CA2222317A1 - A method for providing a delivery confirmation of message deliveries made in a telephone network - Google Patents
A method for providing a delivery confirmation of message deliveries made in a telephone network Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- CA2222317A1 CA2222317A1 CA002222317A CA2222317A CA2222317A1 CA 2222317 A1 CA2222317 A1 CA 2222317A1 CA 002222317 A CA002222317 A CA 002222317A CA 2222317 A CA2222317 A CA 2222317A CA 2222317 A1 CA2222317 A1 CA 2222317A1
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- subscriber
- message
- confirmation
- service
- delivery
- 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.)
- Abandoned
Links
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
- H04M3/50—Centralised arrangements for answering calls; Centralised arrangements for recording messages for absent or busy subscribers ; Centralised arrangements for recording messages
- H04M3/53—Centralised arrangements for recording incoming messages, i.e. mailbox systems
- H04M3/533—Voice mail systems
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M2203/00—Aspects of automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
- H04M2203/20—Aspects of automatic or semi-automatic exchanges related to features of supplementary services
- H04M2203/2016—Call initiation by network rather than by subscriber
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M2203/00—Aspects of automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
- H04M2203/20—Aspects of automatic or semi-automatic exchanges related to features of supplementary services
- H04M2203/2083—Confirmation by serviced party
Abstract
The invention relates to a method for providing delivery confirmations of message deliveries made in a telephone network (10). The method comprises the following steps: (a) a subscriber A provides a message addressed to a subscriber B, which message is temporarily stored in a storage device (14) located in the network, (b) an attempt is made for delivering the stored message to subscriber B, and (c) after the delivery attempts, subscriber A is delivered a confirmation of the result of the message delivery. In order that the confirmations can be provided as simply as possible from the subscriber's point of view, and causing a minimum load to the network, the network maintains subscriber-specific information on whether the subscriber has such a message delivery service available that allows delivery of subscriber-specific messages, whereby upon delivering a confirmation, it is possible to route a confirmation addressed to subscriber A to the message delivery service (15) on the basis of the information, if need be.
Description
CA 02222317 1997-11-2~
A method for providing a delivery confirmation of message deliveries made in a telephone network Field of the Invention The invention relates to a method for providing delivery confirmations of message deliveries made in a telephone network, comprising the steps of:
- a subscriber A providing a message addressed to a subscriber B, which message is temporarily stored in a storage device located in the network, - making an attempt for delivering the stored message to subscriber B, and - after said delivery attempts, delivering subscriber A a confirmation of the result of the message delivery. In principle, a message may be any type of message, such as a voice, data or telefax message. A voice message will be disclosed below, however, as a typical example of a message to be delivered.
Background o~ the Invention In telephone networks, centralized call answering services have been implemented in which a voice mail unit including several "mailboxes" has been connected to an exchange. When a subscriber of the telephone network uses a centralized call answering service, to a subscriber line is assigned one of the mailboxes of the voice mail unit. When there is an incoming call to the subscriber line, the home exchange of the subscriber will route the call to the voice mail unit, to the mailbox assigned to the subscriber. This rerouting may be programmed to take place either every time, only when the line is busy or when there is no answer from the subscriber line, or on some other corresponding condition. When a rerouted call is connected to the voice mail unit, the unit will play CA 022223l7 l997-ll-2~
W O 96~42163 PCT~I96/00341 the announcement spoken by the subscriber of the service or the operator, and gives the calling party an opportunity to leave a voice message in the mailbox of the subscriber of the service. The subscriber may listen to the voice messages addressed to him by calling to a directory number that has been reserved for the mailbox of his own voice mail unit. A system of this kind is attended by the drawback that the subscriber will not know without making a call whether the exchange has rerouted any calls to the voice mail unit, or whether any messages have been dictated.
An improvement on the above is a "Message Waiting Indication" MWI service. Thus, when the exchange has routed a call addressed to the subscriber line to the voice mail unit, it will activate for the subscriber, upon the subscriber lifting the handset, e.g. a spoken message "voice messages are waiting" or a dialling tone that differs from the normal, instead of the normal dialling tone.
An even more advanced service is provided in such prior art systems in which an attempt is made for delivering (at a later instant) a voice message left by subscriber A to a desired subscriber B that was busy or did not reply during the call at~empt made by subscriber A. A service of this kind is termed as a Message Delivery Service or Call Delivery Service. This kind of service is activated when the exchange providing the service receives an information on that subscriber B is busy or subscriber B has not replied during a specific time. Thereafter, instead of the "busy" tone, an announcement is switched to subscriber A from the announcement unit integrated to the exchange, the announcement telling that the subscriber can leave a message to subscriber B. In addition, the subscriber A may be provided with additional CA 02222317 1997-11-2~
W O9'6/412163 PCTAFI96/00341 information on the billing tariff used. If subscriber A wishes to use the service, he dials a requested key (e.g. ~). The call is thus routed to a service node, which instructs the subscriber in leaving a message.
Upon leaving a message, subscriber A may give additional instructions on the delivery, that is, when the message should be delivered and/or how many attempts should be made. When the message has been left, the server attempts to deliver the message to subscriber B according to the instructions given by subscriber A. This kind of system is disclosed e.g. in European Patent Application 385,670.
Systems of this kind, however, are attended by the drawback that the user o~ the service (subscriber A) can only indirectly obtain a confirmation of the receipt of his message (e.g. after the receiving party has con_acted him). In most cases, however, it would be necessary to receive a confirmation almost immediately after ~he delivery of the message, since spoken messages become outdated in a short time almost without exception.
An attempt has been made for relieving this probler e.g. in the system disclosed in U.S. Patent 4,972,4~1. This publication discloses a system in which a conf-rmation of a completed message delivery or an unsuccessful delivery attempt may be provided to a callinc party in association wlth the message delivery service of the speech/data messages, if the subscriber so des~res. When using the system, the calling party may gi~e the telephone number to which he wants the confirration to be delivered. Simultaneously, he may also G' ve, upon leaving a message, the date and the time ard the duration, in which case the system will start the attempts for delivering the confirmatlon at the moment determined by the date and the time, making CA 02222317 1997-11-2~
WO9~/42163 PCT~I96/00341 re-attempts, if need be, until sald duration time expires.
The system of the kind disclosed above has the drawback that, first of all, a successful confirmation of the dellvery is still not sure. The confirmation service makes a limited number of attempts (to provide the information on completed/unsuccessful delivery), i.e. the prlnciple is the same as in delivery of the actual voice message). The service may thus have to make N attempts to deliver the message with no success, however, and thereafter another N attempts, for delivering the information on the unsuccessful attempt, again with no success. Thereafter, the information on a completed/unsuccessful delivery of the message is stored in the confirmation service for a predetermined time (e.g. 24 hours), during which the calling party may make inquiries about it).
The approach described above may also result in the confirmation service causing a lot of extra traffic in the network, which is such traffic that cannot be charged. The use of the system is also complicated, since a lot of information must be provided by the pushbutton dial to the system.
Brief Disclosure of the Invention The object of the present invention is thus to achieve such a novel method for providing delivery confirmations of message deliveries made in a telephone network enabling eliminating the above drawbacks.
The object of the invention is achieved with a solution of the invention, which is characterized by maintaining in the network subscriber-specific information on whether a subscriber has such a message delivery service available that allows delivery of subscriber-specific messages, whereby upon delivering a confirmation, it is possible to route a confirmation CA 02222317 1997-11-2~
W O 96/42163 PCT~196/00341 addressed to subscriber A to said message delivery service on the basis of said information, if need be.
The idea of the invention is to maintain in the network a subscriber-specific service profile or confirmation profile by means of which a confirmation transmitted from the message dellvery service node to the subscriber may be transferred (if need be) to a message delivery service already at the subscriber's disposal. The message delivery service herein refers to any prior art service in which subscriber-specific messages can be left. Message delivery services of this kind include e.g. voice mail/call answering service or a short message service of a cellular network. The idea of the invention is thus to utilize other services available to the subscriber by delivering the confirmation data to such a service that already exists, at least in a case where the confirmation cannot be switched directly to the subscriber line.
In accordance with the invention, the user is provided with the delivery confirmation service only when it is sure that the confirmation is received at one attempt. The network utilizing the method is also able to provide the confirmation without the subscriber separately requesting it. Thus, in the subscriber-specific confirmation service, providing the delivery confirmation can be set as a default value, which may be changed (cancelled/disabled) by the subscriber message-specifically. Thus, it is simpler than heretofore for the subscriber to obtain a confirmation.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, the delivery confirmations are routed via the home exchange of the subscriber, whereby it is possible to first make an attempt to deliver the confirmation directly to the subscriber's own terminal equipment.
CA 022223l7 l997-ll-2~
W O 9~/42163 PCT~I96/00341 Brie~ Description of the Drawings In the following, the invention and its preferred embodiments will be described in greater detail with reference to the examples in the attached drawings, in which Figure 1 shows a telephone network in which the method of the invention is used, Figure 2 shows a subscriber-specific confirmation profile record stored in the network, Figures 3-6 illustrate signalling messages that are transmitted at different stages of the method, and Figure 7 illustrates such an embodiment of the invention in which the short message service provided by the cellular network is utilized.
Description o~ the Pre~erred F~or~- ~ ts:
Figure 1 illustrates a public switched telephone network 10 in which the service implemented by means of the method of the invention is provided. In the exemplary network shown in the figure, there are two service nodes (known per se); a node 14 providing message (herein voice message) delivery service, and a node 15 providing call answering service. In addition, the figure shows the terminal equipments (typically telephone sets) A and B of two subscribers, and the home exchanges 11 and 12 related to subscribers A and B respectively. The terminal equipment of a subscriber (subscriber A) making use of the service of the invention is expected to be abie to transmit dual tone multi frequency dialling (DTMF). Both the message delivery node and the call answering service node are connected tc the network 10 by means of an SS7 interface known per se, that is, traffic control and management in the network is based on common channel signalling (CCS). In Figure l, signalling connections CA 02222317 1997-11-2~
W 0'~6/42163 PCT~I~6100341 are marked with dotted lines and speech connections with solid lines.
