Abstract: A system including a plurality of remotely configurable telephone network communication terminals (102) is adapted to communicate with a programming terminal (134) over a data network (222) by adding a remote interface means (RIM) (202) for each terminal to convert communications between the terminal to or from a format adapted for transmission over the data network, the programming terminal having a modem emulator (202) having communication and programming capabilities to interface the programming terminal with the network; by converting the programming terminal data to a network compatible format, obtaining an address for the RIM, connecting the programming terminal and the RIM via the data network, connecting the RIM and the communication terminal, transmitting the converted programming terminal data to the RIM, reconstituting the converted data to a format suitable for the communication terminal, and transmitting the reconstituted data to the communication terminal.