Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
WO 97126749 PCT/CA97100013
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METHOD TO PROVIDE VOICE CALL NOTIFICATION AND
CONTROL MESSAGING OVER A DATA PATH
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to public switched telephone network (PSTN)
5 telecommunications systems which provide incoming telephone call notification,idenlirica~ion and call handling features to telephone subscribers. More specifically,
this invention relates to a computer-telephone interface and methods to provide
notification, identification and control of blocked incoming telephone calls (call
attempts) for the subscriber when the subscriber is using the telephone link for10 computer dialogue over a dial-up data network to which the subscriber is conneded
either directly or indirectly.
BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION
A subscriber can connect directly to a data network such as the Internet by establishing
a tel~,Jhone dial-up connection to a Data Communications Service (DCS) which is an
15 Internet Service Provider (ISP). A subscriber can also connect indirectly to a data
network such as the Internet by establishing a telephone dial-up connection to a DCS
service which is a commercial online data service such as CompuServe or America
Online, then use the Internet interconnection facilities of the commercial online data
service to access the Internet. In either case, the subscriber establishes computer
20 dialogue with the DCS via a dial-up connection using a telephone link connected to the
Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN).
The telephone link used by the subscriber is capable of use either for voice
communications with other telephone subscribers or for data communications with a
data communications service. Using the telephone link for voice or data
WO 97/26749 PCT/CA97/00013
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communications occupies the telephone link and subsequent call attempts to the
subscriber's telephone link are blocked from completion.
There are several types of dial-up connections possible depending on the type ofservice connection the subscriber has with the PSTN telephone service provider, or
telephone carrier. For example, the subscriber can be provided with a telephone link
that communicates over an an~log~ ~e wire line, the so-called plain old telephone service
or POTS. Alternately, the subscriber can be provided with a telephone link that
communicates over a digital wire line such as the Integrated Services Digital Network
or ISDN service offered by the telephone carriers. As a further alternative, the10 subsuiber can be provided with a telephone link which communicates over a wireless
radio band such as cellular telephone or personal communication service (PCS).
The Internet is a network of computers around the world which has become
increasingly popular over the last few years. Commercial online data services such as
CompuServe and America Online are examples of private data communications
15 networks which have also become very popular over the last few years. There are
numerous methods which consumers and businesses utilize to connect to these datacommunications services. The two most popular methods are via a temporary dial up
modem connection over the PSTN, or via a dedicated connection either through thePSTN or through a private telephone cor" ~ection. In either case, the user must connect
20 to a data communications service (DCS) in order to ~ccess the Internet directly by
connection to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) or indirectly through a commercial
online service. Once connected to the DCS, the user's computer has ~ccess to theresources of the DCS and the user's computer literally becomes part of the DCS
provider1s network.
2~ Should the user be connected via a temporary dial up modem connection over the
PSTN, then the telephone link, which is used to make this connection between theuser's computer and the telephone company, is held in an off hook state, typically for
an extended period of time. For example, in an average voice call, the hold time for the
WO 97/26749 PCT/CA97/00013
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call is in the range of 3 minutes, while the average hold time for a data call for Internet
access is over 20 minutes. In addition to the longer hold times, the use of a telephone
line for a data call requires the exclusive use of the line. Unlike a conventional voice
telephone call between two phones, a modem connection between two modems over
5 the PSTN cannot be interrupted or put in a held state while one of the parties to the call
accepts a second incoming call. Where the off hook state is due to a voice basedtele~ olle interconnection, the caller receiving a second call attempt can be notified of
the blocked call dller"~l through a feature known as "call waiting". The party receiving
the call waiting noliricdlion can suspend the conversation with the first caller to engage
10 in conversation with the incoming or second caller. On the other hand, where a data
dialogue is occupying the subscriber's telephone link, the computers and modems
managing the data dialogue are incapable of dealing with any audio notification of
an~J~l,er call attempt through the "Call waiting" feature. Additionally, the computers or
Illodellls are not capable of suspending the current data ~i~logue to commence another
15 voice or data commu~.sc ~ion with the inbound call. An alLel"pl to do so would abort the
existing connection between the two modems and computers as the protocol of
communication between modems in a dial-up connection does not support any
extended absence of end-to-end communications.
