CA2126897C - Telephone call notification feature - Google Patents
Telephone call notification featureInfo
- Publication number
- CA2126897C CA2126897C CA002126897A CA2126897A CA2126897C CA 2126897 C CA2126897 C CA 2126897C CA 002126897 A CA002126897 A CA 002126897A CA 2126897 A CA2126897 A CA 2126897A CA 2126897 C CA2126897 C CA 2126897C
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- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- station
- call
- telephone
- called
- calling
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired - Fee Related
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Classifications
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
- H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
- H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
- H04M3/48—Arrangements for recalling a calling subscriber when the wanted subscriber ceases to be busy
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
- H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
- H04M3/428—Arrangements for placing incoming calls on hold
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04Q—SELECTING
- H04Q11/00—Selecting arrangements for multiplex systems
- H04Q11/04—Selecting arrangements for multiplex systems for time-division multiplexing
- H04Q11/0428—Integrated services digital network, i.e. systems for transmission of different types of digitised signals, e.g. speech, data, telecentral, television signals
- H04Q11/0435—Details
- H04Q11/0464—Primary rate access circuits
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04Q—SELECTING
- H04Q3/00—Selecting arrangements
- H04Q3/0016—Arrangements providing connection between exchanges
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04Q—SELECTING
- H04Q2213/00—Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
- H04Q2213/13091—CLI, identification of calling line
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04Q—SELECTING
- H04Q2213/00—Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
- H04Q2213/13103—Memory
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04Q—SELECTING
- H04Q2213/00—Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
- H04Q2213/13173—Busy signals
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04Q—SELECTING
- H04Q2213/00—Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
- H04Q2213/13204—Protocols
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04Q—SELECTING
- H04Q2213/00—Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
- H04Q2213/13205—Primary rate access, PRI
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04Q—SELECTING
- H04Q2213/00—Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
- H04Q2213/13216—Code signals, frame structure
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04Q—SELECTING
- H04Q2213/00—Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
- H04Q2213/1328—Call transfer, e.g. in PBX
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04Q—SELECTING
- H04Q2213/00—Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
- H04Q2213/13377—Recorded announcement
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Signal Processing (AREA)
- Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
- Telephonic Communication Services (AREA)
Abstract
A facility is disposed in a telecommunications network to provide an alternative to the conventional call waiting feature. More particularly, if a telephone call is placed to a subscriber while the subscriber's telephone station set is busy with another telephone call, then the facility notes that fact and terminates the newtelephone call after advising the caller that the subscriber's station is busy.
Thereafter, the facility places a telephone call to the subscriber and presents thereto at least the telephone numbers of the telephone stations that placed a call to the subscriber during the time that the latter's station was busy.
Thereafter, the facility places a telephone call to the subscriber and presents thereto at least the telephone numbers of the telephone stations that placed a call to the subscriber during the time that the latter's station was busy.
Description
-'" 2~26897 ., .
TELEPHONE CALL NOTIFICATION FEATURE
Field of the I~ ti r The invention relates to telecc~ ,lnie~tionc netwullw.
Back~round of the I~ tion Call waiting is a call ~ennin~ing feature which provides a di3~ cliv~
tone to alert a subscriber who is 'Ibusyll talking over the telephone to another party that another call is trying to reach the subscriber. At that point, the subscAber may either ignore the tone or press the telephone station set switch hook. The latter action pl~ces the party that the subscriber is talking to on hold and cc nnecti Ihe new 10 inroming call to the subscriber's station set. Thereafter, the subsc~iber may once again press the switch hook to ~conllecl to the party that had been placed on hold.
This time the latter action disconnects the subscriber's station set from the new call and l.conl1c~ it to the party that had been placed on hold.
We have recognized that many tPl~phr~n~ subscribers are annoyed at 15 hearing the call waiting tone while they are busy t~Lking on ~he telephone. ln fact, up to one-third of the telepbone subscrib~rs, at one time or another, ignore the call waiting tone. Moreover, the party that is talking to the subscriber may become irritated as a result of being placed on hold.
Summary of the Invention The invention in acco~ance with the claims.
Brief Description of the Drawin~
In the drawing;
FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of an intereYch~nge network in which the prinrirles of the invention may be practiced;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the adjunct of FIG. 1;
FIC;. 3 illustrates an example of a subscriber record that may be stored in the ~l~t~b~se of FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 illustrates an example of one way to link a list of telephone numbers associated with respective telephone calls together in the database of FIG.
30 2; and FIGs. 5-8 illustrate in flow chart form the program which implements the principles of the invention in the network of FIG. 1.
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-'' 2~2~897 Detailed Description In an illustrative embodiment of the invention, intereYrh~n~P, network 200, shown in FIG. 1, provides a plur,ality of services for its suks~rrib~Prs, such as the subs~ "~ associated with station sets S1 through S3. Specifically, S network 2~ inrl~l~'es inter alia, a plurality of interconnected Toll Switches (TS), three of which are shown in the FIG., narnely TS 205, 210 and 215. Such toll switches (e.g., 205, 210 and 215) may be any one of the well-known types of switching e lui~nl,i;nti" such as, for example, the No. 4 ESS (Ele,,-,~.,vilic Switching System) that is available from AT&T. In a typical case, a toll switch is ,Pss~ ted 10 with a number of local Central Of fices (CO), three of which are shown in the FIG., namely, COs 105, 110 and 115. As is well-known, a CO, e.g., S~O 105, is ,arranged to connect a calling station (originator) that has dialed a particular telephone number to an associated toll switch, e.g., TS 205. ~n doing so, the CO sends ~'~sioci~'~ted, calling ."Çoll~.aLion in~ nning, inter alia, the dialed (called) telephone numbçr and 15 telephone number of the calling station to the toll switch. A CO is also arranged to advance a te!ephone~ call received from its associated toll switch to an intended telephone station set, e.g., station set S 1.
