Abstract: The invention relates to a software object, more particularly a software Name Service object providing facilities for supporting transparent container objects. The software container objects contain a group of software objects herein referred to as fine grain objects, the fine grain objects communicating with external objects through the container's interface. This invention permits objects in the distributed system to communicate with specific ones of the fine grain objects within containers without requiring the Name Service to store an entry for each fine grain object. This allows a reduction in the size of the data structures within the Name Service and an improved usage of system resources. The Name Service stores an entry for a given container object including a range of fine grain objects implemented within the given container.

Abstract: A key telephone system, having ports for connection to telephone lines of a telephone exchange and ports for connection of terminal apparatus including key telephone sets, is provided with the ability to distinguish if an intended call or feature access involves more than the key telephone system. If so, a signalling protocol of the telephone exchange is emulated on behalf of the terminal apparatus and transmitted via one of the telephone lines whereby the progress of the call or feature access continues, as if a user of the terminal apparatus had initiated the signalling protocol of the telephone exchange.