Such a system suffers a significant drawback, namely, that a subscriber using the
20 telephone link for a data ~ g~ le conse-luently puts their telephone link in an occupied
or busy, off-hook state, typically for an extended period of time, thus making it difficult
or impossible to notify the subscriber of an incoming telephone call.
The vast majority of persons connecting to a DCS do so through a temporary dial-up
connection from their residence. The vast majority of residences are equipped with a
25 single telephone link and, when this link is used to dial up to the DCS, the residence
becomes unreachable by other incoming telephone calls. Persons attempting to reach
such a residence during a dial-up session to the DCS will receive a busy signal,typically for an extended period of time. Furthermore, persons who access the DCS
from within an apartment complex may be unable to receive notification of persons
4 ~2 ~ ~2 3 ~
awaiting entry through the main entrance, as many apartment complexes utilize the
PSTN as a notification system between the main entrance and each individual
apartment unit.
A significant negative result of the above situation is that people become unreachable
5 in emergencies and important situations unless there is intervention by the telephone
company. Additionally, the telephone network is put under load by persons makingmany call attempts to reach the party whose telephone link is busy in an off hook state
while connected to the DCS.
A number of systems have been developed to notify a called party during an existing
10 voice telephone call of a second incoming call attempted on that same telephone link.
One such system is colllmonly known as "Call Waiting" and has been discussed briefly
above. Notification is typically via a series of audible tones delivered to the telephone
handset of the subscriber that is receiving the incoming call. The subscriber is able to
suspend the existing conversation to commence another conversation with the
15 incoming caller. To accomplish this, the subscriber, if they wish to accept the second
incoming call must put the first call on hold. This step is typically done by having the
subscriber initiate a switch hook flash signal to the telephone company switch. This
feature can only be used during a voice telephone call. An enhancement to the basic
call waiting just described additionally delivers the calling party's telephone number to
20 a telephone display provided on the subscriber's telephone handset equipment. This
service is commonly known as visual call waiting and requires the subscriber to have
special telephone equipment capable of receiving and displaying the calling party's
telephone number.
IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, vol. 3, no. 9, of September 1, 1994 describes an
25 arrangement for interconnecting a company's private branch exchange (PABX) to a
telephone system and to a host computer supporting a digital electronic mail network
to allow the host computer to act as an answering machine providing
~2 ~ ~2 3 ~ -
-4a-
announcements and greetings and the caller's message can be stored at the host
computer in an electronic mailbox where they can be accessed by the user at a later
time using the keypad of the workstation telephone. In this arrangement, the user is
provided with other options for retrieving text, image or audio messages.
5 The above systems all suffer the drawback that they cannot be used while the
telephone link is busy on a dial-up connection to a DCS, as they are designed for use
on a voice telephone connection only.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
WO 97/26749 PCT/CA97/00013
The present invention provides an improved telephone call notification, caller
ide"liric~lion and control system which allows subscribers connected to a DCS through
a dial-up connection over the PSTN to receive visual and/or audio notification, in
real-time, of the call and to respond to the caller by making selections using computer
input peripherals. This method provides advantages to subscribers over the current
situation where no caller notification, identification or call control is available, as it
eliminates busy signals to the calling party and provides instantaneous notification to
the called subs~jl iber even while the called subscriber's telephone link is in an off-hook
state connected to a DCS.
10 In another manner of operation, the subscriber can be away from their home, while at
work for example. Any calls to the subscriber's residence would be left unanswered.
With the presenl invention, the subscriber could remotely rllonilor the unanswered calls
from the second location by configuring and connecting their per~onal computer at work
to the ISP which inlercol " ,ects with the proxy of the present invention.
