Communication between electronic devices is becoming ubiquitous as data communication networks expand into the very fabric of our society. Once limited to the laboratory, data communication networks now connect nearly every imaginable electronic device, including large mainframe computers, mini or microcomputers, personal or handheld computers, personal digital assistants, and electrical controllers such as light switches and thermostats. Even devices that use simple microprocessors with small amounts of memory can operate over limited-bandwidth networks. Using a proper interface, many of these electronic devices can connect to larger communications networks over standard phone lines or cable television lines. Wireless networks allow portable electronic devices, such as personal digital assistants, cellular telephones, or interactive pagers, to connect to more traditional, wired networks. Thus, the ease with which an average user manipulates his or her networked, electronic environment bears directly on the frequency of use and ultimate satisfaction derived from advances in technology.
For example, call forwarding has been a common feature of communication networks for a number of years. And yet, calls are frequently not forwarded for a variety of reasons, including user location uncertainty, security concerns, or inconvenient command requirements.
One device known in the prior art is U.S. Pat. No. 5,197,092 to Bamburak. Bamburak discloses a call forwarding notification system using a receiving station (or “holster”), including a standard phone connected to a landline system (i.e., the PSTN), and a personal communicator (i.e., a cellular telephone) connected to a wireless system. When the cell phone is placed in the receiving station, the receiving station's phone number is sent to the wireless network central exchange, using the call forwarding update number so that all future calls to the cell phone are forwarded to the receiving station over the landline system (i.e., the cell phone's call forwarding feature is turned on). Bamburak also discloses that the receiving station's phone number may be sent to the wireless network central exchange via either the landline system or the wireless system. However, the receiving station and cell phone must be able to communicate with one another via a two-way interface. In Bamburak's “best mode”, the cell phone's call forwarding update number and system identification (SID) number are stored in the cell phone and communicated to the receiving station, while in Bamburak's “variation”, the receiving station's phone number is stored in the receiving station and communicated to the cell phone.
Bamburak's call forwarding notification system, as well as other systems known in the prior art, fails to satisfy the needs of the average user when confronted with task of controlling his networked, electronic environment. For example, Bamburak fails to discuss whether call forwarding is turned off when the cell phone is removed from the receiving station. Bamburak also fails to teach or suggest that other telecommunications features, such as voice messaging, may be automatically controlled or even that other network devices, such as home automation devices or security systems, can be conveniently controlled. Furthermore, Bamburak fails to disclose whether an active phone call can be transferred from the cell phone to the receiving station when the cell phone is placed in the receiving station, nor does he address whether this transfer can be accomplished without an incoming ring signal. And Bamburak discusses call forwarding in the context of a single phone number (i.e., the cell phone) and fails to consider the advantages of conveniently manipulating all of the phone numbers typically associated with an average user (e.g., cell phone, home phone, multiple work phones, etc.).
Thus, there is a need in the art for a simple and intuitive method for notifying all the appropriate network communications devices that a user has arrived at a particular place, and for those devices to automatically reconfigure the user's communication infrastructure in an appropriate way.