Method and apparatus for controllling telephone calls using a computer call assistant

Abstract

Systems and methods for monitoring, making, managing and controlling telephone communications with a computer call assistant with an integrated voice/data communications system are disclosed. A call assistant computer application preferably runs on a personal computer (“PC”) coupled to the integrated system over a packet bus. The call assistant exchanges control and/or status packets with the integrated system preferably over a packet bus. The call assistant enables the user to make, receive and control telephone calls, monitor the status of the user's extension, voice mail, etc., and preferably operates with integrated systems capable of transmitting and receiving voice and data in multiple modes. In preferred embodiments, the computer call assistant operates with systems that are capable of multiple native mode voice and data transmissions and receptions with a communications system having a multi-bus structure, including, for example, a time division multiplexed (“TDM”) bus, a packet bus, and a control bus, and multi-protocol framing engines, preferably including subsystem functions such as PBX, voice mail, file server, web server, communications server, telephony server, LAN hub and data router.

1 . A method for initiating a telephone communication using a computer call assistant in an integrated system providing voice and data communications to a plurality of users, comprising the steps of
 initiating the execution of the call assistant of a user on a PC of the user;   registering the call assistant for the user with integrated system, wherein status/control packets are exchanged between the call assistant and the integrated system;   displaying at least one icon that presents status information regarding a telephone extension assigned to the user;   displaying user-highlighted content on the PC of the user;   detecting activation of the at the least one icon;   extracting a telephone number with the call assistant the user from the user-highlighted content;   sending a telephone call initiation control packet from the call assistant to the integrated system; and   initiating a telephone call via a telephone assigned to the user based on the extracted telephone number, wherein the integrated system controls the telephone assigned to the user.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user telephone couples voice communications to a WAN over a TDM bus of the integrated system, wherein data from a packet bus is coupled to the integrated system and coupled to the WAN over the TDM bus.