Since both the voice message delivery service and the call answering service are known per se, they are not paid closer attention to herein. Voice message delivery service is disclosed in more detail e.g. in the patent publications re~erred to above. Since the more detailed structure of local exchanges is beyond the scope of the present invention, only the parts essential for understanding the present invention will be disclosed herein. Local exchanges may be e.g. DX 200 exchanges by the applicant, disclosed e.g. in "Discovery", vol. 33, Fourth Quarter 1993 (ISSN 0780-393)-In the following, the operation of the service according to the invention in a network shown in Figure 1 will be described. Let us assume that a subscriber (subscriber A) having a terminal equipment A is calling to a subscriber (subscriber B) having a terminal equipment B and that subscriber B is busy or does not reply. Call set-up takes place in a way known per se so that the exchange 11 of subscriber A sends an initial message via a signalling network to the exchange 12 of subscriber B. This initial message may be either an IAM
message (Initial Address Message) when an ISUP (ISDN
user part) is used as the user part in the CCS system, or an IAI message (Initial Address message with additional Information) in a case where a ~elephone user part TUP is used as the user part.
When the exchange 11 of subscriber A receives the information that subscriber B is busy or when subscriber B has not replied during a specific time, an announcement is switched to subscriber A from an announcemenl unit inlegrated to the exchange 11, said announcement indicating tha~ subscriber A can leave a CA 02222317 1997-11-2~
W O 96.'42163 PCT~I96/00341 message to be delivered to subscriber B. The announcement may be e.g. as follows: "The number you tried to reach is busy. You may dictate a message to be delivered to the number you tried to reach. For leaving a message, press the "#" key after the tone." Giving the announcement is marked with an arrow 1 in Figure 1.
(a prior art voice announcement device integrated to a telephone exchange is disclosed in more detail e.g. in Finnish Patent Application No. 943,598, filed August 2, 1994 and published February 2, 1996.) When subscriber A wishes to use the service, he dials the requested character (e.g. "#"). This is illustrated with an arrow 2 in Figure 1. Provided that subscriber A does no give the requested character within a specific time after the announcement, the call will be released.
When the exchange 11 has received the requested character #, it will reroute the call to the message delivery service node 14. In association with signalling, the exchange then sends to the node 14, in addition to an address number, (1) a cause code x, (2) the number of subscriber A, and (3) the original B-number (the number of subscriber B). The cause code x will indicate for which reason the call has been rerouted to the delivery service (e.g. x=1 corresponds to a situation in which subscriber B is busy, and x=2 corresponds to the situation in which subscriber B does not reply).
In accordance with the invention, subscriber-specific confirmation profiles are also maintained in the network, whereby in addition to the above mentioned information, information read from the confirmation profile of subscriber A is transmitted to the delivery service node 14 along with signalling. On the basis of said information, the delivery service node 14 makes a CA 02222317 1997-11-2~
W 0 96/42163 PCT~196/00341 decision on transmitting the delivery confirmation and possibly on the confirmation method. In this exemplary case the confirmation profile is stored in the subscriber database of the home exchange 11 of the A
subscriber, marked with DB in the figure.
The subscriber-specific confirmation profile may be e.g. similar to that shown in Figure 2, that is, a record 20 stored in the subscriber database containing fields "confirmation method" and "routing method", or said fields can be a part of the subscriber -specific record 20 containing all the information on the subscriber. The field "confirmation method"
contains information on whether a confirmation is made, and if that is the case, to which service already available to the subscriber the confirmation is made.
The field "routing method", again, contains information on ho~ the confirmation will be routed, i.e. if the confirmation is delivered e.g. (a) directly to some other service already available to the subscriber or (b) directly to some other service by means of a direct call ~orwarding unconditional carried out in the home exchange of the subscriber or (c) whether the confirmation is first attempted to made to the terminal equipment of the subscriber (in which case the call is forwarded only after the call cannot be switched to the number of the subscriber).
The confirmation method may in practice be coded e.g. in the following way:
1 - no confirmation is made, 2 - the confirmation is made in form of voice mail confirmation making use of the subscriber's voice mail box (call answering service), 3 - a GSM short message confirmation to the subscriber's short message service.
In the following description, value 2 of the CA 02222317 1997-11-2~
W O 96/42163 PCT~FI96/00341 confirmation method will be used as an example, whereby confirmation is made to the voice mailbox of subscriber A, located in the call answering service node 15 shown in Figure 1. (GSM short message confirmation will be set out below). The field "routing method" is not required in all cases, but it is advantageous in particular when the value of the confirmation method is 2.
The identifier and the cause code of the service, as well as the subscriber-specific value (1, 2 or 3) of the confirmation method may be transmitted to the message delivery service node 14 e.g. at the end of the address number. Rerouting carried out by the exchange 11 may take place e.g. to a number Cxy, wherein C is the number of the delivery service node 14, x is the cause code and y is the value of the confirmation method. Signalling that starts storing the message is marked with an arrow 3 in Figure 1, and Figure 3 illustrates those fields of said initial address message IAI in which the above-mentioned information may be transmitted. ~he initial address message starts with a 40-bit address field ADDR
containing a destination point code DPC, an originating point code OPC and a circuit identification code CIC.
The destination point code DPC indicates the signalling point to which the message is addressed, and the above-mentioned information is thus transmitted as a part of this code if the information is transmitted as a part of the number related to node 14. In a CLI field (calling line identity) of the IAI message, the identity of the calling subscriber line is transmitted, herein A. An OCA field (original called address), in turn, is used for transmitting the original address, herein B. (those pieces of the above information that are transmitted in the field in question are shown in CA 02222317 1997-11-2~
parenthesis below the corresponding field identifer).
When a call has been routed to the message delivery service node lg in the manner described above, the node will instruct subscriber A on how to leave a message. When the message (voice message) has been left, it will be converted into a digital voice file, which is stored in the memory of a voice mail unit integrated or connected to the node.
In association with leaving the message, the service node may also ask whether the subscriber wishes the delivery to take place in accordance with the message delivery method set as the default (e.g. X
attempts at intervals of Y minutes), or whether the subscriber wishes to give separate instructions on message delivery. Since these features are beyond the scope of the actual invention, they will not be paid closer attention to herein. Giving the instructions and delivering the message may be carried out in the same way as in the U.S. Patent 4,972,461 mentioned above.
The message delivery service node then activates the attempts for delivering the message to subscriber B in accordance with the instructions it has received. The delivery takes place in a way known per se so that the message delivery service node 14 sets up a call to subscriber B. This is illustrated with an arrow a in Figure 1. The message delivery service node then sends the address B in the destination point code of the IAI message, and its own address (C) in the CLI
field. This message is illustrated in Figure 4. If subscrlber B is busy or does not reply to the call, the delive-y service node will make a new attempt after a predetermined time (in accordance with the default delivery method, or the instructions given by the subscriber).
When the delivery of the message is completed, CA 02222317 1997-11-2~
W O 96/42163 PCT~196/00341 or when all the attempts have been made without succeeding in delivering the message, the service node will deliver a confirmation to the calling party (subscriber A), provided that the value of the confirmation method received at an earlier stage by the service node has indicated that a confirmation must be made (= the value was 2 or 3). As mentioned above, it is assumed in this example that the value of the confirmation method of subscriber A is 2, in which case the service node will call the number of subscriber A
(calling party) and sets into the CLI field a predetermined identifier corresponding to the message delivery, which message may be e.g. the address of the service node (C). This is illustrated with arrows 5 in Figure 1. The initial address message IAI is thus similar to that shown in Figure 5, that is, the destination point code now contains the address of subscriber A.
When the exchange of subscriber A has received the signalling message transmitted by node 14, it will be able to "force" (reroute) the call to the call answering servlce of the subscriber. This "forcing"
takes place on the basis of the identifier (C) identifying message delivery and on the basis of the called address (A) (in the signalling, the subscriber number may be delivered e.g. at the end of the address number or in the OCA field). This transmission may take place, depending on the global or the subscriber-specific setting, either immediately or in such a case that the call cannot be switched to the number of the subscriber (the preferred embodiment). If a subscriber-specific settlng is used, the exchange will read the value stored in the field "routing method" of record 20, and acts accordingly. The call is forwarded to the call answering service regardless of the reason of the CA 02222317 1997-ll-2~
W 05~6/"2163 PCT~I96/00341 unsuccessful switching (the subscrlber is busy or does not reply, call forwarding to another number etc.).
Forwarding the confirmation from the home exchange 11 of the subscriber to the call answering service node 15 is marked with arrows 6. The initial address message transmitted by the exchange 11 is thus similar to one shown in Figure 6, that is, the CLI
field contains the address of the message delivery service node (C), the OCA field contains the address of subscriber A, and the address (D) o~ the ~all answering service node 15 is coded in the destination point code DPC.
The message delivery service node is thus able to "dictate" the confirmation in every situation either directly to the subscriber or to his voice mailbo~, in other words, the method of the invention enables delivery of the confirmation to the subscriber at one attempt In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, the confirmation is delivered only when the message delivery has been successful.
The content of the confirmation may be e.g.
the following: "Service X delivered your message "subject of the message" (that has been dictated by the calling party when leaving the message) to number 9050603766 on 30th March, at 13.30". When the confirmation has been delivered, it is communicated to the subscriber with the prior art methods that are supported by said call answering service and the network. If the call answering service used supports e.g. the MWI (Message Waiting Indication) service mentioned above, the subscriber will receive an indication as usual (e.g. instead of the ringing tone) of the message that has been left, which may thus be a delivery confirmation of a message left by the CA 02222317 1997-11-2~
WO 96/42163 PCT~196/00341 subscriber himself.
