8x8 has been awarded US Patent No. 7,092,379 for technology used in routing telephony signals over the Internet

August 16, 2006

2 Min Read

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- 8x8, Inc. (Nasdaq: EGHT), provider of Packet8 broadband Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and videophone communications services, today announced that it has been awarded U.S. Patent No. 7,092,379 for technology used in routing telephony signals over the Internet and standard switched telephone communications networks.

Claim 1, the first of twenty-nine (29) allowed claims, of the patent entitled "Internet Telephony Arrangement and Method," reads:

  • 1. An arrangement for providing telephonic communication which may be selectively transmitted via the Internet using standard Internet protocols, comprising: a telephone; and an interface unit coupled to the telephone and configured and arranged to receive audio information designating a telephonic communication addressee from the telephone, the interface unit including a first output port configured to be coupled to a standard switched telephone communications network, a second output port configured to be coupled to an Internet communications network, and a processing unit configured and arranged to analyze the audio information as a function of Internet protocol connectivity status of the telephonic communication addressee and, in response to the analysis, to determine whether the audio information received from the telephone is to be coupled to the first output port to establish a standard telephonic communication using the standard switched telephone communications network, or if the audio information is to be processed in accordance with the standard Internet transfer protocols and coupled to the second output port to establish an Internet communication using the Internet communications network to communicate the processed audio information in accordance with the standard Internet transfer protocols.

"This is the second fundamental VoIP technology patent 8x8 has received this summer, reflective of the pioneering research and development advances 8x8 has produced dating back to the early days of VoIP," stated Bryan R. Martin, 8x8's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "8x8 has been inventing VoIP-specific technologies since before 1998 and communications technologies, in general, since 1990. 8x8 continues to pursue VoIP-related technological advances and new inventions today as embodied by the services offered under our Packet8 voice and video communications service brand," concluded Mr. Martin.

8x8 Inc. (Nasdaq: EGHT)

Subscribe and receive the latest news from the industry.
Join 62,000+ members. Yes it's completely free.

You May Also Like