Abstract: An arrangement is employed where a switching unit that conferences a remote telephone with other telephones pursuant to requests that originate via a digital connection from a site that includes the remote telephone. In one illustrative embodiment, the switching unit is an ISDN telephone coupled to a PBX. The remote telephone is connected to a conference point within the PBX via the PSTN. The requests from the remote site originate from a computer, and the digital connection comprises a packet network. Advantageously, the communication through the packet network is encrypted. Conferencing is initiated and controlled by the computer at the remote site, by communicating with the PBX via the ISDN telephone. In another embodiment the switching unit is adapted to create and maintain a plurality of conference calls, pursuant to control signals arriving at a port of the arrangement that is part of the digital connection.

Abstract: An arrangement that includes at least two PBXs interconnected by a network employs CTI ports to control operation of the PBXs. Through such control, a user can set up a telephonic presence in a visited PBX such that, to the user and to all others who interact with the user, it appears that the user is at the user's office, rather than at an office that is served by the visited PBX. This is effected by forwarding calls that are destined to the user at the user's office to the visited PBX, and by translating all dialing commands of the user at the visited PBX, and acting upon the translated commands, so as to provide the user with the features available to the user at the user's office while presenting an appearance to called parties that the user is at the user's office.

Abstract: A telephone answering system that automatically dials a specified telephone number left by a caller in conjunction with a message left for a message recipient. The caller is given an option to leave such a number. In the case the caller has left such a number, the message recipient is given an option to have that number automatically dialed. If the message recipient chooses that option, the number as specified by the caller is automatically dialed, and the connection between the telephone line of the message recipient and the telephone answering system is terminated. The present invention thus provides great convenience to subscribers of telephone answering systems when calling back previous callers who have left messages.

Abstract: A testing and recording system is disclosed for determining and recording the cable pair-line equipment assignments in a telephone central office. Using a multipair shoe on the main frame appearances of the cable pair, an off-hook condition is simulated successively on each of a plurality of idle cable pairs. At the same time, the dial tone markers are monitored to determine which line equipment responds to the off-hook condition. If the off-hook test condition is of very brief duration and takes place during times of low central office traffic, there is a high probability that only one off-hook condition will occur during the test interval. If only one dial tone marker response occurs during this brief interval, the cable pair identification and line equipment identification are recorded to create a record of this assignment. Alternatively, a tone associated with each dial tone marker is detected to ascertain which marker responded to the simulated off-hook condition.