Confirmation delivery in the subscriber's mailbox may be e.g. so optimized that the call answering service "tapes" the confirmation dictated by the message delivery service to the voice mailbox of the subscriber directly without greeting prompts. The information contained in the CLI field is thus transferred in the signalling from the message delivery service platform to the call answering service platform (provided that there is such a SS7 network in use in which a CLI field is transferred).
In the above, the preferred embodiment of the invention was disclosed, in which embodiment the confirmation was routed via the subscriber's own exchange so that it would be possible to first make an attempt to switch the confirmation to the number of the subscriber. This embodiment may be modified, firstly, e.g. by transferring the information on the subscriber's routing method to the message delivery service node, whereby sald node will be able to route part of the confirmations directly to the call answering service. (call answering services may be distributed, in which case the message delivery service node must be transmitted the address of the voice mailbox of the subscriber in ques~ion). A third possible embodiment is such that no subscriber-specific information on the routing method is used in the network, but the confirmations for all the subscribers that are provided with a confirmation are routed from the message delivery service node directly to the call answering service node. This is advantageous especially when the nodes are able to maintain the information on each other's addresses. (in accordance with the above, the message delivery service and the call answering service may be separate service nodes of the network, CA 02222317 1997-11-2~
W O 96/'42163 PCTrFE96/00341 which do not necessarily maintain information on each other's addresses).
As mentioned above, instead of the call answering service, it is possible to make use of GSM
short message service (or a corresponding service provided by some other mobile communications system), for instance, for delivering confirmations. In this case it is advantageous that the message delivery service node generates the confirmation to be provided in form of a short message directly to the short message service centre SM-SC of the GSM network. This is illustrated with arrow 5 in Figure 7, in which the parts corresponding to each other are denoted with the same reference symbois as in Figure 1. Generating a short message is carried out in the same way as in a case where a user of a standard PSTN network leaves a message to a user of the GSM network, that is, either by giving predetermined codes (each of which is represented by a specific text) or by supplying free-format text (in signalling). The short message service centre forwards the short message to the Mobile Switching Centre MSC, which routes it via the appropriate base station BTS to the mobile station MS.
Since the short message service cen~re SM-SC of the GSM
network is known per se, it wlll not be paid closer attention to herein. A more detailed description is found e.g. in Mouly, Pautet: "The GSM System for Mobile Communications", 1992 (ISBN 2-9507190-0-7). It must be noted that the short message service provided by the GSM system is different from the call answering service in that respect that it does not provide the confirmation message in form of speech, but by means of signalling.
In the above example, subscriber-specific conrirma~ion profiles were stored in the subscriber's CA 02222317 1997-ll-2S
home Mobile Switching Centre. Confirmation profiles may be maintained and obtained by means of a solution based on intelligent networks, however, in which case the storage of the confirmation profiles of the subscribers is centralized e.g. in a service control point SCP or in a service switching and control point SSCP.
Centralized storage of this kind facilitates the data management compared with the "decentralized solution"
disclosed above. In a solution based on intelligent networks, a call control function CCF located in the home Mobile Switching Centre of the subscriber has no service information, but it has been programmed to identify service requests. The CCF interrupts call establishment for a while and communicates the SSF of the status of the call. The task of the SSF is to interpret the service request and the call status information, to generate a standardized service request and to send the request to the SCF. The SCF receives the request and decodes it Thereafter it generates, encodes and transmits a standardized reply to the SSF.
In this case the reply contains subscriber-specific confirmation profile information.
The solutions disclosed above are relaled either to a public switched telephone network PSTN
only, or to the combination of the PSTN network and a cellular network. In principle, the method may also be implemented within a single cellular network. It must thus be understood that the term "telephone network"
refers to different networks and their combinations.
Although the invention has been disclosed above with reference to the examples in accordance with the attached drawings, it is obvious that the invention is not limited thereto, but it may be modified within the scope of the inventive idea set forth in the attached claims. A more detailed implementation may thus be varied within the scope of prior art techni~ue and the knowledge o~ a person skilled in the art.
A method for providing a delivery confirmation of message deliveries made in a telephone network Field of the Invention The invention relates to a method for providing delivery confirmations of message deliveries made in a telephone network, comprising the steps of:
- a subscriber A providing a message addressed to a subscriber B, which message is temporarily stored in a storage device located in the network, - making an attempt for delivering the stored message to subscriber B, and - after said delivery attempts, delivering subscriber A a confirmation of the result of the message delivery. In principle, a message may be any type of message, such as a voice, data or telefax message. A voice message will be disclosed below, however, as a typical example of a message to be delivered.
Background o~ the Invention In telephone networks, centralized call answering services have been implemented in which a voice mail unit including several "mailboxes" has been connected to an exchange. When a subscriber of the telephone network uses a centralized call answering service, to a subscriber line is assigned one of the mailboxes of the voice mail unit. When there is an incoming call to the subscriber line, the home exchange of the subscriber will route the call to the voice mail unit, to the mailbox assigned to the subscriber. This rerouting may be programmed to take place either every time, only when the line is busy or when there is no answer from the subscriber line, or on some other corresponding condition. When a rerouted call is connected to the voice mail unit, the unit will play CA 022223l7 l997-ll-2~
W O 96~42163 PCT~I96/00341 the announcement spoken by the subscriber of the service or the operator, and gives the calling party an opportunity to leave a voice message in the mailbox of the subscriber of the service. The subscriber may listen to the voice messages addressed to him by calling to a directory number that has been reserved for the mailbox of his own voice mail unit. A system of this kind is attended by the drawback that the subscriber will not know without making a call whether the exchange has rerouted any calls to the voice mail unit, or whether any messages have been dictated.
An improvement on the above is a "Message Waiting Indication" MWI service. Thus, when the exchange has routed a call addressed to the subscriber line to the voice mail unit, it will activate for the subscriber, upon the subscriber lifting the handset, e.g. a spoken message "voice messages are waiting" or a dialling tone that differs from the normal, instead of the normal dialling tone.
An even more advanced service is provided in such prior art systems in which an attempt is made for delivering (at a later instant) a voice message left by subscriber A to a desired subscriber B that was busy or did not reply during the call at~empt made by subscriber A. A service of this kind is termed as a Message Delivery Service or Call Delivery Service. This kind of service is activated when the exchange providing the service receives an information on that subscriber B is busy or subscriber B has not replied during a specific time. Thereafter, instead of the "busy" tone, an announcement is switched to subscriber A from the announcement unit integrated to the exchange, the announcement telling that the subscriber can leave a message to subscriber B. In addition, the subscriber A may be provided with additional CA 02222317 1997-11-2~
W O9'6/412163 PCTAFI96/00341 information on the billing tariff used. If subscriber A wishes to use the service, he dials a requested key (e.g. ~). The call is thus routed to a service node, which instructs the subscriber in leaving a message.
Upon leaving a message, subscriber A may give additional instructions on the delivery, that is, when the message should be delivered and/or how many attempts should be made. When the message has been left, the server attempts to deliver the message to subscriber B according to the instructions given by subscriber A. This kind of system is disclosed e.g. in European Patent Application 385,670.
Systems of this kind, however, are attended by the drawback that the user o~ the service (subscriber A) can only indirectly obtain a confirmation of the receipt of his message (e.g. after the receiving party has con_acted him). In most cases, however, it would be necessary to receive a confirmation almost immediately after ~he delivery of the message, since spoken messages become outdated in a short time almost without exception.
An attempt has been made for relieving this probler e.g. in the system disclosed in U.S. Patent 4,972,4~1. This publication discloses a system in which a conf-rmation of a completed message delivery or an unsuccessful delivery attempt may be provided to a callinc party in association wlth the message delivery service of the speech/data messages, if the subscriber so des~res. When using the system, the calling party may gi~e the telephone number to which he wants the confirration to be delivered. Simultaneously, he may also G' ve, upon leaving a message, the date and the time ard the duration, in which case the system will start the attempts for delivering the confirmatlon at the moment determined by the date and the time, making CA 02222317 1997-11-2~
WO9~/42163 PCT~I96/00341 re-attempts, if need be, until sald duration time expires.
The system of the kind disclosed above has the drawback that, first of all, a successful confirmation of the dellvery is still not sure. The confirmation service makes a limited number of attempts (to provide the information on completed/unsuccessful delivery), i.e. the prlnciple is the same as in delivery of the actual voice message). The service may thus have to make N attempts to deliver the message with no success, however, and thereafter another N attempts, for delivering the information on the unsuccessful attempt, again with no success. Thereafter, the information on a completed/unsuccessful delivery of the message is stored in the confirmation service for a predetermined time (e.g. 24 hours), during which the calling party may make inquiries about it).
The approach described above may also result in the confirmation service causing a lot of extra traffic in the network, which is such traffic that cannot be charged. The use of the system is also complicated, since a lot of information must be provided by the pushbutton dial to the system.
Brief Disclosure of the Invention The object of the present invention is thus to achieve such a novel method for providing delivery confirmations of message deliveries made in a telephone network enabling eliminating the above drawbacks.
The object of the invention is achieved with a solution of the invention, which is characterized by maintaining in the network subscriber-specific information on whether a subscriber has such a message delivery service available that allows delivery of subscriber-specific messages, whereby upon delivering a confirmation, it is possible to route a confirmation CA 02222317 1997-11-2~
W O 96/42163 PCT~196/00341 addressed to subscriber A to said message delivery service on the basis of said information, if need be.
