Discovery of phones on a network, such as a LAN

1. A method of discovery of devices on a network, which network comprises a plurality of devices, at least some of which are managed, at least one unmanaged phone, and a telephone controller, said method comprising the steps of:

establishing an address for each of the managed devices, the telephone controller, and said one phone so as to define a plurality of addresses;

establishing a type of each managed device in the network;

determining which of the remaining devices are phones by accessing relevant information in the telephone controller by establishing correspondence between said one phone and its address;

using said correspondence to provide a display of topology of the network including said one phone; and

discovering and displaying the topology, wherein a single port of a managed device is connected to said one phone and a further non-phone device.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 in which the telephone controller is accessed to obtain information stored in a memory of the telephone controller.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 in which said addresses comprise MAC addresses.

4. A method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising the step of converting information relating to the devices, the telephone controller, and said one phone into a visual display on a visual display apparatus representing a physical relationship among the devices, the telephone controller and said one phone.

5. A computer program on a computer readable medium loadable into a digital computer, said computer program comprising software for performing the method of claim 1 .

6. A computer program embodied in a carrier wave, said computer program comprising software for performing the method of claim 1 .

7. A computer program on a computer readable medium or embodied in a carrier wave for use in discovery of devices on a network, which network comprises a plurality of devices, at least some of which are managed, at least one unmanaged phone, and a telephone controller, said computer program comprising:

program step for establishing an address for each of the managed devices;

program step for establishing an address for the telephone controller;

program step for establishing an address for said one phone;

program step for determining which of the remaining devices are phones by accessing relevant information in the telephone controller and establishing correspondence between each of said phones and its address;

program step for using said correspondence to provide a display of a topology of the network including said one phone; and

discovering and displaying the topology, wherein a single port of a managed device is connected to an Ethernet phone and a further non-phone device.

8. A program as claimed in claim 7 in which the telephone controller is accessed to obtain information stored in a memory of the telephone controller.

9. A program as claimed in claim 7 in which said addresses comprise MAC addresses.

10. A program as claimed in claim 7 further comprising the program step of converting information relating to the devices, the telephone controller, and the telephones into a visual display on a visual display apparatus representing a physical relationship among the devices, the telephone controller and the phones.

11. A computer network comprising a plurality of devices, at least some of which are managed, at least one unmanaged phone, and a telephone controller, the network having:

means for establishing an address for each of the managed devices, the telephone controller and said one phone;

means for establishing a type of each managed device in the network, means for determining which of the remaining devices are phones by means for accessing relevant information in the telephone controller by establishing correspondence between each one phone and its address;

means for using said correspondence to provide a display of topology of the network including said one phone; and

means for discovering and displaying the topology, wherein a single port of a managed device is connected to said one phone and a further non-phone device.

12. A computer network as claimed in claim 11 in which the telephone controller is accessed to obtain information stored in a memory of the telephone controller.

13. A computer program on a computer readable medium or embodied in a carrier wave for use in discovery of devices on a network, which network comprises a plurality of devices, at least one of which is managed, at least one unmanaged phone, and a telephone controller, said computer program comprising:

a program step to discover the network, including the managed devices, the telephone controller and to establish MAC addresses of unmanaged phones;

a program step to obtain information from the telephone controller containing an association of MAC addresses to each of said phones;

a program step to find ports of devices with MAC addresses of said phones; and

a program step to determine, in respect of a port on which a MAC address of one of said phones is present, if there is only single MAC address;

if yes, a program step to display a phone icon and relevant details connected directly to the port; and

if no, a program step to determine if there are first and second MAC addresses and if the first MAC address is associated with one of said phones;

if yes, a program step to provide a display of a device with the second MAC address connected to the network via an icon of the phone; and

if no, a program step to display an unmanaged aggregator display cloud.