SANTA CLARA, Calif., Aug. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- 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.
Since its establishment in 1987, 8x8 has been awarded sixty-two (62) United States patents covering a variety of voice and video communications technologies.