The idea of the invention is to maintain in the network a subscriber-specific service profile or confirmation profile by means of which a confirmation transmitted from the message dellvery service node to the subscriber may be transferred (if need be) to a message delivery service already at the subscriber's disposal. The message delivery service herein refers to any prior art service in which subscriber-specific messages can be left. Message delivery services of this kind include e.g. voice mail/call answering service or a short message service of a cellular network. The idea of the invention is thus to utilize other services available to the subscriber by delivering the confirmation data to such a service that already exists, at least in a case where the confirmation cannot be switched directly to the subscriber line.
In accordance with the invention, the user is provided with the delivery confirmation service only when it is sure that the confirmation is received at one attempt. The network utilizing the method is also able to provide the confirmation without the subscriber separately requesting it. Thus, in the subscriber-specific confirmation service, providing the delivery confirmation can be set as a default value, which may be changed (cancelled/disabled) by the subscriber message-specifically. Thus, it is simpler than heretofore for the subscriber to obtain a confirmation.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, the delivery confirmations are routed via the home exchange of the subscriber, whereby it is possible to first make an attempt to deliver the confirmation directly to the subscriber's own terminal equipment.
CA 022223l7 l997-ll-2~
W O 9~/42163 PCT~I96/00341 Brie~ Description of the Drawings In the following, the invention and its preferred embodiments will be described in greater detail with reference to the examples in the attached drawings, in which Figure 1 shows a telephone network in which the method of the invention is used, Figure 2 shows a subscriber-specific confirmation profile record stored in the network, Figures 3-6 illustrate signalling messages that are transmitted at different stages of the method, and Figure 7 illustrates such an embodiment of the invention in which the short message service provided by the cellular network is utilized.
Description o~ the Pre~erred F~or~- ~ ts:
Figure 1 illustrates a public switched telephone network 10 in which the service implemented by means of the method of the invention is provided. In the exemplary network shown in the figure, there are two service nodes (known per se); a node 14 providing message (herein voice message) delivery service, and a node 15 providing call answering service. In addition, the figure shows the terminal equipments (typically telephone sets) A and B of two subscribers, and the home exchanges 11 and 12 related to subscribers A and B respectively. The terminal equipment of a subscriber (subscriber A) making use of the service of the invention is expected to be abie to transmit dual tone multi frequency dialling (DTMF). Both the message delivery node and the call answering service node are connected tc the network 10 by means of an SS7 interface known per se, that is, traffic control and management in the network is based on common channel signalling (CCS). In Figure l, signalling connections CA 02222317 1997-11-2~
W 0'~6/42163 PCT~I~6100341 are marked with dotted lines and speech connections with solid lines.
Since both the voice message delivery service and the call answering service are known per se, they are not paid closer attention to herein. Voice message delivery service is disclosed in more detail e.g. in the patent publications re~erred to above. Since the more detailed structure of local exchanges is beyond the scope of the present invention, only the parts essential for understanding the present invention will be disclosed herein. Local exchanges may be e.g. DX 200 exchanges by the applicant, disclosed e.g. in "Discovery", vol. 33, Fourth Quarter 1993 (ISSN 0780-393)-In the following, the operation of the service according to the invention in a network shown in Figure 1 will be described. Let us assume that a subscriber (subscriber A) having a terminal equipment A is calling to a subscriber (subscriber B) having a terminal equipment B and that subscriber B is busy or does not reply. Call set-up takes place in a way known per se so that the exchange 11 of subscriber A sends an initial message via a signalling network to the exchange 12 of subscriber B. This initial message may be either an IAM
message (Initial Address Message) when an ISUP (ISDN
user part) is used as the user part in the CCS system, or an IAI message (Initial Address message with additional Information) in a case where a ~elephone user part TUP is used as the user part.
When the exchange 11 of subscriber A receives the information that subscriber B is busy or when subscriber B has not replied during a specific time, an announcement is switched to subscriber A from an announcemenl unit inlegrated to the exchange 11, said announcement indicating tha~ subscriber A can leave a CA 02222317 1997-11-2~
W O 96.'42163 PCT~I96/00341 message to be delivered to subscriber B. The announcement may be e.g. as follows: "The number you tried to reach is busy. You may dictate a message to be delivered to the number you tried to reach. For leaving a message, press the "#" key after the tone." Giving the announcement is marked with an arrow 1 in Figure 1.
(a prior art voice announcement device integrated to a telephone exchange is disclosed in more detail e.g. in Finnish Patent Application No. 943,598, filed August 2, 1994 and published February 2, 1996.) When subscriber A wishes to use the service, he dials the requested character (e.g. "#"). This is illustrated with an arrow 2 in Figure 1. Provided that subscriber A does no give the requested character within a specific time after the announcement, the call will be released.
When the exchange 11 has received the requested character #, it will reroute the call to the message delivery service node 14. In association with signalling, the exchange then sends to the node 14, in addition to an address number, (1) a cause code x, (2) the number of subscriber A, and (3) the original B-number (the number of subscriber B). The cause code x will indicate for which reason the call has been rerouted to the delivery service (e.g. x=1 corresponds to a situation in which subscriber B is busy, and x=2 corresponds to the situation in which subscriber B does not reply).
In accordance with the invention, subscriber-specific confirmation profiles are also maintained in the network, whereby in addition to the above mentioned information, information read from the confirmation profile of subscriber A is transmitted to the delivery service node 14 along with signalling. On the basis of said information, the delivery service node 14 makes a CA 02222317 1997-11-2~
W 0 96/42163 PCT~196/00341 decision on transmitting the delivery confirmation and possibly on the confirmation method. In this exemplary case the confirmation profile is stored in the subscriber database of the home exchange 11 of the A
subscriber, marked with DB in the figure.
The subscriber-specific confirmation profile may be e.g. similar to that shown in Figure 2, that is, a record 20 stored in the subscriber database containing fields "confirmation method" and "routing method", or said fields can be a part of the subscriber -specific record 20 containing all the information on the subscriber. The field "confirmation method"
contains information on whether a confirmation is made, and if that is the case, to which service already available to the subscriber the confirmation is made.
The field "routing method", again, contains information on ho~ the confirmation will be routed, i.e. if the confirmation is delivered e.g. (a) directly to some other service already available to the subscriber or (b) directly to some other service by means of a direct call ~orwarding unconditional carried out in the home exchange of the subscriber or (c) whether the confirmation is first attempted to made to the terminal equipment of the subscriber (in which case the call is forwarded only after the call cannot be switched to the number of the subscriber).
The confirmation method may in practice be coded e.g. in the following way:
1 - no confirmation is made, 2 - the confirmation is made in form of voice mail confirmation making use of the subscriber's voice mail box (call answering service), 3 - a GSM short message confirmation to the subscriber's short message service.
In the following description, value 2 of the CA 02222317 1997-11-2~
W O 96/42163 PCT~FI96/00341 confirmation method will be used as an example, whereby confirmation is made to the voice mailbox of subscriber A, located in the call answering service node 15 shown in Figure 1. (GSM short message confirmation will be set out below). The field "routing method" is not required in all cases, but it is advantageous in particular when the value of the confirmation method is 2.
The identifier and the cause code of the service, as well as the subscriber-specific value (1, 2 or 3) of the confirmation method may be transmitted to the message delivery service node 14 e.g. at the end of the address number. Rerouting carried out by the exchange 11 may take place e.g. to a number Cxy, wherein C is the number of the delivery service node 14, x is the cause code and y is the value of the confirmation method. Signalling that starts storing the message is marked with an arrow 3 in Figure 1, and Figure 3 illustrates those fields of said initial address message IAI in which the above-mentioned information may be transmitted. ~he initial address message starts with a 40-bit address field ADDR
containing a destination point code DPC, an originating point code OPC and a circuit identification code CIC.
The destination point code DPC indicates the signalling point to which the message is addressed, and the above-mentioned information is thus transmitted as a part of this code if the information is transmitted as a part of the number related to node 14. In a CLI field (calling line identity) of the IAI message, the identity of the calling subscriber line is transmitted, herein A. An OCA field (original called address), in turn, is used for transmitting the original address, herein B. (those pieces of the above information that are transmitted in the field in question are shown in CA 02222317 1997-11-2~
parenthesis below the corresponding field identifer).
When a call has been routed to the message delivery service node lg in the manner described above, the node will instruct subscriber A on how to leave a message. When the message (voice message) has been left, it will be converted into a digital voice file, which is stored in the memory of a voice mail unit integrated or connected to the node.
In association with leaving the message, the service node may also ask whether the subscriber wishes the delivery to take place in accordance with the message delivery method set as the default (e.g. X
attempts at intervals of Y minutes), or whether the subscriber wishes to give separate instructions on message delivery. Since these features are beyond the scope of the actual invention, they will not be paid closer attention to herein. Giving the instructions and delivering the message may be carried out in the same way as in the U.S. Patent 4,972,461 mentioned above.
The message delivery service node then activates the attempts for delivering the message to subscriber B in accordance with the instructions it has received. The delivery takes place in a way known per se so that the message delivery service node 14 sets up a call to subscriber B. This is illustrated with an arrow a in Figure 1. The message delivery service node then sends the address B in the destination point code of the IAI message, and its own address (C) in the CLI
field. This message is illustrated in Figure 4. If subscrlber B is busy or does not reply to the call, the delive-y service node will make a new attempt after a predetermined time (in accordance with the default delivery method, or the instructions given by the subscriber).
When the delivery of the message is completed, CA 02222317 1997-11-2~
W O 96/42163 PCT~196/00341 or when all the attempts have been made without succeeding in delivering the message, the service node will deliver a confirmation to the calling party (subscriber A), provided that the value of the confirmation method received at an earlier stage by the service node has indicated that a confirmation must be made (= the value was 2 or 3). As mentioned above, it is assumed in this example that the value of the confirmation method of subscriber A is 2, in which case the service node will call the number of subscriber A
(calling party) and sets into the CLI field a predetermined identifier corresponding to the message delivery, which message may be e.g. the address of the service node (C). This is illustrated with arrows 5 in Figure 1. The initial address message IAI is thus similar to that shown in Figure 5, that is, the destination point code now contains the address of subscriber A.
