Managing Phone Numbers Associated With Multi-Mode Communication Devices
A contact server receives a request to initiate an out-bound call to a recipient device. The request identifies the caller device by a cellular network phone number. The contact server establishes a communication link with the caller device and determines its associated data network phone number. The contact server establishes a link with the recipient device, indicating that the data network phone number is the source of call, and bridges the two links. The contact server may also receive a request for an in-bound call to a recipient device. The request identifies the recipient device by its data network phone number. The contact server establishes a link with the caller device and determines a cellular network phone number associated with the recipient device. The contact server establishes a link with the recipient device using its cellular network phone number and bridges the two links.
1 . A method for establishing a communication session, comprising:
at a contact server hosted within an Internet Protocol (IP) network:
receiving an initiation request from a caller device to initiate a communication session with a recipient device, the initiation request identifying the caller device by a first telephone number associated with a mobile cellular network and the recipient device by a recipient device identifier;
establishing a first communication link with the caller device over the mobile cellular network upon receipt of the initiation request;
retrieving a second telephone number for the caller device, the second telephone number associated with a data network;
transmitting a participation request to the recipient device via the recipient device identifier to establish a communication session with the caller device, the participation request indicating that the second telephone number for the caller device associated with data network is the source of the participation request;
establishing a second communication link with the recipient device upon receipt of an acknowledgment of the participation request; and
joining the first communication link with the second communication link to establish the communication session.
2 . The method of claim 1 , the step of retrieving a second telephone number for the caller device comprising:
accessing a database having mobile cellular network telephone numbers that correspond with data network telephone numbers;
looking up the mobile cellular network telephone number received in the initiation request; and
retrieving a corresponding data network telephone number associated with the mobile cellular network telephone number.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the recipient device identifier is a telephone number.
4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the second communication link spans one or more of a mobile cellular network, a packet based Voice-over IP (VoIP) network, and a public switched telephone network (PSTN).
5 . A method for establishing a communication session, comprising:
at a contact server hosted within an Internet Protocol (IP) network:
receiving an initiation request from a caller device to initiate a communication session with a recipient device, the initiation request identifying the caller device by a caller device identifier and the recipient device by a first telephone number associated with a data network;
establishing a first communication link with the caller device upon receipt of the initiation request;
retrieving a second telephone number for the recipient device, the second telephone number associated with a mobile cellular network;
transmitting a participation request to the recipient device over the mobile cellular network via the second telephone number to establish a communication session with the caller device;
establishing a second communication link with the recipient device over the mobile cellular network upon receipt of an acknowledgment of the participation request; and
joining the first communication link with the second communication link to establish the communication session.
6 . The method of claim 5 , the step of retrieving a second telephone number for the recipient device comprising:
accessing a database having mobile cellular network telephone numbers that correspond with data network telephone numbers;
looking up the data network telephone number received in the initiation request; and
retrieving a corresponding mobile cellular network telephone number associated with the data network telephone number.
7 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the caller device identifier is a telephone number.
8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the first communication link spans one or more of a mobile cellular network, a packet based Voice-over IP (VoIP) network, and a public switched telephone network (PSTN).
9 . A system comprising:
a contact server in an Internet Protocol (IP) based packet data network operative to:
receive an initiation request from a caller device to initiate a communication session with a recipient device, the initiation request identifying the caller device by a first telephone number associated with a mobile cellular network and the recipient device by a recipient device identifier;
establish a first communication link with the caller device over the mobile cellular network upon receipt of the initiation request;
retrieve a second telephone number for the caller device, the second telephone number associated with a data network;
transmit a participation request to the recipient device via the recipient device identifier to establish a communication session with the caller device, the participation request indicating that the second telephone number for the caller device associated with data network is the source of the participation request;
establish a second communication link with the recipient device upon receipt of an acknowledgment of the participation request; and
join the first communication link with the second communication link to establish the communication session.
10 . The system of claim 9 , the contact server further operative to:
access a database having mobile cellular network telephone numbers that correspond with data network telephone numbers;
look up the mobile cellular network telephone number received in the initiation request; and
retrieve a corresponding data network telephone number associated with the mobile cellular network telephone number.
11 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the recipient device identifier is a telephone number.
12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the second communication link spans one or more of a mobile cellular network, a packet based Voice-over IP (VoIP) network, and a public switched telephone network (PSTN).
13 . A system comprising:
a contact server in an Internet Protocol (IP) based packet data network operative to:
receive an initiation request from a caller device to initiate a communication session with a recipient device, the initiation request identifying the caller device by a caller device identifier and the recipient device by a first telephone number associated with a data network;
establish a first communication link with the caller device upon receipt of the initiation request;
retrieve a second telephone number for the recipient device, the second telephone number associated with a mobile cellular network;
transmit a participation request to the recipient device over the mobile cellular network via the second telephone number to establish a communication session with the caller device;
establish a second communication link with the recipient device over the mobile cellular network upon receipt of an acknowledgment of the participation request; and
join the first communication link with the second communication link to establish the communication session.
14 . The system of claim 13 , the contact server further operative to:
access a database having mobile cellular network telephone numbers that correspond with data network telephone numbers;
look up the data network telephone number received in the initiation request; and
retrieve a corresponding mobile cellular network telephone number associated with the data network telephone number.
15 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the caller device identifier is a telephone number.
16 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the first communication link spans one or more of a mobile cellular network, a packet based Voice-over IP (VoIP) network, and a public switched telephone network (PSTN).