It is seen from the FIG. that each toll switch, e.g., TS 205, may also be ~soci~ted with an adjunct, e.g., adjunct 305. In an illustrative embodiment of the 20 invention, an adjunct includes a voice interactive system, e.g., the well-known Conversant ~trarlem~rk of AT&T) voice interactive system available from AT&T.
An adjunct also includes a ~ ab~ge system for the storage of subscriber records. A
subscriber record idenfifiPs an associated subscriber's subscription of network 20 services. One such service may be an ,alternative to the convendonal call waiting Z,5 feature, in which the alternative is processed by an adjunct in accord with an aspect ' of the invention. (It is noted that adjuncts 310 and 315 associated with toll switches TS 21û and 215, ~ s~cc,iv~ely, ,arei sirnilar to adjunct 305. Accordingly, a ~ cuff~iiofn of adjunct 305 equally pertains to the other adjuncts.3 Specifir~lly, assume ihat the telephone user associated with station S2 30 places a telephone call to station S1 in a conventional manner. CO 115, responsive thereto, forwards the call and associated calling information ~e.g., the calling and called telephone numbers) to TS 215. TS 215, in turn and in a conven~,~ional manner, det,~ ines that the ~lestin~ ion toll switch for the call is TS 205 and fo ~.,,3l~ds ~,~he call thereto. Upon leceipt of the call, TS 205, in accord with an aspect of the invention, 35 ~rccsses a c,alled ~estin~tion table using a tr~n~ tion of the ~alled telephone number as an index to the table. If TS 205 finds that the called telephone number is stored at - 2~26897 the ~ccessed location, then TS 205 concludes that the called sllbscriber is acsoci~tçd with one or more Sel~phone services proYided by network 200. In that case, then~ TS
205 sends the called information to adjunct 305 via co~ );c~ion~ path 306. If the called number is not stored at the ~ cesced loc~tion, then TS 205 ploCesSeS the call S in a conventional manner. That is, TS 205 forwards the call directly to C0 105 for routing to station S1.
In an illustrative embodiment of the invention, cQ~ c~tinnci path 306 may be, for example, a conventional ISDN Primary rate intt~ce co~ isillg 23 B channels for es~bliching telephone connections between adjunct 305 and TS 205.10 (~vll ~ icatir~l~s path 306 also includes a D channel for eYrh~n~ing ~ign~lin~
meSs~es between TS 205 and adjunct 305. Adjunct 305, responsive to receipt of the afo~ ntil~ned calling infulllJation via the associated D channel, supplies the called telephone number to an associated database to obtain a copy of a record identifying the various network 200 services associated with the called telephone 15 number. Assuming that the called subscriber subscribes to the inventive service and that subscription is noted in the associated record, then adjunct 305 places a telephone call to the called number. Adjunct 305 does this by sending a call set-up (connect) message con~aining the called number to TS 205 via the afo~ ehlionPd Dchannel. The message also contains the identity of the B channel that should be used to extend the call connection from TS 205 to adjunct 305. TS 205, ~~ ,onsi~, to the meSS~ge, es~bli~h~s a conventional call connection to CO 105 and forwards the call thereto. CO 105, in turn, extends the connection to station S1 and applies a conventional ringing signal thereto. CO 105 tben sends a message to that effect to TS
205. Upon receipt of the m~sc~Pi, TS 205 passes it to the originator of ~he call, namely adjunct 305, via the aîol~,nJelllioned D channel. Adjunct 305, l~onsi.te to receipt of the mPss~e, directs TS 205 to merge the newly established connection with the connection extending to the station S2 calling party. Accordingly, when the station S1 user answers the call, then the calling and called parties may co~ tewith one another.
Assume at this point that while the station S ~ user is co.~ tin,~
with the station S2 user, the user associated with station S3 places a telPphone call to station S1. Similarly, CO 110 forwards the call to TS 210, which, in turn, forwards the station S3 call to TS 205 via intertoll network 230. Upon receipt of the call and as mentioned above, TS 205 accesses its associated called cles~inotion table to 35 dete~ e if the called number is contained therein. Since it has been assumed that is the case, then TS 205 supplies the ~soci ~ed calling inf ~ alioll to adjunct 305 in 212~97 : ' the manner described above. Similarly, adjunc~ 305, upon finding that the calledsubscriber subscribes to the inventive service, places a call to the called stadon, as described above. However, in this inct~nre~ CO 105 will be unable to forward thecall to station S1, since that sta~ion is busy with a call received fr~m station S2.
S Accordingly, CO 105 returns a 5ign~1in~ message in-1ir~ting that the called s;ation is busy to TS 205. TS 205, in turn, advises adjunct 305 of that fact via the afo-~l.,e ~liQned D signaling channel. Responsive to receipt of the station Sl busy message, adjunct 305 sends a call connect signaling message via the D channel l~ue~ ing that the station S3 call connection be fonvarded ~o adjunct 305. TS 205, 10 responsive to receipt of the meSs~ge, extends the station S3 call connection tO
adjunct 305 via an available B channel of path 306. In addition, TS 205 sends a message identifying the latter B channel via the ~csQci ~ted D channel to adjun~t 305.
At that point, adjunct 305 stores in its ~~soci~ted ~l~t~b~e the calling party telephone number and the current date and time. Adjunct 305 then llani~ is15 an anno~ cc--~enl to station g3 in(~ tin~ that the called station is busy and that the called subscriber will be notiSed of the calling party's call. The following is one example of such an annollncemel~t:
: .
"This is the network 200 'While You Were Busy' Service. The party you have dialed is busy. We (1) will notify the party of the date and time you called and your telephone number within the next minutes."