When the exchange of subscriber A has received the signalling message transmitted by node 14, it will be able to "force" (reroute) the call to the call answering servlce of the subscriber. This "forcing"
takes place on the basis of the identifier (C) identifying message delivery and on the basis of the called address (A) (in the signalling, the subscriber number may be delivered e.g. at the end of the address number or in the OCA field). This transmission may take place, depending on the global or the subscriber-specific setting, either immediately or in such a case that the call cannot be switched to the number of the subscriber (the preferred embodiment). If a subscriber-specific settlng is used, the exchange will read the value stored in the field "routing method" of record 20, and acts accordingly. The call is forwarded to the call answering service regardless of the reason of the CA 02222317 1997-ll-2~
W 05~6/"2163 PCT~I96/00341 unsuccessful switching (the subscrlber is busy or does not reply, call forwarding to another number etc.).
Forwarding the confirmation from the home exchange 11 of the subscriber to the call answering service node 15 is marked with arrows 6. The initial address message transmitted by the exchange 11 is thus similar to one shown in Figure 6, that is, the CLI
field contains the address of the message delivery service node (C), the OCA field contains the address of subscriber A, and the address (D) o~ the ~all answering service node 15 is coded in the destination point code DPC.
The message delivery service node is thus able to "dictate" the confirmation in every situation either directly to the subscriber or to his voice mailbo~, in other words, the method of the invention enables delivery of the confirmation to the subscriber at one attempt In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, the confirmation is delivered only when the message delivery has been successful.
The content of the confirmation may be e.g.
the following: "Service X delivered your message "subject of the message" (that has been dictated by the calling party when leaving the message) to number 9050603766 on 30th March, at 13.30". When the confirmation has been delivered, it is communicated to the subscriber with the prior art methods that are supported by said call answering service and the network. If the call answering service used supports e.g. the MWI (Message Waiting Indication) service mentioned above, the subscriber will receive an indication as usual (e.g. instead of the ringing tone) of the message that has been left, which may thus be a delivery confirmation of a message left by the CA 02222317 1997-11-2~
WO 96/42163 PCT~196/00341 subscriber himself.
Confirmation delivery in the subscriber's mailbox may be e.g. so optimized that the call answering service "tapes" the confirmation dictated by the message delivery service to the voice mailbox of the subscriber directly without greeting prompts. The information contained in the CLI field is thus transferred in the signalling from the message delivery service platform to the call answering service platform (provided that there is such a SS7 network in use in which a CLI field is transferred).
In the above, the preferred embodiment of the invention was disclosed, in which embodiment the confirmation was routed via the subscriber's own exchange so that it would be possible to first make an attempt to switch the confirmation to the number of the subscriber. This embodiment may be modified, firstly, e.g. by transferring the information on the subscriber's routing method to the message delivery service node, whereby sald node will be able to route part of the confirmations directly to the call answering service. (call answering services may be distributed, in which case the message delivery service node must be transmitted the address of the voice mailbox of the subscriber in ques~ion). A third possible embodiment is such that no subscriber-specific information on the routing method is used in the network, but the confirmations for all the subscribers that are provided with a confirmation are routed from the message delivery service node directly to the call answering service node. This is advantageous especially when the nodes are able to maintain the information on each other's addresses. (in accordance with the above, the message delivery service and the call answering service may be separate service nodes of the network, CA 02222317 1997-11-2~
W O 96/'42163 PCTrFE96/00341 which do not necessarily maintain information on each other's addresses).
As mentioned above, instead of the call answering service, it is possible to make use of GSM
short message service (or a corresponding service provided by some other mobile communications system), for instance, for delivering confirmations. In this case it is advantageous that the message delivery service node generates the confirmation to be provided in form of a short message directly to the short message service centre SM-SC of the GSM network. This is illustrated with arrow 5 in Figure 7, in which the parts corresponding to each other are denoted with the same reference symbois as in Figure 1. Generating a short message is carried out in the same way as in a case where a user of a standard PSTN network leaves a message to a user of the GSM network, that is, either by giving predetermined codes (each of which is represented by a specific text) or by supplying free-format text (in signalling). The short message service centre forwards the short message to the Mobile Switching Centre MSC, which routes it via the appropriate base station BTS to the mobile station MS.
Since the short message service cen~re SM-SC of the GSM
network is known per se, it wlll not be paid closer attention to herein. A more detailed description is found e.g. in Mouly, Pautet: "The GSM System for Mobile Communications", 1992 (ISBN 2-9507190-0-7). It must be noted that the short message service provided by the GSM system is different from the call answering service in that respect that it does not provide the confirmation message in form of speech, but by means of signalling.
In the above example, subscriber-specific conrirma~ion profiles were stored in the subscriber's CA 02222317 1997-ll-2S
home Mobile Switching Centre. Confirmation profiles may be maintained and obtained by means of a solution based on intelligent networks, however, in which case the storage of the confirmation profiles of the subscribers is centralized e.g. in a service control point SCP or in a service switching and control point SSCP.
Centralized storage of this kind facilitates the data management compared with the "decentralized solution"
disclosed above. In a solution based on intelligent networks, a call control function CCF located in the home Mobile Switching Centre of the subscriber has no service information, but it has been programmed to identify service requests. The CCF interrupts call establishment for a while and communicates the SSF of the status of the call. The task of the SSF is to interpret the service request and the call status information, to generate a standardized service request and to send the request to the SCF. The SCF receives the request and decodes it Thereafter it generates, encodes and transmits a standardized reply to the SSF.
In this case the reply contains subscriber-specific confirmation profile information.
The solutions disclosed above are relaled either to a public switched telephone network PSTN
only, or to the combination of the PSTN network and a cellular network. In principle, the method may also be implemented within a single cellular network. It must thus be understood that the term "telephone network"
refers to different networks and their combinations.
Although the invention has been disclosed above with reference to the examples in accordance with the attached drawings, it is obvious that the invention is not limited thereto, but it may be modified within the scope of the inventive idea set forth in the attached claims. A more detailed implementation may thus be varied within the scope of prior art techni~ue and the knowledge o~ a person skilled in the art.
Claims (10)
1. A method for providing delivery confirmations of message deliveries made in a telephone network (10), comprising the steps of:
- a subscriber A providing a message addressed to a subscriber B, which message is temporarily stored in a storage device (14) located in the network, - making an attempt for delivering the stored message to subscriber B, and - after said delivery attempts, delivering subscriber A a confirmation of the result of the message delivery, c h a r a c t e r i z e d by - maintaining in the network subscriber-specific information on whether a subscriber has such a message delivery service available that allows delivery of subscriber-specific messages, whereby upon delivering a confirmation, it is possible to route a confirmation addressed to subscriber A to said message delivery service on the basis of said information, if need be.
- a subscriber A providing a message addressed to a subscriber B, which message is temporarily stored in a storage device (14) located in the network, - making an attempt for delivering the stored message to subscriber B, and - after said delivery attempts, delivering subscriber A a confirmation of the result of the message delivery, c h a r a c t e r i z e d by - maintaining in the network subscriber-specific information on whether a subscriber has such a message delivery service available that allows delivery of subscriber-specific messages, whereby upon delivering a confirmation, it is possible to route a confirmation addressed to subscriber A to said message delivery service on the basis of said information, if need be.
2. A method as claimed in claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d by routing a confirmation addressed to subscriber A every time via a home exchange of subscriber A.
3. A method as claimed in claim 2, c h a r a c t e r i z e d by making an attempt to switch the confirmation first to the subscriber's own subscriber line.
4. A method as claimed in claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d by maintaining in the network subscriber-specific information on one such service at the most to which routing may be carried out, if necessary.
5. A method as claimed in claim 2, c h a r a c t e r i z e d by maintaining in the network subscriber-specific information on (a) whether said routing is to be carried out directly from the subscriber's home exchange to said other service unconditionally, or (b) whether said routing is to be carried out only in the case that the confirmation cannot be switched to the terminal equipment of subscriber A in the subscriber's home exchange.
6. A method as claimed in claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d by storing the subscriber-specific information in the home exchange (11, 12) of each subscriber.
7. A method as claimed in claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d by centralizing the storage of the subscriber-specific information in a same database of the network.
8. A method as claimed in claim 4, c h a r a c t e r i z e d by delivering a confirmation to the call answering service always when the subscriber in question has a call answering service available.
9 A method as claimed in claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d by routing a confirmation to the short message service centre of a mobile communication network directly from the node that has carried out the delivery of voice messages.
