller provides features other than said telecommunications features to the first telecommunications endpoints independently of the second telecommunications controller.

Claim 5

The telecommunications system of claim 1 wherein: the second telecommunications controller is a telephone switching system, the basic telecommunications connections are voice connections, the first telecommunications endpoints are telephones, and the telecommunications features are telephony features.

Claim 6

The telecommunications system of claim 1 further comprising: first means in the first telecommunications controller for receiving a request from a first telecommunications endpoint for a telecommunications connection; second means in the first telecommunications controller cooperative with the first means, for sending the received request to the second telecommunications controller; third means in the second telecommunications controller responsive to receipt of the request sent by the second means, for processing the request according to the features being provided by the second telecommunications controller to the first telecommunications endpoints to determine a telecommunications connection that is to be established in response to the request; fourth means in the second telecommunications controller cooperative with the third means, for sending to the first telecommunications controller an indication of the telecommunications connection that is to be established in response to the request; fifth means in the first telecommunications controller responsive to receipt of the indication, for establishing the indicated telecommunications connection.

Claim 7

The telecommunications system of claim 6 wherein: the request is for a telecommunications connection between a pair of endpoints, and the third means process the request according to the features being provided by the second telecommunications controller to the pair of endpoints.

Claim 8

The telecommunications system of claim 6 wherein: the request specifies at least one of the basic and the other telecommunications connections as a requested type of telecommunications connection, and the fifth means establish the requested type of the telecommunications connection.

Claim 9

The telecommunications system of claim 6 wherein: the fifth means determine at least one of the basic and the other telecommunications connections to be a requested type of telecommunications connection to be established in response to the request, and respond to receipt of the indication by establishing the indicated telecommunications connection as a telecommunications connection of the determined type.

Claim 10

The telecommunications system of claim 1 wherein: basic telecommunications connections include narrow-band connections, and the other telecommunications connections include broad-band connections.

Claim 11

The telecommunications system of claim 10 wherein: the narrow-band connections include voice connections, and the broad-band connections include data connections, and video or image connections.

Claim 12

The telecommunications system of claim 11 wherein: the telecommunications features are voice telephony features.

Claim 13

The telecommunications system of claim 1 wherein: the second telecommunications controller includes a database indicating, for each first and second telecommunications endpoint, the features being provided to said endpoint.

Claim 14

The telecommunications system of claim 13 wherein: the database further indicates, for each first and second telecommunications endpoint, the present communications status of said endpoint.

Claim 15

A telecommunications system comprising: a telecommunications controller providing both voice and other telecommunications connections between a plurality of telecommunications endpoints; a telephone switching system connected to the telecommunications controller, providing telephone connections but not the other telecommunications connections between a plurality of telephone sets independently of the telecommunications controller, and further providing telephony features to both (a) the telephone sets for the telephone connections independently of the telecommunications controller, and (b) the telecommunications endpoints for both the voice and the other telecommunications connections through the telecommunications controller.

Claim 16

The telecommunications system of claim 15 wherein: the telecommunications controller and the telephone switching system cooperate to provide voice connections between the telecommunications endpoints and the telephone sets.

Claim 17

The telecommunications system of claim 15 wherein: the telephone switching system includes, and operates under control of, a stored-program controller; and the stored-program controller is connected to the telecommunications controller and operates as a telephony feature server for the telecommunications controller.

Claim 18

A telecommunications system comprising: a first and a second stored-program-controlled telephone switching system connected to each other and each including, and operating under control of, its own stored-program controller; the first telephone switching system providing telecommunications connections independently of the second telephone switching system between a plurality of first telephone sets that are connected to the first telephone switching system, and further providing telecommunications features to the plurality of first telephone sets; the second telephone switching system providing telecommunications connections independently of the first telephone switching system between a plurality of second telephone sets that are connected to the second telephone switching system, and further providing telecommunications features to the plurality of second telephone sets; and the first and the second telephone switching systems cooperating to provide telecommunications connections between a first telephone set of the plurality of first telephone sets and a second telephone set of the plurality of second telephone sets, with the stored-program controller of one of the first and the second telephone switching systems acting as a telecommunications feature server for the stored-program controller of the other of the first and the second telephone switching systems to provide the telecommunications features for both the first telephone set and the second telephone set, to effect telecommunications feature transparency between the first and the second telephone switching systems for the connection between the first and the second telephone sets.

Claim 19

The telecommunications system of claim 17 wherein: the first telephone switching system provides the telecommunications features for the connections between telephone sets of only the plurality of first telephone sets independently of the second telephone switching system; and the second telephone switching system provides the telecommunications features for the connections between telephone sets of only the plurality of second telephone sets independently of the first telephone switching system.