25 (In the above example, any appropriate value, e.g., the value of 10, may be substituted for the un~erlinillg.) Following the tr~ngmiccion of anno~lncem~n~ 1, adjunct 305 sends, via the D channel of path 306, a di~cQIlnect message to TS 205 directing the latter to inale the inf omin~ call from s~ation S3 and the call from adjunct 30S to sta~ion 30 S1. TS 205, responsive to receipt of the m~ss~e te~n;n~tPs the call in a conventional manner.
.. . .: . . .. ., .. . .,, , . ~ . ~ ,, ... . .... . . ~ . .. - . ..
2~2~g97 - s -7'hereafter, when the above-mentioned time, e.g., 10 minutes, has elapsed, adjunct 305 places a call to station S 1 in the manner sles~ibed above.When the station S1 subscriber answers the call, adjunct 305, in accord with an aspect of the invention, transmits an announcement ;dentifying the telephone 5 nullJh,,~ and times that ~soei~t~d telephone calls were placed to station S1 while that station was busy. Ie is noted that such telephone numbers may be anno.u~ced in the same order that their ~oci~t~d calls were placed to station S 1. The following is one example of such an announce,ncnl "This is the network 200 'While You Were Busy" service.
Wbile you were busy you received a telephone call from the following telephone numbers.
One - telephone number 908-606-8888 at 2:45 P.M. (2) on Two - telephone number 212-555-1234 at 2:53 P.M.
on Three - telephone number 908-221-4444 at 3:06 P.M.
on If you would like to place a telephone call to any one of those numbers, enter the ~s~ t~d identifying digit. -~
(It is noted that the above underlining represents the date of the :~csoci~ted call.) Following the above anno~lncem~nt, adjunct 305 deletes the 25 ~nnollnced telephone numbers and ~soci~ted times from its database, but stores a copy thereof in a so-called archive memory. The telephone numbers are archived in the event that the subscriber elects to rev;ew those announced numbers at a later time. If, in l~,s~0ll5e to the announcement, the subscriber enters a digit, e.g., the digit two, then adjunct 305 sends a call connect message via the I) channel of path 306 30 directing TS 205 to establish a call to the telephone number of 212-55S-1234 and to merge that call with the call placed to station S1. TS 205, in ~ ol~se there~o, establishes the requested call and merges the call with the s~ation Sl call in a 2~ ~6897 - S-con~,enlional manner.
Turning now to FIG. 2, there is shown a broad block diagram of an adjunct, e.g., adjunct 305. An adjunct, more panicularly, includes one or more voice interactive systems 305-1 through 305-N based on the level of traffic that it 5 processes. It also includes a local area network 302, which ;"~. r~ ~ s the voice interactive systems with d~t~b;~ee 303. As mention~d above, d~ha~e 303 is used for the storage of subscriber records and records associated with the various services forming the subscriber's subscription of services. An exarnple of a subscriber record is shown in FI(:~. 3, in which a serYice record includes the subscriber's telephone 10 number and a number of fields 401 identifying the subscriber's subscription of services. For example, if the subscriber subscribes to a number of different network 200 services, then associated ones of fields 401 contain a particular value, e.g., a binary one. If the subscriber does not subscribe to a particular one of the services, then its associ~ted field 401 contains a different value, e.g., a zero. For example, 15 assuming that field 402 is ~soci~ted with the inventive service, then that field of the subscriber's ~esoci~ted record contains a one. Fields 403, on the other hand, are ~esoçi~ted with respective ones of the different services. For exarnple, field 404--~eeoc i~ d with field 402--is used to store the first address of a Linked List (LL) of I.~el~lo~y loc~tions, each con~ining a telephone number of a calling party that tried to 20 place a call to the aesoçi~te~ subscriber while the subscriber was busy with another call.
An example of such a list is shown in FIG. 4, in which list 500 is stored in ~1~t~ ee 303. Specifically, ~mmin~ that entry 501 is the first record in the list, then the address of the memory location co~ t~g ~at record is stored in field 404 25 of the tlesoci~d subscriber record. It is seen that a record in list 500 contains a number of fields for the storage of a telephone number of a station set that tried to reach the sobsc~iber while the subscriber's station set was busy with another ~lephone call, and the date and time of that telephone call. It also contains a field 502 for storing the address of a next record 503 containing the telephone number and 30 date and time of a next telephone call that tried to reach the ~es~i~tecl subscriber's station set when the latter was busy. Similarly, field 504 of the latter record contains the address (i.e., "points to") of a record corlt~ining similar data but relating to a .lirr~ t calling station. If a fourth call was placed to the subscriber's stadon set during a busy con(lition~ then field 506 of record 505 would poin~ tO a record in list 35 500 identifying the fourth call. Otherwise, field 506 contains an address pointing to record 501.
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When an incoming call arrives at a toll switch, e.g., TS 205, via the intertoll network, the main processing program of the toll switch enters ~he prograrn of Pla. 5. When it is entered (block 600), the program (block 601) checks to see if the called telephone number is contained in its destination list. If it is, then the S program (block 602) forwards the inft~ tic n ~soci;~tçd with the call, e.g., called number and ANI (Automatic Mumber IdentificatiQn, e.g., the calling t~lPphone number), to its a~soc;~ted adjunct, e.g., adjunct 305, as discussed above. The progMm then exits. If the called number is not in the destination list, then theprogram (block 603) passes the call to its main call processing prograrn, which 10 forwards the call to its intended destination, as di~cncsed above.