15 In accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present invention, a subscriber
receives from a Mess~ge Transfer Point (MTP) incoming call notification to theircomputer screen while the dial-up connection to the DCS is maintained. The
subscriber will receive notification of the call on their computer screen, and may
optionally also receive information about the calling party, such as the calling party's
20 telephone number, the calling party's name, and mess~ges selected or input by the
calling party through an Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) at the MTP. The
method provides the called subscriber with the ability to provide notification to the
calling party, through the MTP, that the called subscriber's telephone link is busy on
a dial-up connection to the DCS. The subscriber can, if they choose, acknowledge and
2~ control the incoming call through computer interaction with the MTP, via input and or
output peripherals signifying to the calling party that the call has been acknowledged.
Audio mess~ges can be delivered to the calling party by way of subscriber interaction
with the MTP which is connected to the IVRS, or which could be the same computer as
the IVRS. The subscriber can ignore the incoming call, accept the incoming call after
WO 97/26749 PCT/CA97/00013
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terminating the dial-up connection, redirect the incoming call to a voice mail system, or
redirect the incoming call to another telephone number on the PSTN.
In one of its aspects the invention provides for a public switched telephone network
providing telephone link blocked call redirection, a method permitting notification and
5 control of redirected calls over a data communications network, the method comprising
the steps of activating blocked call forwarding for a subscriber telephone link having
a dial number associated therewith; providing a second dial number corresponding to
a subscriber proxy for redirection of blocked calls to said subscriber telephone link;
using said telephone link to connect a computer to a data network and receiving a
10 unique data network address therefrom; establishing a data path over said data
network to said subscriber proxy and providing said proxy with said subscriber dial
number and said unique data network address; storing said subscriber dial numberand said unique data network address; whereby blocked calls to said telephone link will
be redirected to the subscriber proxy.
1~ The present invention is especially (but not exclusively) suited for permitting
subscribers to a service, such as the Internet or other commercial online service, to be
notified of, and have call handling control over, incoming telephone calls to the
subscriber telephone which is being utilized to connect to the service.
The ,cr~se"t invention allows remote control of a tele,chone link. A subscriber is
20 provided with the ability to be in one location while controlling the calls terminating at
another location. Also the subscriber can monitor and control calls to multiple lines
simultaneously.
One embodiment of the present invention permits the subscriber connected to the D~-
to be notified of the incoming call on their computer while still maintaining an acti~e
25 connection to the DCS. The present invention also provides the method to deliver
incoming call notification and control messaging over the same telephone link utilized
WO 97/26749 PCTICA97/00013
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by the subscriber to connect to the DCS without requiring the subscriber to hang up to
free up the telephone link.
Furthermore, the caller attempting to reach the subscriber does not receive a busy
signal and the caller is able optionally to deliver a message to the subscriber by way
5 of the service or otherwise interact with the subscriber in the manner hereinafter
described.
It will be apparent that additional call notification and control features can be accessed
through the service. For example, incoming calls can receive dirreren~ processing
based on the originating number.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the invention may be realized
by reference to the remaining portions of the specification and drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the physical components and
telecommunications network that are used to support the preferred methods and
15 processes of the present invention.
Figure 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating the logical elements of a preferred
embodiment of the system of the present invention
Figure 3 is a flowchart showing an incoming caller handling process.
Figure 4 is a flowchart showing a no answer handler process.
20 Figure 5 is a flowchart showing a caller handler process where the called subscriber
is occupying the telephone link on a data network call
WO 97/26749 PCT/CA97/00013
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* -8-
'' DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Figure 1 illustrates a telecommunications system including local exchange centrai
offices 30 and 42 connected by a trunk 20. The central offices 30 and 42 support a
plurality subscribers each subscriber having a telephone link associated with
telephones 34A, 34B, 44A, 44B, such links are shown at 32, 36 and 41. Modem 33 is
also in communication with the central office over telephone link 36. The central offices
30 and 42 also support dedicated communications channels such as 18 and 54. The
central offices 30 and 42 may consist, for example, of telecommunications switches
such as a Nol ll ,e", Telecom DMS-100 (trademark) or AT&T 5ESS (trademark) switch.