10. A method as claimed in claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d by delivering a confirmation only in a case of a successful message delivery.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| FI952832A FI99072C (en) | 1995-06-08 | 1995-06-08 | A method for issuing delivery confirmations of message deliveries over a telephone network |
| FI952832 | 1995-06-08 |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA2222317A1 true CA2222317A1 (en) | 1996-12-27 |
Family
ID=8543569
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA002222317A Abandoned CA2222317A1 (en) | 1995-06-08 | 1996-06-07 | A method for providing a delivery confirmation of message deliveries made in a telephone network |
Country Status (10)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| US (1) | US6351522B1 (en) |
| EP (1) | EP0872105B1 (en) |
| JP (1) | JPH11507783A (en) |
| AU (1) | AU709326B2 (en) |
| BR (1) | BR9609239A (en) |
| CA (1) | CA2222317A1 (en) |
| DE (1) | DE69630703T2 (en) |
| FI (1) | FI99072C (en) |
| RU (1) | RU2173502C2 (en) |
| WO (1) | WO1996042163A1 (en) |
Families Citing this family (153)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE19734436A1 (en) * | 1997-08-08 | 1999-02-11 | Ericsson Telefon Ab L M | Method and device for exchanging information between subscriber stations of a telephone communication network |
| US5956390A (en) * | 1997-09-03 | 1999-09-21 | Motorola, Inc. | Method and apparatus for providing verified message receipt in a messaging system |
| DE19740558C2 (en) * | 1997-09-15 | 2003-01-09 | Siemens Ag | Method for transmitting "MWI service" -specific messages in telecommunication networks, in particular in hybrid DECT / ISDN-specific telecommunication networks |
| SE512132C2 (en) | 1997-12-16 | 2000-01-31 | Ericsson Telefon Ab L M | Method and device in a communication network |
| FI105743B (en) * | 1998-05-27 | 2000-09-29 | Nokia Mobile Phones Ltd | Method for multimedia messaging and multimedia messaging system |
| FI107004B (en) * | 1998-09-24 | 2001-05-15 | Nokia Networks Oy | Response service procedures and systems |
| US6526127B1 (en) * | 1998-09-28 | 2003-02-25 | Lucent Technologies Inc. | Message status retrieval system and method |
| ES2243261T3 (en) | 1999-03-31 | 2005-12-01 | Siemens Aktiengesellschaft | PROCEDURE FOR THE TRANSMISSION OF DATA TO MEMBERS OF A SERVICE OF OPERATORS. |
| US6876740B1 (en) | 1999-03-31 | 2005-04-05 | Siemens Aktiengesellschaft | Method for transmitting information between a switching center and a communications terminal |
| DE10010495C2 (en) * | 1999-03-31 | 2002-04-11 | Siemens Ag | Method for transmitting information between a switching center and at least one communication terminal connected to it, use of the method and telecommunications network |
| US6510207B1 (en) * | 1999-06-29 | 2003-01-21 | Agere Systems Inc. | Voice messaging system storage of emergency alert system warnings |
| DE19930746A1 (en) * | 1999-07-02 | 2001-01-11 | Siemens Ag | Method and device for storing voice / fax messages in an intelligent network |
| DE19941164C2 (en) * | 1999-08-24 | 2001-11-22 | Mannesmann Ag | SMS-based procedure for online / offline recognition of user groups in mobile radio networks |
| EP1122958A1 (en) * | 2000-02-02 | 2001-08-08 | Siemens Aktiengesellschaft | Method for transmitting a message and telecommunication system |
| US8645137B2 (en) | 2000-03-16 | 2014-02-04 | Apple Inc. | Fast, language-independent method for user authentication by voice |
| US6980526B2 (en) * | 2000-03-24 | 2005-12-27 | Margalla Communications, Inc. | Multiple subscriber videoconferencing system |
| US6829331B2 (en) * | 2001-01-02 | 2004-12-07 | Soundbite Communications, Inc. | Address book for a voice message delivery method and system |
| US6785363B2 (en) | 2001-01-02 | 2004-08-31 | Soundbite Communications, Inc. | Voice message delivery method and system |
| US7054419B2 (en) * | 2001-01-02 | 2006-05-30 | Soundbite Communications, Inc. | Answering machine detection for voice message delivery method and system |
| US6816493B2 (en) * | 2001-03-09 | 2004-11-09 | Motorola, Inc. | Method and apparatus employing a mediation device to facilitate communication among devices in an asynchronous communications network |
| US7171476B2 (en) * | 2001-04-20 | 2007-01-30 | Motorola, Inc. | Protocol and structure for self-organizing network |
| US7251222B2 (en) * | 2001-05-15 | 2007-07-31 | Motorola, Inc. | Procedures for merging the mediation device protocol with a network layer protocol |
| ITFI20010199A1 (en) * | 2001-10-22 | 2003-04-22 | Riccardo Vieri | SYSTEM AND METHOD TO TRANSFORM TEXTUAL COMMUNICATIONS INTO VOICE AND SEND THEM WITH AN INTERNET CONNECTION TO ANY TELEPHONE SYSTEM |
| US20050053205A1 (en) * | 2002-03-07 | 2005-03-10 | Hays Jeffrey C | Message delivery and acquisition system |
| US7492773B2 (en) * | 2002-05-23 | 2009-02-17 | Motorola, Inc. | Media access control and distributed data processing using mediation devices in an asynchronous network |
| US7440462B2 (en) * | 2002-05-23 | 2008-10-21 | Motorola, Inc. | Quality of service (QOS) control mechanisms using mediation devices in an asynchronous network |
| AU2003237454A1 (en) * | 2002-06-06 | 2003-12-22 | Motorola, Inc., A Corporation Of The State Of Delaware | Protocol and structure for mobile nodes in a self-organizing communication network |
| US7266183B1 (en) * | 2003-12-04 | 2007-09-04 | David B. Soll | Message delivery system |
| US20060056603A1 (en) * | 2004-09-13 | 2006-03-16 | Harrity John E | Systems and methods for providing voicemail notifications |
| US7864930B2 (en) * | 2004-12-27 | 2011-01-04 | Bce Inc. | Systems and methods for registration and retrieval of voice mail contact information |
| WO2006069433A1 (en) * | 2004-12-27 | 2006-07-06 | Bce Inc. | Method and system to enable submission and subsequent retrieval of enhanced voice mail messages |
| WO2006069431A1 (en) * | 2004-12-27 | 2006-07-06 | Bce Inc. | Methods and systems for rendering voice mail messages amenable to electronic processing by mailbox owners |
| US20060159237A1 (en) * | 2004-12-27 | 2006-07-20 | Clark David W | Systems and methods for rendering voice mail contact information available to a called party |
| KR100677568B1 (en) | 2005-02-07 | 2007-02-02 | 삼성전자주식회사 | Method for determining transmission rate of control response frame for the data reception in the wireless local network |
| US7526073B2 (en) * | 2005-07-01 | 2009-04-28 | At&T Intellectual Property L.L.P. | IVR to SMS text messenger |
| US8677377B2 (en) | 2005-09-08 | 2014-03-18 | Apple Inc. | Method and apparatus for building an intelligent automated assistant |
| CN101438511A (en) | 2006-03-24 | 2009-05-20 | 交互数字技术公司 | Method and apparatus for maintaining uplink synchronization and reducing battery power consumption |
| US7570927B2 (en) | 2006-06-16 | 2009-08-04 | Motorola, Inc. | Decentralized wireless communication network and method having a plurality of devices |
| US9318108B2 (en) | 2010-01-18 | 2016-04-19 | Apple Inc. | Intelligent automated assistant |
| US8977255B2 (en) | 2007-04-03 | 2015-03-10 | Apple Inc. | Method and system for operating a multi-function portable electronic device using voice-activation |
| ITFI20070177A1 (en) | 2007-07-26 | 2009-01-27 | Riccardo Vieri | SYSTEM FOR THE CREATION AND SETTING OF AN ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN DERIVING FROM THE INSERTION OF ADVERTISING MESSAGES WITHIN AN EXCHANGE OF MESSAGES AND METHOD FOR ITS FUNCTIONING. |
| US9330720B2 (en) | 2008-01-03 | 2016-05-03 | Apple Inc. | Methods and apparatus for altering audio output signals |
| US8996376B2 (en) | 2008-04-05 | 2015-03-31 | Apple Inc. | Intelligent text-to-speech conversion |
| US10496753B2 (en) | 2010-01-18 | 2019-12-03 | Apple Inc. | Automatically adapting user interfaces for hands-free interaction |
| US20100030549A1 (en) | 2008-07-31 | 2010-02-04 | Lee Michael M | Mobile device having human language translation capability with positional feedback |
| WO2010067118A1 (en) | 2008-12-11 | 2010-06-17 | Novauris Technologies Limited | Speech recognition involving a mobile device |
| US9858925B2 (en) | 2009-06-05 | 2018-01-02 | Apple Inc. | Using context information to facilitate processing of commands in a virtual assistant |
| US10241752B2 (en) | 2011-09-30 | 2019-03-26 | Apple Inc. | Interface for a virtual digital assistant |
| US10706373B2 (en) | 2011-06-03 | 2020-07-07 | Apple Inc. | Performing actions associated with task items that represent tasks to perform |
| US10241644B2 (en) | 2011-06-03 | 2019-03-26 | Apple Inc. | Actionable reminder entries |
| US9431006B2 (en) | 2009-07-02 | 2016-08-30 | Apple Inc. | Methods and apparatuses for automatic speech recognition |
| US8549083B2 (en) * | 2010-01-06 | 2013-10-01 | Alcatel Lucent | Message waiting notification to external message centers |
| US10276170B2 (en) | 2010-01-18 | 2019-04-30 | Apple Inc. | Intelligent automated assistant |
| US10679605B2 (en) | 2010-01-18 | 2020-06-09 | Apple Inc. | Hands-free list-reading by intelligent automated assistant |
