Application Independent Call Initiation

1 . A method of application independent telephone call initiation, the method comprising:

providing a computer having a display, an input device, an application program and a telephone call module,

the application program comprising an integrated body of computer software comprised of one or more files, modules or parts that calls operating system services and performs work for a user, and

the telephone call module comprising software distinct from the application program and operating apart from the application program;

the application program causing a telephone number to be displayed on the display;

the telephone call module recognizing user activation of the displayed telephone number with the input device; and

the telephone call module, in response to recognizing user activation of the displayed telephone number, causing a signal to be sent to a switch instructing the switch to initiate a telephone call between the displayed telephone number and a predefined telephone number associated with a telephone adjacent to the computer.

2 . The method of application independent telephone call initiation of claim 1 , wherein the causing includes transmitting the predefined telephone number and the displayed telephone number to the switch.

3 . The method of application independent telephone call initiation of claim 1 further comprising:

the telephone call module receiving call status information from the switch; and

the telephone call module causing the call status information to be provided to the user.

4 . The method of application independent telephone call initiation of claim 3 , wherein the step of the telephone call module causing the call status information to be provided to the user comprises displaying the call status information.

5 . The method of application independent telephone call initiation of claim 3 , wherein the call status information comprises a status selected from the group including connected, dropped, busy and closed.

6 . The method of application independent telephone call initiation of claim 1 further comprising the telephone call module sending a call initiation message for causing the signal to be sent to the switch.

7 . The method of application independent telephone call initiation of claim 6 wherein the telephone call module sends the call initiation message directly to the switch.

8 . The method of application independent telephone call initiation of claim 6 wherein the telephone call module sends the call initiation message to a server, the sending step further comprising opening a dedicated TCP connection to authenticate the user and start a call session with the server.

9 . The method of application independent telephone call initiation of claim 6 wherein the call initiation message comprises one or more HTTP requests.

10 . The method of application independent telephone call initiation of claim 6 wherein the call initiation message comprises one or more SIP messages sent on a data network.

11 . A computer program product stored on a machine readable medium comprising computer software distinct from an application program and operating apart from the application program, the computer software having instructions for causing a processor to:

recognize activation by a user of a telephone number displayed by an application program; and

in response to recognizing the activation of the displayed telephone number, cause a signal to be sent to a switch instructing the switch to initiate a telephone call between the displayed telephone number and a predefined telephone number associated with a telephone adjacent to a computer in which the processor is installed.

12 . The computer program product of claim 11 further comprising computer software having instructions for causing the processor to:

receive call status information from the switch; and

cause the call status information to be provided to the user.

13 . The computer program product of claim 12 , wherein the computer software having instructions to cause the call status information to be provided to the user comprises instructions to display the call status information.

14 . The computer program product of claim 12 , wherein the call status information comprises a status selected from the group including connected, dropped, busy and closed.

15 . The computer program product of claim 11 further comprising computer software having instructions for causing the processor to send a call initiation message for causing the signal to be sent to the switch.

16 . The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the instructions for causing the processor to send the call initiation message comprise instructions for sending the call initiation message to the switch.

17 . The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the instructions for causing the processor to send the call initiation message comprise instructions for causing the processor to:

open a dedicated TCP connection to authenticate the user;

start a call session with the server; and

send the call initiation message to the server.

18 . The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the call initiation message comprises one or more HTTP requests.

19 . The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the call initiation message comprises one or more SIP messages sent on a data network.

20 . A general purpose computer comprising the computer program product of claim 11 , the application program, a display for displaying the telephone number, a user input device for receiving the activation, and a communications interface for sending the signal to the switch.

21 . The computer program product of claim 11 wherein the computer software comprises a second application program.

22 . The computer program product of claim 11 wherein the computer software comprises a dynamic linked library.

23 . A client computer for application independent telephone call initiation, the client computer comprising:

a user input device;

a display device;

a processor; and

a memory;

wherein the processor and the memory comprise circuits and software for:

recognizing activation by a user of a telephone number displayed by an application program, and

in response to recognizing the activation of the displayed telephone number, causing a signal to be sent to a switch instructing the switch to initiate a telephone call between the displayed telephone number and a predefined telephone number associated with a telephone adjacent to the client computer.

