Importance

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Abstract

A device for terminating a telephone line and connecting a telephone handset/headset thereto under control of a computer system having a keyboard and a computer, without requiring keyboard replacement or hardware modification inside the computer. The device is connected between a computer and a standard keyboard, enabling the integration of a telephone with a computer system. The device reads the scan codes which are transmitted on the keyboard bus and used by the computer to pass information from the keyboard to the computer I/O port. A keyboard controller in the keyboard provides primary control of the keyboard bus. The device recognizes scan codes which are dedicated to it, and would not otherwise be recognized by the keyboard controller. Thus, the standard keyboard ignores these scan codes, while the device will interpret them as commands to operate telephone functions. These functions include line access and dialing, automatic redial, answering incoming calls, hanging up the line, and monitoring line status. By use of the device, the user can control the foregoing telephone operations via the computer using software designed for this purpose, so that automatic control of telephone functions is possible, to increase overall efficiency. A principal advantage of the device is that it can be used without hardware modification of the computer system, by connection external to the computer, between the computer and the keyboard. Thus, a user can easily complete the connections to integrate the telephone and computer system.

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First Claim