CA2257667A1 - Improved telecommunications network - Google Patents

Abstract

This invention relates to arrangements for interconnecting a plurality of stand-alone switches by data and communication channels (the latter typically used for communicating voice signals) in such a way as to make the plurality of switches act as if they were one switch. According to one arrangement of the invention, a method of controlling a plurality of associated key telephone stations within a set of the stand-alone switches is disclosed. The method includes the steps of grouping the set of stand-alone switches into a symbiotic network, and transmitting first display control data messages, over the data network, to second ones of the switches connected to the stations to control displays of the stations.
The method also includes the steps of transmitting display control messages fromthe second switching systems to the stations based on the receipt of the first message in the switching systems and transmitting, over the data network, a request to the first switches to establish a connection from the line or trunk to the stations.
The final step involves establishing a connection from the incoming trunk to thestations. Advantageously, such an arrangement provides a convenient way of achieving the advantages of a giant switch without requiring the capacity of such a switch and without requiring the geographic concentration of traffic necessary to keep the links to a giant switch reasonably short. Advantageously, a virtual symbiotic network provides an economical and flexible solution to the problem ofproviding services such as wide area Centrex.