24 . The client computer for application independent telephone call initiation of claim 23 wherein the processor and the memory further comprise circuits and software for:

receiving call status information from the switch; and

causing the call status information to be provided to the user.

25 . The client computer for application independent telephone call initiation of claim 24 , wherein the processor and the memory further comprise circuits and software for displaying the call status information.

26 . The client computer for application independent telephone call initiation of claim 24 , wherein the call status information comprises a status selected from the group including connected, dropped, busy and closed.

27 . The client computer for application independent telephone call initiation of claim 23 wherein the processor and the memory further comprise circuits and software for sending a call initiation message for causing the signal to be sent to the switch.

28 . The client computer for application independent telephone call initiation of claim 27 wherein the processor and the memory further comprise circuits and software for sending the call initiation message to the switch.

29 . The client computer for application independent telephone call initiation of claim 27 wherein the processor and the memory further comprise circuits and software for:

opening a dedicated TCP connection to authenticate the user;

starting a call session with the server; and

sending the call initiation message to the server.

30 . The client computer for application independent telephone call initiation of claim 27 wherein the call initiation message comprises one or more HTTP requests.

31 . The client computer for application independent telephone call initiation of claim 27 wherein the call initiation message comprises one or more SIP messages sent on a data network.

32 . The client computer for application independent telephone call initiation of claim 23 wherein the software comprises an application program and a telephone call module distinct from the application program.

33 . A method of server-based telephone call initiation, the method comprising:

providing a server having a network application program and a telephone call module;

the application program sending a message to a client computer for causing a first telephone number to be displayed by the client computer;

the application program receiving a message from the client computer that the displayed telephone number has been activated; and

the telephone call module, in response to receiving the message, causing a signal to be sent to a switch instructing the switch to initiate a telephone call between the first telephone number and a second, predefined telephone number associated with a telephone adjacent to the client computer.

34 . The method of server-based telephone call initiation of claim 33 , wherein the causing includes transmitting the first telephone number and the second telephone number to the switch.

35 . The method of server-based telephone call initiation of claim 33 further comprising:

the telephone call module receiving call status information from the switch; and

the telephone call module sending the call status information to the client computer.

36 . The method of server-based telephone call initiation of claim 33 further comprising the telephone call module sending a call initiation message for causing the signal to be sent to the switch.

37 . The method of server-based telephone call initiation of claim 36 wherein the telephone call module sends the call initiation message directly to the switch.

38 . The method of server-based telephone call initiation of claim 36 wherein the telephone call module sends the call initiation message to another server.

39 . The method of server-based telephone call initiation of claim 36 wherein the call initiation message comprises one or more HTTP requests.

40 . The method of server-based telephone call initiation of claim 36 wherein the call initiation message comprises one or more SIP messages sent on a data network.

41 . A computer program product stored on a machine readable medium comprising computer software having instructions for causing a processor to:

send a message to a client computer for causing a first telephone number to be displayed by the client computer;

receive a message from the client computer that the displayed telephone number has been activated; and

in response to receiving the message, cause a signal to be sent to a switch instructing the switch to initiate a telephone call between the first telephone number and a second, predefined telephone number associated with a telephone adjacent to the client computer.

42 . The computer program product of claim 41 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to transmit the first telephone number and the second telephone number to the switch.

43 . The computer program product of claim 41 further comprising instructions for causing the processor to:

receive call status information from the switch; and

send the call status information to the client computer.

44 . The computer program product of claim 41 further comprising instructions for causing the processor to send a call initiation message for causing the signal to be sent to the switch.

45 . The computer program product of claim 44 wherein the call initiation message is sent directly to the switch.

46 . The computer program product of claim 44 wherein the call initiation message is sent to a server.

47 . The computer program product of claim 44 wherein the call initiation message comprises one or more HTTP requests.

48 . The computer program product of claim 44 wherein the call initiation message comprises one or more SIP messages sent on a data network.