When the toll switch receives a message from the adjunct, then the main CCSsil~g program of the toll switch enters the program of FIG. 6. When entered (block 610), the program branches to one of a number of different software routines lepr~,sented by blocks 611 ~hrough 614 based on the type of message received from 15 the adjunct. As di~.;ussed above, the message could be a request to (a) merge (block 611), (b) establish a conl eclio,l between the adjunct and called party (block 612), (c) forward the incoming call to the adjunct (block 613) or (d) terminate the call (block 614).
When an adjunct receives an initial message conl~i,ling a called number 20 from its associated toll switch, the adjunct enters the program shown in FIC;. 7.
When entered (block 70Q), and as ~lisc~lssed above, the program obtains a copy of the associated subscriberrecord from its ~soci~ted database (block 701). The program(block 702) then checks the record to see if the called subscriber s~lhscribes to the inventive call notific~tion feature. If that is not the case, then the program passes the 25 record to the software module (~ ,scnl~d by bloclc 708) that is ~signed to process the subscriber's subscription of other services. Otherwise, the program (block 703) sends a call set-up (connect) message to its tlccoci:ltecl toll switch directing the latter to connect the adjunct to the called station. The program then waits to see if it receives an in-lic~tion that called station is busy from the CO h~n~lling the call. If 30 the program (block 704) does not receive such an indic~ion but receives an in~lic~tif~n that the CO is ringing the called station, then the program (block 709) sends a merge message to its associated toll switch. Otherwise, the program (block 705) sends a message to the toll switch requesting that the incoming call be connected to the adjunct. When the toll switch completes that task, then the ~lU~l~LIII
35 (block 706) ~ransmits annol~,ce~ent 1 to the calling party and, in the mannerdiscussed above, est~hli~hes a recûrd of the call in table 500. The program also ~26~7 ., enters the called number in a processing list if the called number is not already co~ r,d therein. The purpose of the pl.~cesi;ng list will be ~iccLlssed below. The program (block 707) then sends a terminate message to its ;~soci~ted toll switch to terminate the connectionc extending to the calling and called parties. The program 5 then exits.
Pe.io~lically, e.g., every ten minutes, the adjunct enters the program of FliG. 8 to process table 500. Specifically, when entered, the program (block 721) gets a copy of the pluces~ g list which tracks the initial ently that is made in table 500 for a subscriber. Armed with the plucessing list, the projgram (block 722) 10 checks to see if the list is empty. If it is, then the program exits. Otherwise, the projgram (block 723) gets a subscriber telephone number from the list and then gets (block 724) the table 500 linked list of associated calling party records. The program (block 725) then sends a call set-up message to its associated toll switch ~ ueslh~g the switch to place a call to the telephone number that is cu~ ly being processed.
15 If the call is answered (block 726), then the program (block 727) announces the list in the manner diccllcsed above in conjunclion with anno~nce ~-e n~ 2. The program then waits for the subscriber to enter a digit ccul.,.,l)ollding with one of theannounced linked-list entries. If the program (block 728) receives such a digit, then the program (block 729) sends to its ~ccoci~ted toll switch a call set-up (connect) 20 message cont:lining the telephone nurnber stored in the coll-,.,yollding linked-list entry. The program (block 730) then sends a merge message to its ~,oc;~ted toll switch. Theprogram (block 731) then erases the subscriber's telephone num~er from the process list and, in a conventional manner, deletes the ~csoci~t~d linked list from the ~1~t~b~ce However, before making such a deletion, the program stores the 25 linked list in a so-called archive memory so that the associated sl~bscriber may access the list at a later time. The prograrn then returns to block 702 to process the next subscriber te1epho,le number eo~ ned in the process list.
If the program (block 726) finds that the subscriber does not answer the aforementioned telephone call, then the program marks the a~soci~ted process-list 30 entry for processing during the next entry of the projgram.
The foregoing is merely illustrative of the principles of the invention.
Those skilled in the art will be able to devise n~ eluus alTangement~ which, ~Ithough not explicitly shown or clescnbed herein, nevertheless embody those principles that are within the spirit and scope of the invention. For eY~mrk 35 announeelllel1l (1) and associated adjunct actions may be m(ulified so that the adjunct presents an option of storing the caller's telephone number for ~ SC-~ tis--to the called subscnber only if the calling par~y çonce~ thereto. That is, if the calling party conse..l~, theret(~f by enterin~, a particular code, e.g., the pound (#) sign, via the station keypad, then the caller's telephone number is stored in the adjunct fl~t~h~e for later p.~ise~t~lion to the subscriber. If the calling party rejects the c~fption, then S the caller's telephone number is not stored in the adjunct ~l~t~h~e In an alternative embodiment of the invention, a toll switch, e.g., TS 205, may '~e a~ranged so that it consults the afo~ entioned cl~stin~tion table only when the called station is busy.
Specifically, in the example ~lescribed above, TS 205 would forward the station S3 call directly to CO 105. When CO 105 notifies TS 205 that s~ation S1 is busy, then 10 TS 205 consults its d~stin~tic n table to det~ e if the calling in~ormation should be supplied to adjunct 305.
..,,;, :..,',':',, ,,',.,.,' ' ', ' ''
TELEPHONE CALL NOTIFICATION FEATURE
Field of the I~ ti r The invention relates to telecc~ ,lnie~tionc netwullw.
Back~round of the I~ tion Call waiting is a call ~ennin~ing feature which provides a di3~ cliv~
tone to alert a subscriber who is 'Ibusyll talking over the telephone to another party that another call is trying to reach the subscriber. At that point, the subscAber may either ignore the tone or press the telephone station set switch hook. The latter action pl~ces the party that the subscriber is talking to on hold and cc nnecti Ihe new 10 inroming call to the subscriber's station set. Thereafter, the subsc~iber may once again press the switch hook to ~conllecl to the party that had been placed on hold.
This time the latter action disconnects the subscriber's station set from the new call and l.conl1c~ it to the party that had been placed on hold.
