Most residential telephone service is provided utilizing a wire-based connection to an analog telephone network. This type of connection, known as a connection to the public switched telephone network (“PSTN”) or plain old telephone service (“POTS”) network, has long been the standard for providing residential phone service. A connection to a POTS network typically utilizes twisted pairs of copper wire as the transmission medium between the residence and the telephone network. While POTS networks provide extremely reliable telephone service, telephone users utilizing POTS networks do occasionally experience unavailability of service. Interruptions in service may be caused by electrical storms, equipment failure, broken line connections, and a host of other problems.
When a technical problem occurs that causes the POTS network to become unavailable, residential users until recently were unable to place or receive telephone calls. However, with the increased popularity of modem wireless telephone networks, many individuals subscribe to wireless telephone service in addition to their wire-based analog POTS service. Many times, wireless subscribers will utilize their wireless telephone in the event of a failure of their residential POTS service. Using a wireless telephone as a “backup” to POTS service in this manner may be effective for some subscribers, but can be frustrating for others. For instance, a subscriber may have wireless service associated with a telephone that is physically mounted in their automobile. If the POTS service is interrupted for such a user, they must physically go out to their automobile to make telephone calls. This can be inconvenient and frustrating for a subscriber, especially if the subscriber has to go out into the rain or snow to make a telephone call from their automobile. In other cases, a subscriber may be unable to utilize their wireless telephone as a backup to their POTS service because the battery in their wireless telephone is not charged, or if the battery drains due to extended use as a backup. In such cases, a subscriber would simply be unable to utilize their wireless telephone service as a backup to their POTS telephone service. In a situation such as this, it is desirable to have a backup to POTS service that is more conveniently accessible than wireless telephone.
In addition to utilizing wireless telephone service as an occasional backup to POTS service, some wireless subscribers occasionally choose to utilize their wireless telephones instead of their POTS service when at home. Use of a wireless telephone in this manner is driven primarily by the low cost of wireless telephone service, especially on nights and weekends when many wireless service plans offer “free” wireless airtime minutes. Some wireless service plans even offer “free” long distance service during these times. In such a scenario, a wireless telephone subscriber may utilize their wireless telephone to place calls during a certain time period, such as nights and weekends, and utilize their POTS service to place calls during other time periods, such as during the day when wireless service is charged at peak rates. As with using a wireless telephone as a backup, using a wireless telephone as an occasional supplement to POTS service can be inconvenient. For instance, in order to use a wireless telephone in this manner a subscriber must keep track of the rates for wired and wireless telephone calls during different times of the day and must always have a charged wireless telephone ready.
As a result of the low cost of wireless telephone service, some wireless subscribers have even decided to forego residential POTS service altogether. Instead, these users utilize wireless telephone service as their only telephone service, whether at the office, on the road, or at home. However, as with POTS service, wireless telephone service may become interrupted due to electrical storms, technical failure, excessive use of available capacity, and for other reasons. When wireless telephone service becomes unavailable, subscribers who do not have residential POTS service, and instead utilize only wireless telephone service, are completely unable to place or receive telephone calls. In a situation such as this, it is desirable to have a conveniently accessible backup to wireless telephone service.
Another drawback to utilizing wireless telephone service as the sole telephone service for a residence is that a single wireless telephone is the only telephone for making or receiving calls within the entire household. Because the analog POTS wiring and telephones in the home are incompatible with all wireless telephone networks, the convenience offered by having multiple extension telephones in a home cannot be realized when using wireless telephone service as the only service. In a situation such as this, it would be more convenient if the analog POTS wiring and telephones could be utilized to place and receive calls on a wireless telephone network.
Therefore, in light of the above, there is a need for a gateway apparatus that can provide an automatic and convenient backup to traditional POTS service using a wireless telephone network. Additionally, there is a need for a gateway apparatus that can provide telephone service to wired POTS telephones through a wireless telephone network. Furthermore, there is a need for a gateway apparatus that can utilize either a wired telephone network or a wireless telephone network as a telephone network for one or more wired telephones, the primary network being chosen based upon a user-specified time schedule or other factor.