| US10705794B2 (en) | 2010-01-18 | 2020-07-07 | Apple Inc. | Automatically adapting user interfaces for hands-free interaction |
| US10553209B2 (en) | 2010-01-18 | 2020-02-04 | Apple Inc. | Systems and methods for hands-free notification summaries |
| WO2011089450A2 (en) | 2010-01-25 | 2011-07-28 | Andrew Peter Nelson Jerram | Apparatuses, methods and systems for a digital conversation management platform |
| US8682667B2 (en) | 2010-02-25 | 2014-03-25 | Apple Inc. | User profiling for selecting user specific voice input processing information |
| EP2424205B1 (en) * | 2010-08-26 | 2019-03-13 | Unify GmbH & Co. KG | Method and system for automatic transfer of status information |
| US10762293B2 (en) | 2010-12-22 | 2020-09-01 | Apple Inc. | Using parts-of-speech tagging and named entity recognition for spelling correction |
| US9262612B2 (en) | 2011-03-21 | 2016-02-16 | Apple Inc. | Device access using voice authentication |
| US10057736B2 (en) | 2011-06-03 | 2018-08-21 | Apple Inc. | Active transport based notifications |
| US8994660B2 (en) | 2011-08-29 | 2015-03-31 | Apple Inc. | Text correction processing |
| US10134385B2 (en) | 2012-03-02 | 2018-11-20 | Apple Inc. | Systems and methods for name pronunciation |
| US9483461B2 (en) | 2012-03-06 | 2016-11-01 | Apple Inc. | Handling speech synthesis of content for multiple languages |
| US9280610B2 (en) | 2012-05-14 | 2016-03-08 | Apple Inc. | Crowd sourcing information to fulfill user requests |
| US9721563B2 (en) | 2012-06-08 | 2017-08-01 | Apple Inc. | Name recognition system |
| US9495129B2 (en) | 2012-06-29 | 2016-11-15 | Apple Inc. | Device, method, and user interface for voice-activated navigation and browsing of a document |
| US9576574B2 (en) | 2012-09-10 | 2017-02-21 | Apple Inc. | Context-sensitive handling of interruptions by intelligent digital assistant |
| US9547647B2 (en) | 2012-09-19 | 2017-01-17 | Apple Inc. | Voice-based media searching |
| CN113470640B (en) | 2013-02-07 | 2022-04-26 | 苹果公司 | Voice trigger of digital assistant |
| US9368114B2 (en) | 2013-03-14 | 2016-06-14 | Apple Inc. | Context-sensitive handling of interruptions |
| WO2014144579A1 (en) | 2013-03-15 | 2014-09-18 | Apple Inc. | System and method for updating an adaptive speech recognition model |
| CN105027197B (en) | 2013-03-15 | 2018-12-14 | 苹果公司 | Training at least partly voice command system |
| WO2014197334A2 (en) | 2013-06-07 | 2014-12-11 | Apple Inc. | System and method for user-specified pronunciation of words for speech synthesis and recognition |
| WO2014197336A1 (en) | 2013-06-07 | 2014-12-11 | Apple Inc. | System and method for detecting errors in interactions with a voice-based digital assistant |
| US9582608B2 (en) | 2013-06-07 | 2017-02-28 | Apple Inc. | Unified ranking with entropy-weighted information for phrase-based semantic auto-completion |
| WO2014197335A1 (en) | 2013-06-08 | 2014-12-11 | Apple Inc. | Interpreting and acting upon commands that involve sharing information with remote devices |
| KR101922663B1 (en) | 2013-06-09 | 2018-11-28 | 애플 인크. | Device, method, and graphical user interface for enabling conversation persistence across two or more instances of a digital assistant |
| US10176167B2 (en) | 2013-06-09 | 2019-01-08 | Apple Inc. | System and method for inferring user intent from speech inputs |
| KR101809808B1 (en) | 2013-06-13 | 2017-12-15 | 애플 인크. | System and method for emergency calls initiated by voice command |
| DE112014003653B4 (en) | 2013-08-06 | 2024-04-18 | Apple Inc. | Automatically activate intelligent responses based on activities from remote devices |
| US9620105B2 (en) | 2014-05-15 | 2017-04-11 | Apple Inc. | Analyzing audio input for efficient speech and music recognition |
| US10592095B2 (en) | 2014-05-23 | 2020-03-17 | Apple Inc. | Instantaneous speaking of content on touch devices |
| US9502031B2 (en) | 2014-05-27 | 2016-11-22 | Apple Inc. | Method for supporting dynamic grammars in WFST-based ASR |
| US9842101B2 (en) | 2014-05-30 | 2017-12-12 | Apple Inc. | Predictive conversion of language input |
| US9715875B2 (en) | 2014-05-30 | 2017-07-25 | Apple Inc. | Reducing the need for manual start/end-pointing and trigger phrases |
| US9633004B2 (en) | 2014-05-30 | 2017-04-25 | Apple Inc. | Better resolution when referencing to concepts |
| TWI566107B (en) | 2014-05-30 | 2017-01-11 | 蘋果公司 | Method for processing a multi-part voice command, non-transitory computer readable storage medium and electronic device |
| US9734193B2 (en) | 2014-05-30 | 2017-08-15 | Apple Inc. | Determining domain salience ranking from ambiguous words in natural speech |
| US9760559B2 (en) | 2014-05-30 | 2017-09-12 | Apple Inc. | Predictive text input |
| US10289433B2 (en) | 2014-05-30 | 2019-05-14 | Apple Inc. | Domain specific language for encoding assistant dialog |
| US9430463B2 (en) | 2014-05-30 | 2016-08-30 | Apple Inc. | Exemplar-based natural language processing |
| US10170123B2 (en) | 2014-05-30 | 2019-01-01 | Apple Inc. | Intelligent assistant for home automation |
| US10078631B2 (en) | 2014-05-30 | 2018-09-18 | Apple Inc. | Entropy-guided text prediction using combined word and character n-gram language models |
| US9785630B2 (en) | 2014-05-30 | 2017-10-10 | Apple Inc. | Text prediction using combined word N-gram and unigram language models |
| US9338493B2 (en) | 2014-06-30 | 2016-05-10 | Apple Inc. | Intelligent automated assistant for TV user interactions |
| US10659851B2 (en) | 2014-06-30 | 2020-05-19 | Apple Inc. | Real-time digital assistant knowledge updates |
| US10446141B2 (en) | 2014-08-28 | 2019-10-15 | Apple Inc. | Automatic speech recognition based on user feedback |
| US9818400B2 (en) | 2014-09-11 | 2017-11-14 | Apple Inc. | Method and apparatus for discovering trending terms in speech requests |
| US10789041B2 (en) | 2014-09-12 | 2020-09-29 | Apple Inc. | Dynamic thresholds for always listening speech trigger |
| US9668121B2 (en) | 2014-09-30 | 2017-05-30 | Apple Inc. | Social reminders |
| US9646609B2 (en) | 2014-09-30 | 2017-05-09 | Apple Inc. | Caching apparatus for serving phonetic pronunciations |
| US9886432B2 (en) | 2014-09-30 | 2018-02-06 | Apple Inc. | Parsimonious handling of word inflection via categorical stem + suffix N-gram language models |
| US10127911B2 (en) | 2014-09-30 | 2018-11-13 | Apple Inc. | Speaker identification and unsupervised speaker adaptation techniques |
| US10074360B2 (en) | 2014-09-30 | 2018-09-11 | Apple Inc. | Providing an indication of the suitability of speech recognition |
| US10552013B2 (en) | 2014-12-02 | 2020-02-04 | Apple Inc. | Data detection |
| US9711141B2 (en) | 2014-12-09 | 2017-07-18 | Apple Inc. | Disambiguating heteronyms in speech synthesis |
| US9865280B2 (en) | 2015-03-06 | 2018-01-09 | Apple Inc. | Structured dictation using intelligent automated assistants |
| US9886953B2 (en) | 2015-03-08 | 2018-02-06 | Apple Inc. | Virtual assistant activation |
| US10567477B2 (en) | 2015-03-08 | 2020-02-18 | Apple Inc. | Virtual assistant continuity |
| US9721566B2 (en) | 2015-03-08 | 2017-08-01 | Apple Inc. | Competing devices responding to voice triggers |
| US9899019B2 (en) | 2015-03-18 | 2018-02-20 | Apple Inc. | Systems and methods for structured stem and suffix language models |
| US9842105B2 (en) | 2015-04-16 | 2017-12-12 | Apple Inc. | Parsimonious continuous-space phrase representations for natural language processing |
| US10083688B2 (en) | 2015-05-27 | 2018-09-25 | Apple Inc. | Device voice control for selecting a displayed affordance |
| US10127220B2 (en) | 2015-06-04 | 2018-11-13 | Apple Inc. | Language identification from short strings |
| US10101822B2 (en) | 2015-06-05 | 2018-10-16 | Apple Inc. | Language input correction |
| US9578173B2 (en) | 2015-06-05 | 2017-02-21 | Apple Inc. | Virtual assistant aided communication with 3rd party service in a communication session |
| US11025565B2 (en) | 2015-06-07 | 2021-06-01 | Apple Inc. | Personalized prediction of responses for instant messaging |
| US10186254B2 (en) | 2015-06-07 | 2019-01-22 | Apple Inc. | Context-based endpoint detection |
| US10255907B2 (en) | 2015-06-07 | 2019-04-09 | Apple Inc. | Automatic accent detection using acoustic models |
| US10747498B2 (en) | 2015-09-08 | 2020-08-18 | Apple Inc. | Zero latency digital assistant |
| US10671428B2 (en) | 2015-09-08 | 2020-06-02 | Apple Inc. | Distributed personal assistant |
| US9697820B2 (en) | 2015-09-24 | 2017-07-04 | Apple Inc. | Unit-selection text-to-speech synthesis using concatenation-sensitive neural networks |
| US11010550B2 (en) | 2015-09-29 | 2021-05-18 | Apple Inc. | Unified language modeling framework for word prediction, auto-completion and auto-correction |
| US10366158B2 (en) | 2015-09-29 | 2019-07-30 | Apple Inc. | Efficient word encoding for recurrent neural network language models |
| US11587559B2 (en) | 2015-09-30 | 2023-02-21 | Apple Inc. | Intelligent device identification |
| US10691473B2 (en) | 2015-11-06 | 2020-06-23 | Apple Inc. | Intelligent automated assistant in a messaging environment |
| US10049668B2 (en) | 2015-12-02 | 2018-08-14 | Apple Inc. | Applying neural network language models to weighted finite state transducers for automatic speech recognition |