We have recognized that many tPl~phr~n~ subscribers are annoyed at 15 hearing the call waiting tone while they are busy t~Lking on ~he telephone. ln fact, up to one-third of the telepbone subscrib~rs, at one time or another, ignore the call waiting tone. Moreover, the party that is talking to the subscriber may become irritated as a result of being placed on hold.
Summary of the Invention The invention in acco~ance with the claims.
Brief Description of the Drawin~
In the drawing;
FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of an intereYch~nge network in which the prinrirles of the invention may be practiced;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the adjunct of FIG. 1;
FIC;. 3 illustrates an example of a subscriber record that may be stored in the ~l~t~b~se of FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 illustrates an example of one way to link a list of telephone numbers associated with respective telephone calls together in the database of FIG.
30 2; and FIGs. 5-8 illustrate in flow chart form the program which implements the principles of the invention in the network of FIG. 1.
', ' S;, ~,. ! il . ",.", ~ . , ; ~ ;
-'' 2~2~897 Detailed Description In an illustrative embodiment of the invention, intereYrh~n~P, network 200, shown in FIG. 1, provides a plur,ality of services for its suks~rrib~Prs, such as the subs~ "~ associated with station sets S1 through S3. Specifically, S network 2~ inrl~l~'es inter alia, a plurality of interconnected Toll Switches (TS), three of which are shown in the FIG., narnely TS 205, 210 and 215. Such toll switches (e.g., 205, 210 and 215) may be any one of the well-known types of switching e lui~nl,i;nti" such as, for example, the No. 4 ESS (Ele,,-,~.,vilic Switching System) that is available from AT&T. In a typical case, a toll switch is ,Pss~ ted 10 with a number of local Central Of fices (CO), three of which are shown in the FIG., namely, COs 105, 110 and 115. As is well-known, a CO, e.g., S~O 105, is ,arranged to connect a calling station (originator) that has dialed a particular telephone number to an associated toll switch, e.g., TS 205. ~n doing so, the CO sends ~'~sioci~'~ted, calling ."Çoll~.aLion in~ nning, inter alia, the dialed (called) telephone numbçr and 15 telephone number of the calling station to the toll switch. A CO is also arranged to advance a te!ephone~ call received from its associated toll switch to an intended telephone station set, e.g., station set S 1.
It is seen from the FIG. that each toll switch, e.g., TS 205, may also be ~soci~ted with an adjunct, e.g., adjunct 305. In an illustrative embodiment of the 20 invention, an adjunct includes a voice interactive system, e.g., the well-known Conversant ~trarlem~rk of AT&T) voice interactive system available from AT&T.
An adjunct also includes a ~ ab~ge system for the storage of subscriber records. A
subscriber record idenfifiPs an associated subscriber's subscription of network 20 services. One such service may be an ,alternative to the convendonal call waiting Z,5 feature, in which the alternative is processed by an adjunct in accord with an aspect ' of the invention. (It is noted that adjuncts 310 and 315 associated with toll switches TS 21û and 215, ~ s~cc,iv~ely, ,arei sirnilar to adjunct 305. Accordingly, a ~ cuff~iiofn of adjunct 305 equally pertains to the other adjuncts.3 Specifir~lly, assume ihat the telephone user associated with station S2 30 places a telephone call to station S1 in a conventional manner. CO 115, responsive thereto, forwards the call and associated calling information ~e.g., the calling and called telephone numbers) to TS 215. TS 215, in turn and in a conven~,~ional manner, det,~ ines that the ~lestin~ ion toll switch for the call is TS 205 and fo ~.,,3l~ds ~,~he call thereto. Upon leceipt of the call, TS 205, in accord with an aspect of the invention, 35 ~rccsses a c,alled ~estin~tion table using a tr~n~ tion of the ~alled telephone number as an index to the table. If TS 205 finds that the called telephone number is stored at - 2~26897 the ~ccessed location, then TS 205 concludes that the called sllbscriber is acsoci~tçd with one or more Sel~phone services proYided by network 200. In that case, then~ TS
205 sends the called information to adjunct 305 via co~ );c~ion~ path 306. If the called number is not stored at the ~ cesced loc~tion, then TS 205 ploCesSeS the call S in a conventional manner. That is, TS 205 forwards the call directly to C0 105 for routing to station S1.
In an illustrative embodiment of the invention, cQ~ c~tinnci path 306 may be, for example, a conventional ISDN Primary rate intt~ce co~ isillg 23 B channels for es~bliching telephone connections between adjunct 305 and TS 205.10 (~vll ~ icatir~l~s path 306 also includes a D channel for eYrh~n~ing ~ign~lin~
meSs~es between TS 205 and adjunct 305. Adjunct 305, responsive to receipt of the afo~ ntil~ned calling infulllJation via the associated D channel, supplies the called telephone number to an associated database to obtain a copy of a record identifying the various network 200 services associated with the called telephone 15 number. Assuming that the called subscriber subscribes to the inventive service and that subscription is noted in the associated record, then adjunct 305 places a telephone call to the called number. Adjunct 305 does this by sending a call set-up (connect) message con~aining the called number to TS 205 via the afo~ ehlionPd Dchannel. The message also contains the identity of the B channel that should be used to extend the call connection from TS 205 to adjunct 305. TS 205, ~~ ,onsi~, to the meSS~ge, es~bli~h~s a conventional call connection to CO 105 and forwards the call thereto. CO 105, in turn, extends the connection to station S1 and applies a conventional ringing signal thereto. CO 105 tben sends a message to that effect to TS
205. Upon receipt of the m~sc~Pi, TS 205 passes it to the originator of ~he call, namely adjunct 305, via the aîol~,nJelllioned D channel. Adjunct 305, l~onsi.te to receipt of the mPss~e, directs TS 205 to merge the newly established connection with the connection extending to the station S2 calling party. Accordingly, when the station S1 user answers the call, then the calling and called parties may co~ tewith one another.
