1929 results about "Telephone line" patented technology

A method and apparatus for managing institutional telephone activity utilizing a computer-based telephony management unit to connect institutional telephones with outside telephone lines. The unit provides institutional users with fully automated, direct dial and collect calling privileges for local, long distance, and international calls. The unit contains a database for storing the calling privileges and restrictions of institutional users, for recording calling transactions made by the users, and for managing user monetary accounts. The unit can record up to 400 hours of conversation in a digital format. The unit provides various administrative capabilities, including user account management, audit trails, transaction reports, centralized management and report capabilities, and detection of fraudulent calling.

A user can use his personal computer to call up an on-line service system over a telecommunications link such as a telephone line. The On-line system provides all sorts of useful services to the personal computer such as antiviral protection, auxiliary processing capabilities, and other features that are impractical or inconvenient to provide locally.

Method and apparatus for installing a liner material into a host conduit such as, e.g., a sewer pipe, hydrocarbon pipeline, gas line, water line, industrial chemical pipe, or a saltwater line. The liner material may include a compression liner and / or a preliner that is attached to the inner wall of the host conduit to repair or reinforce the host conduit or separate the host conduit from materials transported within the new liner formed from the liner material. Curable resin, slurry, or cement can be placed between the liner material and the host conduit to affix the liner material into place. Before and during curing, a fluid such as air or water can be used to inflate the compression liner outwardly toward the host conduit. Spacers positioned between at least a portion of the liner material and the host conduit may be used to (i) calibrate the thickness of the liner material and curable material that is cured to form the new liner, and (ii) form communication channels adapted to house devices such as wire, cable, fiber optic cable, telephone lines, power lines, etc. The spacers and channels can be selectively inflatable to various sizes to allow calibration of the liner thickness and to form communication channels having a selected width or height. Additionally, the liner material may be formed into a one-piece, tubular lining member having an inflatable enclosure defined between an inner and an outer layer of the lining member. The enclosure can be selectively inflated to (i) calibrate the resulting thickness of the cured liner material, and (ii) form communication channels running along the length of the host conduit.

The present invention provides methods and devices for determining the location, identity and age of a user who desires to initiate a gaming session from an uncontrolled environment such as a home, a gaming kiosk or a hotel room. In some implementations, the user's location is determined in part by reference to a database of land telephone lines and corresponding addresses. The location may be verified by other methods, e.g., by determining the location of an Internet service provider's network device that is near a user's host device or via a cellular telephone network. The user may be asked to input a confirmation number and / or make an oral response during a telephone call to a telephone number associated with the uncontrolled environment. The user may also be prompted to make statements verifying his or her identity, age, a maximum amount available for wagering or other statements.

A system for a caller to control a distinctive ring for a telephone call includes a service switching point and a service control point. The service switching point is operable to receive a feature code and a called directory number, and to issue a query in response to receiving the feature code. The service control point is operable to receive the query and issue a response to the service switching point. The response includes a distinctive ring parameter. Upon receiving the response from the service control point, the service switching point processes the call so that the distinctive ring parameter causes a distinctive ring signal to be applied to a called telephone line associated with the called directory number.