An InteractiveVoice Response System (IVRS) 14 is coupled to central office switch 30
through telephone link 10. The IVRS includes audio playback and record capabilities
permitting recorded voice mess~ges to be delivered to a caller's telephone 44A and to
collect and store touch-tone entries made by callers using such telephones.
The switch of central office 30 is connected to the IVRS 14 by telephone link 10. The
telephone link has an associated signaling channel 10A. The signaling channel isprovided to communicate the called number to the IVRS to enable the IVRS to
customize the interaction it has to relate to the subscriber line that the call was
transferred from.
There are several options for delivery of the called number to the IVRS. The called
number information could be delivered during call setup by way of the IntegratedServices Digital Network call setup signaling. For POTS telephone or centrex, the
called number information could be provided using the Simplified Message Desk
Interface (SMDI). Other options are available using the Advanced Intelligent Network
i~ ,te, race. Any of these options may be advantageously employed by one skilled in the
art to obtain delivery of the called number to carry out the process of the present
invention.
WO 97126749 PCT/CA97/00013
The switch of centrai office 30 is also connected to the Data Host (DH) 16 by dedicated
communications channel 18 and to the Data Communications Service (DCS) 50 over
telephone link 52. The switch of central office 42 is connected to the DCS by dedicated
communications channel 54.
5 A Mess~e Transfer Point (MTP) 12 is directly connected to the IVRS 14 and the DH
16 and functions as an intermediary by translating and transferring messages between
the DH 16 and the IVRS 14. The MTP 12 accesses subscriber records from customer
record file 26 which contains records for subscribers that are auLl,ori~ed to use the
service. In addition, each subscriber's DNIS record contains real-time subscriber
10 information relating to the status of the subscriber's telephone link (for example, link
36). Each subscriber link has a real-time record stored in the data store Accessed by
the MTP 12 so in the event a message or call is received by the IVRS 14 the MTP 12
can control the manner in which the IVRS 14 processes the message or call according
to the status of the subscriber telephone link 36.
15 DH 16 is a computer host with a dedicated communications link to the DCS 50 through
the switch of central office 30 which is coupled to the switch of central office 42 which
has a dedicated communications channel 54 to the DCS. The dedicated link allows the
DH and the DCS to communicate by providing a continuous communications path.
The DCS, through a data channel such as telephone link 52 also allows a subscriber
20 using a dial-up data channel such as telephone link 36 to establish temporary dial-up
data connections to the DCS S0, over the PSTN.
Table 1 is a flow listing which provides an overview of the steps associated with
providing incoming call notification and control options in accordance with a preferred
embodiment of the present invention. The steps of Table 1 should be considered with
25 rerer~"ce to Figures 1 and 2 in order to maintain a visual perspective of the elements
and the steps.
TABLE 1
(1) A subscriber 31 desires to make a data connection to a data communications
service (DCS) 50, such as that provided by an Internet Service Provider (ISP) orCommercial Online Service (COS).
(2) The subscriber 31, using a computer 35, modem 33 and a telephone link 36
connected to the PSTN, connects to the DCS 50 which is connected to the public
switched telephone network through central office or CO 30, by dialing a predetermined
dial number (DN).
(3) The subscriber 31 initiates a modem 33 call to the DCS 50 by instructing thecomputer 35 to dial a predetermined DN.
(4) The subscriber's local central office (CO) 30 routes the call to the DN of the DCS
50 service point over a telephone link 52 which connects the DCS 50 to the CO 30.
(5) The DCS 50 responds by accepting the call and going in an off hook state thereby
establishing a circuit 53 through CO 30.
(6) The modem 33 and computer 35 of the subscriber 31 and the DCS 50 negotiate aconnection prutocol and speed over a circuit 53 bridging the subscriber telephone link
36 and a telephone link 52 of the DCS 50.