| US10223066B2 (en) | 2015-12-23 | 2019-03-05 | Apple Inc. | Proactive assistance based on dialog communication between devices |
| US10446143B2 (en) | 2016-03-14 | 2019-10-15 | Apple Inc. | Identification of voice inputs providing credentials |
| US9934775B2 (en) | 2016-05-26 | 2018-04-03 | Apple Inc. | Unit-selection text-to-speech synthesis based on predicted concatenation parameters |
| US9972304B2 (en) | 2016-06-03 | 2018-05-15 | Apple Inc. | Privacy preserving distributed evaluation framework for embedded personalized systems |
| US10249300B2 (en) | 2016-06-06 | 2019-04-02 | Apple Inc. | Intelligent list reading |
| US10049663B2 (en) | 2016-06-08 | 2018-08-14 | Apple, Inc. | Intelligent automated assistant for media exploration |
| DK179588B1 (en) | 2016-06-09 | 2019-02-22 | Apple Inc. | Intelligent automated assistant in a home environment |
| US10192552B2 (en) | 2016-06-10 | 2019-01-29 | Apple Inc. | Digital assistant providing whispered speech |
| US10509862B2 (en) | 2016-06-10 | 2019-12-17 | Apple Inc. | Dynamic phrase expansion of language input |
| US10586535B2 (en) | 2016-06-10 | 2020-03-10 | Apple Inc. | Intelligent digital assistant in a multi-tasking environment |
| US10067938B2 (en) | 2016-06-10 | 2018-09-04 | Apple Inc. | Multilingual word prediction |
| US10490187B2 (en) | 2016-06-10 | 2019-11-26 | Apple Inc. | Digital assistant providing automated status report |
| DK179049B1 (en) | 2016-06-11 | 2017-09-18 | Apple Inc | Data driven natural language event detection and classification |
| DK179343B1 (en) | 2016-06-11 | 2018-05-14 | Apple Inc | Intelligent task discovery |
| DK201670540A1 (en) | 2016-06-11 | 2018-01-08 | Apple Inc | Application integration with a digital assistant |
| DK179415B1 (en) | 2016-06-11 | 2018-06-14 | Apple Inc | Intelligent device arbitration and control |
| US10043516B2 (en) | 2016-09-23 | 2018-08-07 | Apple Inc. | Intelligent automated assistant |
| US10593346B2 (en) | 2016-12-22 | 2020-03-17 | Apple Inc. | Rank-reduced token representation for automatic speech recognition |
| DK201770439A1 (en) | 2017-05-11 | 2018-12-13 | Apple Inc. | Offline personal assistant |
| DK179745B1 (en) | 2017-05-12 | 2019-05-01 | Apple Inc. | SYNCHRONIZATION AND TASK DELEGATION OF A DIGITAL ASSISTANT |
| DK179496B1 (en) | 2017-05-12 | 2019-01-15 | Apple Inc. | USER-SPECIFIC Acoustic Models |
| DK201770432A1 (en) | 2017-05-15 | 2018-12-21 | Apple Inc. | Hierarchical belief states for digital assistants |
| DK201770431A1 (en) | 2017-05-15 | 2018-12-20 | Apple Inc. | Optimizing dialogue policy decisions for digital assistants using implicit feedback |
| DK179560B1 (en) | 2017-05-16 | 2019-02-18 | Apple Inc. | Far-field extension for digital assistant services |
Family Cites Families (21)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPS58175349A (en) * | 1982-04-08 | 1983-10-14 | Nec Corp | Message reception confirming system of voice storing device |
| US4757525A (en) * | 1982-09-29 | 1988-07-12 | Vmx, Inc. | Electronic audio communications system with voice command features |
| US4582959B1 (en) | 1984-06-05 | 2000-02-01 | At & T Information Systems Inc | Message waiting alerting method |
| US5752191A (en) * | 1984-09-14 | 1998-05-12 | Accessline Technologies, Inc. | Telephone control system which connects a caller with a subscriber AT A telephone address |
| US4612416A (en) | 1985-01-22 | 1986-09-16 | At&T Information Systems Inc. | Integrated message service system |
| US4837798A (en) | 1986-06-02 | 1989-06-06 | American Telephone And Telegraph Company | Communication system having unified messaging |
| US5027384A (en) * | 1986-09-22 | 1991-06-25 | Dytel Corporation | Personalized automatic call routing |
| US4932042A (en) | 1989-03-03 | 1990-06-05 | At&T Bell Laboratories | Spontaneous voice and data messaging |
| US4972461A (en) | 1989-09-20 | 1990-11-20 | At&T Bell Laboratories | Call message delivery system and method |
| US5222125A (en) * | 1991-09-03 | 1993-06-22 | At&T Bell Laboratories | System for providing personalized telephone calling features |
| US5353331A (en) * | 1992-03-05 | 1994-10-04 | Bell Atlantic Network Services, Inc. | Personal communications service using wireline/wireless integration |
| US5583920A (en) * | 1992-04-17 | 1996-12-10 | Bell Atlantic | Intelligent peripheral in video dial tone network |
| US5325421A (en) * | 1992-08-24 | 1994-06-28 | At&T Bell Laboratories | Voice directed communications system platform |
| EP0588101A3 (en) | 1992-09-14 | 1995-03-08 | Rolm Co | Message storage and retrieval systems employing selective caller processing. |
| US5497412A (en) * | 1994-04-07 | 1996-03-05 | Gte Telecommunication Services Incorporated | Enhanced call delivery system for roaming cellular subscribers |
| US5742905A (en) * | 1994-09-19 | 1998-04-21 | Bell Communications Research, Inc. | Personal communications internetworking |
| US5652789A (en) * | 1994-09-30 | 1997-07-29 | Wildfire Communications, Inc. | Network based knowledgeable assistant |
| US5633868A (en) * | 1994-10-17 | 1997-05-27 | Lucent Technologies Inc. | Virtual circuit management in cellular telecommunications |
| US5752188A (en) * | 1994-12-23 | 1998-05-12 | Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson | Unstructured supplementary service data from a home location register to an external node |
| US5661781A (en) * | 1995-05-01 | 1997-08-26 | At&T | Message notification system for card users |
| WO1996038010A1 (en) * | 1995-05-23 | 1996-11-28 | Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ) | Method and apparatus for supporting delivery of short message service messages to sleeping mobile stations in a cellular communications system |
-
1995
- 1995-06-08 FI FI952832A patent/FI99072C/en active IP Right Grant
-
1996
- 1996-06-07 DE DE69630703T patent/DE69630703T2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 1996-06-07 AU AU60063/96A patent/AU709326B2/en not_active Ceased
- 1996-06-07 US US08/973,931 patent/US6351522B1/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 1996-06-07 WO PCT/FI1996/000341 patent/WO1996042163A1/en active IP Right Grant
- 1996-06-07 JP JP9502666A patent/JPH11507783A/en active Pending
- 1996-06-07 CA CA002222317A patent/CA2222317A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 1996-06-07 EP EP96917516A patent/EP0872105B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1996-06-07 BR BR9609239A patent/BR9609239A/en not_active IP Right Cessation
- 1996-06-07 RU RU98100195/09A patent/RU2173502C2/en not_active IP Right Cessation
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| RU2173502C2 (en) | 2001-09-10 |
| BR9609239A (en) | 1999-05-11 |
| AU6006396A (en) | 1997-01-09 |
| FI99072C (en) | 1997-09-25 |
| WO1996042163A1 (en) | 1996-12-27 |
| EP0872105A1 (en) | 1998-10-21 |
| AU709326B2 (en) | 1999-08-26 |
| FI99072B (en) | 1997-06-13 |
| FI952832A (en) | 1996-12-09 |
| EP0872105B1 (en) | 2003-11-12 |
| DE69630703T2 (en) | 2004-08-12 |
| JPH11507783A (en) | 1999-07-06 |
| DE69630703D1 (en) | 2003-12-18 |
| US6351522B1 (en) | 2002-02-26 |
| FI952832A0 (en) | 1995-06-08 |
Similar Documents
| Publication | Publication Date | Title |
|---|---|---|
| EP0872105B1 (en) | A method for providing a delivery confirmation of message deliveries made in a telephone network | |
| EP0493427B1 (en) | Call completion system | |
| US9036801B2 (en) | Enhanced call return in a communications network | |
| US6167119A (en) | Providing enhanced services through SIV and personal dial tone | |
| US5978450A (en) | Personal dial tone | |
| US6590965B1 (en) | Enhanced voice mail caller ID | |
| US6055305A (en) | Method and apparatus for providing network-based customized call treatment | |
| US6798868B1 (en) | Call notification service for use with call waiting | |
| WO1999034580A9 (en) | Telephone system having a callback capability and method for connecting a recipient of a message to a caller | |
| EP0928537A1 (en) | Subscriber controlled call list deregistration | |
| CA2271804C (en) | Called party availability announcement in a radio telecommunications network | |
| JP2001298535A (en) | Intelligent network system provided with service for reporting and hearing electronic mail selected through public exchange telephone network | |
| EP0809908B1 (en) | Method for indicating a waiting voice message to a telephone subscriber | |
| US6711242B2 (en) | Telecommunications mailbox messaging system and method | |
| US6334053B1 (en) | Procedure and system for providing an answering service | |
| WO1999049644A1 (en) | Procedure and system for providing an answering service | |
| US20020045452A1 (en) | Method and apparatus for accepting and conveying a message from a telephone to a radio-paging system | |
| CN1187275A (en) | Method for providing delivery confirmation of massage deliveries made in a telephone network | |
| WO1999004541A2 (en) | Telecommunications system for communicating last caller s name | |
| EP1234440A1 (en) | Voice mail services in a multi-network telecommunications system |
Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| FZDE | Discontinued | ||
| FZDE | Discontinued |
Effective date: 20040607 |