Assume at this point that while the station S ~ user is co.~ tin,~
with the station S2 user, the user associated with station S3 places a telPphone call to station S1. Similarly, CO 110 forwards the call to TS 210, which, in turn, forwards the station S3 call to TS 205 via intertoll network 230. Upon receipt of the call and as mentioned above, TS 205 accesses its associated called cles~inotion table to 35 dete~ e if the called number is contained therein. Since it has been assumed that is the case, then TS 205 supplies the ~soci ~ed calling inf ~ alioll to adjunct 305 in 212~97 : ' the manner described above. Similarly, adjunc~ 305, upon finding that the calledsubscriber subscribes to the inventive service, places a call to the called stadon, as described above. However, in this inct~nre~ CO 105 will be unable to forward thecall to station S1, since that sta~ion is busy with a call received fr~m station S2.
S Accordingly, CO 105 returns a 5ign~1in~ message in-1ir~ting that the called s;ation is busy to TS 205. TS 205, in turn, advises adjunct 305 of that fact via the afo-~l.,e ~liQned D signaling channel. Responsive to receipt of the station Sl busy message, adjunct 305 sends a call connect signaling message via the D channel l~ue~ ing that the station S3 call connection be fonvarded ~o adjunct 305. TS 205, 10 responsive to receipt of the meSs~ge, extends the station S3 call connection tO
adjunct 305 via an available B channel of path 306. In addition, TS 205 sends a message identifying the latter B channel via the ~csQci ~ted D channel to adjun~t 305.
At that point, adjunct 305 stores in its ~~soci~ted ~l~t~b~e the calling party telephone number and the current date and time. Adjunct 305 then llani~ is15 an anno~ cc--~enl to station g3 in(~ tin~ that the called station is busy and that the called subscriber will be notiSed of the calling party's call. The following is one example of such an annollncemel~t:
: .
"This is the network 200 'While You Were Busy' Service. The party you have dialed is busy. We (1) will notify the party of the date and time you called and your telephone number within the next minutes."
25 (In the above example, any appropriate value, e.g., the value of 10, may be substituted for the un~erlinillg.) Following the tr~ngmiccion of anno~lncem~n~ 1, adjunct 305 sends, via the D channel of path 306, a di~cQIlnect message to TS 205 directing the latter to inale the inf omin~ call from s~ation S3 and the call from adjunct 30S to sta~ion 30 S1. TS 205, responsive to receipt of the m~ss~e te~n;n~tPs the call in a conventional manner.
.. . .: . . .. ., .. . .,, , . ~ . ~ ,, ... . .... . . ~ . .. - . ..
2~2~g97 - s -7'hereafter, when the above-mentioned time, e.g., 10 minutes, has elapsed, adjunct 305 places a call to station S 1 in the manner sles~ibed above.When the station S1 subscriber answers the call, adjunct 305, in accord with an aspect of the invention, transmits an announcement ;dentifying the telephone 5 nullJh,,~ and times that ~soei~t~d telephone calls were placed to station S1 while that station was busy. Ie is noted that such telephone numbers may be anno.u~ced in the same order that their ~oci~t~d calls were placed to station S 1. The following is one example of such an announce,ncnl "This is the network 200 'While You Were Busy" service.
Wbile you were busy you received a telephone call from the following telephone numbers.
One - telephone number 908-606-8888 at 2:45 P.M. (2) on Two - telephone number 212-555-1234 at 2:53 P.M.
on Three - telephone number 908-221-4444 at 3:06 P.M.
on If you would like to place a telephone call to any one of those numbers, enter the ~s~ t~d identifying digit. -~
(It is noted that the above underlining represents the date of the :~csoci~ted call.) Following the above anno~lncem~nt, adjunct 305 deletes the 25 ~nnollnced telephone numbers and ~soci~ted times from its database, but stores a copy thereof in a so-called archive memory. The telephone numbers are archived in the event that the subscriber elects to rev;ew those announced numbers at a later time. If, in l~,s~0ll5e to the announcement, the subscriber enters a digit, e.g., the digit two, then adjunct 305 sends a call connect message via the I) channel of path 306 30 directing TS 205 to establish a call to the telephone number of 212-55S-1234 and to merge that call with the call placed to station S1. TS 205, in ~ ol~se there~o, establishes the requested call and merges the call with the s~ation Sl call in a 2~ ~6897 - S-con~,enlional manner.
Turning now to FIG. 2, there is shown a broad block diagram of an adjunct, e.g., adjunct 305. An adjunct, more panicularly, includes one or more voice interactive systems 305-1 through 305-N based on the level of traffic that it 5 processes. It also includes a local area network 302, which ;"~. r~ ~ s the voice interactive systems with d~t~b;~ee 303. As mention~d above, d~ha~e 303 is used for the storage of subscriber records and records associated with the various services forming the subscriber's subscription of services. An exarnple of a subscriber record is shown in FI(:~. 3, in which a serYice record includes the subscriber's telephone 10 number and a number of fields 401 identifying the subscriber's subscription of services. For example, if the subscriber subscribes to a number of different network 200 services, then associated ones of fields 401 contain a particular value, e.g., a binary one. If the subscriber does not subscribe to a particular one of the services, then its associ~ted field 401 contains a different value, e.g., a zero. For example, 15 assuming that field 402 is ~soci~ted with the inventive service, then that field of the subscriber's ~esoci~ted record contains a one. Fields 403, on the other hand, are ~esoçi~ted with respective ones of the different services. For exarnple, field 404--~eeoc i~ d with field 402--is used to store the first address of a Linked List (LL) of I.~el~lo~y loc~tions, each con~ining a telephone number of a calling party that tried to 20 place a call to the aesoçi~te~ subscriber while the subscriber was busy with another call.
An example of such a list is shown in FIG. 4, in which list 500 is stored in ~1~t~ ee 303. Specifically, ~mmin~ that entry 501 is the first record in the list, then the address of the memory location co~ t~g ~at record is stored in field 404 25 of the tlesoci~d subscriber record. It is seen that a record in list 500 contains a number of fields for the storage of a telephone number of a station set that tried to reach the sobsc~iber while the subscriber's station set was busy with another ~lephone call, and the date and time of that telephone call. It also contains a field 502 for storing the address of a next record 503 containing the telephone number and 30 date and time of a next telephone call that tried to reach the ~es~i~tecl subscriber's station set when the latter was busy. Similarly, field 504 of the latter record contains the address (i.e., "points to") of a record corlt~ining similar data but relating to a .lirr~ t calling station. If a fourth call was placed to the subscriber's stadon set during a busy con(lition~ then field 506 of record 505 would poin~ tO a record in list 35 500 identifying the fourth call. Otherwise, field 506 contains an address pointing to record 501.
, ~ j , "~. r .. ;'.' '~ ',. ::;; ~ , s 2~L2~89~
When an incoming call arrives at a toll switch, e.g., TS 205, via the intertoll network, the main processing program of the toll switch enters ~he prograrn of Pla. 5. When it is entered (block 600), the program (block 601) checks to see if the called telephone number is contained in its destination list. If it is, then the S program (block 602) forwards the inft~ tic n ~soci;~tçd with the call, e.g., called number and ANI (Automatic Mumber IdentificatiQn, e.g., the calling t~lPphone number), to its a~soc;~ted adjunct, e.g., adjunct 305, as discussed above. The progMm then exits. If the called number is not in the destination list, then theprogram (block 603) passes the call to its main call processing prograrn, which 10 forwards the call to its intended destination, as di~cncsed above.
When the toll switch receives a message from the adjunct, then the main CCSsil~g program of the toll switch enters the program of FIG. 6. When entered (block 610), the program branches to one of a number of different software routines lepr~,sented by blocks 611 ~hrough 614 based on the type of message received from 15 the adjunct. As di~.;ussed above, the message could be a request to (a) merge (block 611), (b) establish a conl eclio,l between the adjunct and called party (block 612), (c) forward the incoming call to the adjunct (block 613) or (d) terminate the call (block 614).
When an adjunct receives an initial message conl~i,ling a called number 20 from its associated toll switch, the adjunct enters the program shown in FIC;. 7.
When entered (block 70Q), and as ~lisc~lssed above, the program obtains a copy of the associated subscriberrecord from its ~soci~ted database (block 701). The program(block 702) then checks the record to see if the called subscriber s~lhscribes to the inventive call notific~tion feature. If that is not the case, then the program passes the 25 record to the software module (~ ,scnl~d by bloclc 708) that is ~signed to process the subscriber's subscription of other services. Otherwise, the program (block 703) sends a call set-up (connect) message to its tlccoci:ltecl toll switch directing the latter to connect the adjunct to the called station. The program then waits to see if it receives an in-lic~tion that called station is busy from the CO h~n~lling the call. If 30 the program (block 704) does not receive such an indic~ion but receives an in~lic~tif~n that the CO is ringing the called station, then the program (block 709) sends a merge message to its associated toll switch. Otherwise, the program (block 705) sends a message to the toll switch requesting that the incoming call be connected to the adjunct. When the toll switch completes that task, then the ~lU~l~LIII
35 (block 706) ~ransmits annol~,ce~ent 1 to the calling party and, in the mannerdiscussed above, est~hli~hes a recûrd of the call in table 500. The program also ~26~7 ., enters the called number in a processing list if the called number is not already co~ r,d therein. The purpose of the pl.~cesi;ng list will be ~iccLlssed below. The program (block 707) then sends a terminate message to its ;~soci~ted toll switch to terminate the connectionc extending to the calling and called parties. The program 5 then exits.
Pe.io~lically, e.g., every ten minutes, the adjunct enters the program of FliG. 8 to process table 500. Specifically, when entered, the program (block 721) gets a copy of the pluces~ g list which tracks the initial ently that is made in table 500 for a subscriber. Armed with the plucessing list, the projgram (block 722) 10 checks to see if the list is empty. If it is, then the program exits. Otherwise, the projgram (block 723) gets a subscriber telephone number from the list and then gets (block 724) the table 500 linked list of associated calling party records. The program (block 725) then sends a call set-up message to its associated toll switch ~ ueslh~g the switch to place a call to the telephone number that is cu~ ly being processed.
15 If the call is answered (block 726), then the program (block 727) announces the list in the manner diccllcsed above in conjunclion with anno~nce ~-e n~ 2. The program then waits for the subscriber to enter a digit ccul.,.,l)ollding with one of theannounced linked-list entries. If the program (block 728) receives such a digit, then the program (block 729) sends to its ~ccoci~ted toll switch a call set-up (connect) 20 message cont:lining the telephone nurnber stored in the coll-,.,yollding linked-list entry. The program (block 730) then sends a merge message to its ~,oc;~ted toll switch. Theprogram (block 731) then erases the subscriber's telephone num~er from the process list and, in a conventional manner, deletes the ~csoci~t~d linked list from the ~1~t~b~ce However, before making such a deletion, the program stores the 25 linked list in a so-called archive memory so that the associated sl~bscriber may access the list at a later time. The prograrn then returns to block 702 to process the next subscriber te1epho,le number eo~ ned in the process list.
If the program (block 726) finds that the subscriber does not answer the aforementioned telephone call, then the program marks the a~soci~ted process-list 30 entry for processing during the next entry of the projgram.
The foregoing is merely illustrative of the principles of the invention.
Those skilled in the art will be able to devise n~ eluus alTangement~ which, ~Ithough not explicitly shown or clescnbed herein, nevertheless embody those principles that are within the spirit and scope of the invention. For eY~mrk 35 announeelllel1l (1) and associated adjunct actions may be m(ulified so that the adjunct presents an option of storing the caller's telephone number for ~ SC-~ tis--to the called subscnber only if the calling par~y çonce~ thereto. That is, if the calling party conse..l~, theret(~f by enterin~, a particular code, e.g., the pound (#) sign, via the station keypad, then the caller's telephone number is stored in the adjunct fl~t~h~e for later p.~ise~t~lion to the subscriber. If the calling party rejects the c~fption, then S the caller's telephone number is not stored in the adjunct ~l~t~h~e In an alternative embodiment of the invention, a toll switch, e.g., TS 205, may '~e a~ranged so that it consults the afo~ entioned cl~stin~tion table only when the called station is busy.
Specifically, in the example ~lescribed above, TS 205 would forward the station S3 call directly to CO 105. When CO 105 notifies TS 205 that s~ation S1 is busy, then 10 TS 205 consults its d~stin~tic n table to det~ e if the calling in~ormation should be supplied to adjunct 305.
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Claims (6)
1. A method of processing a telephone call placed from a calling station to a called station via a public telecommunications network, said calling station being associated with a particular telephone number and said called station being associated with a call notification service as a result of having subscribed to that service, said call notification service being provided by said telecommunications network, said method comprising the steps of responsive to said called station being idle, forwarding said call to said called station, and responsive to said called station being busy, then, independent of any input from a calling party at said calling station terminating said telephone call at a terminating switch within said network and responsive to said called station being associated with said call notification service, thereafter automatically placing a call from said call notification service via said network to said called station and presenting at least said calling telephone number to a user of said called station.
2. The method of claim 1 FURTHER CHARACTERIZED IN THAT
said step of terminating includes the step of announcing that said called station is busy to said calling party prior to terminating said call.
said step of terminating includes the step of announcing that said called station is busy to said calling party prior to terminating said call.
3. The method of claim 1 FURTHER CHARACTERIZED IN THAT
said step of placing and announcing includes the steps of presenting to said user the option of placing a call to said calling station, and responsive to said user invoking said option, placing a call to said calling station.
said step of placing and announcing includes the steps of presenting to said user the option of placing a call to said calling station, and responsive to said user invoking said option, placing a call to said calling station.
4. The method of claim 1 FURTHER CHARACTERIZED IN THAT
said step of placing and announcing includes the step of announcing the date and time of said telephone call from said calling station.
said step of placing and announcing includes the step of announcing the date and time of said telephone call from said calling station.
5. A method of processing a telephone call from a calling station to a called station, said calling station being associated with a particular telephone number, said called station being a subscriber of a call notification service that is invoked when said called station is busy, said method comprising the steps of determining if said called station is busy, responsive to said called station being busy and responsive to said called station being a subscriber of said call notification service, then, independent of any input from a calling party at said calling station terminating said telephone call at a terminating switch within a telecommunications network, and thereafter placing a call from said call notification service to said called telephone station and announcing at least said calling telephone number to a user of said called telephone station, wherein said call notification service is disposed in said telecommunications network and said network is operable for establishing a connection between said calling and called stations.
6. A method of processing a telephone call from a calling telephone station to a called telephone station, said calling telephone station being associated with a particular telephone number, said method comprising the steps of receiving said telephone call at a communications switch within a telecommunications network and determining if said called telephone station is busy, if said called telephone station is not busy, then connecting said calling telephone station to said called telephone station, if said called telephone station is busy and is a subscriber of a call notification service provided by said communications switch, then, independent of any input from a calling party at said calling station, storing said calling telephone number and at least the time of said telephone call in memory and terminating said telephone call at a terminating switch within said network, and thereafter, placing a telephone call from said call notification service to said called telephone station and announcing at least said stored calling telephone number to a user associated with said called telephone station.
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-
1994
- 1994-06-28 CA CA002126897A patent/CA2126897C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 1994-08-24 EP EP94306232A patent/EP0647049A3/en not_active Withdrawn
- 1994-08-24 ES ES09401860A patent/ES2103231B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1994-08-25 NZ NZ264312A patent/NZ264312A/en unknown
- 1994-08-29 CN CN94115607A patent/CN1110849A/en active Pending
- 1994-08-29 AU AU71534/94A patent/AU678030B2/en not_active Ceased
- 1994-08-31 JP JP06228961A patent/JP3115772B2/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1994-09-01 KR KR1019940022093A patent/KR950010469A/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 1994-11-17 US US08/341,288 patent/US5768359A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| EP0647049A2 (en) | 1995-04-05 |
| JPH07154482A (en) | 1995-06-16 |
| AU678030B2 (en) | 1997-05-15 |
| AU7153494A (en) | 1995-03-16 |
| US5768359A (en) | 1998-06-16 |
| EP0647049A3 (en) | 1999-05-06 |
| CN1110849A (en) | 1995-10-25 |
| ES2103231A1 (en) | 1997-09-01 |
| CA2126897A1 (en) | 1995-03-02 |
| KR950010469A (en) | 1995-04-28 |
| ES2103231B1 (en) | 1998-04-16 |
| NZ264312A (en) | 1996-09-25 |
| JP3115772B2 (en) | 2000-12-11 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| EEER | Examination request | ||
| MKLA | Lapsed |