(7) Upon successful establishment of the connection protocol and speed over circuit
53, the subscriber 31 is requested to enter user identification and password information
into the computer 35 which is communicated to DCS 50.
WO 97/26749 ~ PCT/CA97/00013
(8) Upon entry of such information, the DCS 50 authenticates the computer 35 of the
subscriber and if successful, the subscriber computer 35 is granted ~ccess to the DCS
50.
(9) Immediately upon authentication of the subscriber provided information, the access
5 granted over the data connection is assigned either an Internet Protocol (IP) address
or other type of alphanumeric network address identifier as so chosen by the DCS 50.
A numerical address identifier of either form is used to achieve successful routing of
information between the subscriber's computer 35 and the DCS 50.
10) The subscriber's computer 35 I,dns",ils through the modem 33, by way of the circuit
53, to the DCS 50 host by way of the dedicated communications channel 54 a message
to the Data Host (DH) 16 located at the MTP 12, indicating that the subscriber'scomputer 35 has sl ~ccessfully initiated a connection to the DCS 50. The message may
conla;.1 a slJbs.;, iber identifier assigned the DCS in addition to the subscriber's network
address as assigned by the DCS 50.
11) The DH 16 in turn transmits a message to the MTP 12where it is authenticatedagainst an existing customer record file 26. If the subscriber identifier is found in the
customer record file 26 at the MTP 12, a message is transmitted via the DCS 50 to the
subscriber computer 35 indicating that subscriber information was received and
authenticated successfully.
20 (12) Then, in the event a telephone call is attempted to the DN of the telephone link 36
of the subscriber, the C0 30 serving that DN prepares to forward the call to call busy
forward dial number of the IVRS 14 by way of the PSTN.
(13) The CO 30 delivers, over signaling channel 10A, information about the original
destination of the call through a service known as Dialed Number Identification Service
25 ~DNIS). The C0 30 may also deliver information identifying the origin of the call
WO 97/26749 PCT/CA97/00013
~,~"~ 12-
through a service known as Automatic Number Identification (ANI). Both DNIS and ANI
are well known and will not be described here.
(14) Upon reception of DNIS and any supplied ANI information, and prior to the IVRS
14 accepting the call, IVRS validates the DNIS information against the subscriber
records located in the customer record file 26 of the MTP 12 to ensure that the
subsuiber DN is a valid subscriber DN authorized to use the service. The DN is also
used to validate the existence of an active modem connection between the subscriber
computer 35 and the DCS 50.
(15) If the DNIS information is validated, the IVRS 14 transmits a message over the
signaling channel 10A to the CO 30 acknowledging and accepting the call.
(16) If the existence of an active modem connection on circuit 53 was established,
concurrent with accepldnce of the call, the IVRS 14 delivers to the MTP 12 notification
that a call has been eslablished with the caller's tele~hol1e 44A in addition to delivering
the ANI of the caller's telephone 44A.
~17) The MTP 12, once again, validates the exislence of a modem connection on circuit
53 between the subscriber and the DCS 50.
(18) If circuit 53 is still est~hlished~ the MTP 12 sends a mess~ge by way of the DH 16
to the subscriber computer 35 over the dedicated network circuit bridging dedicated
communications channels 18 and 54. This may occur through one CO 30 or by way ofa plurality of COs such as CO 30 and CO 42 which are coupled together by trunk 20
as illustrated in Figure 1.
(19) Upon acceptance of the call, a voice path is established over telephone link 10
between the caller's telephone 44A and the IVRS 14.
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(20) The IVRS 14, immediately upon accel~la"ce of the call, delivers an audio message
to the caller's telephone 44A, which can optionally be prerecorded by the subscriber.
(21 ) In the event the ANI information was not delivered from the C0 30, or is not
available, the IVRS 14 can produce an audio message audible from caller's telephone
5 44A requesting the caller to input their originating telephone number using a touch-tone
phone. The caller entry will replace the previously absent ANI information.
(22) Upon delivery of the notification messa~e to the subscriber computer 35, the
subscriber software residing on the subscriber's computer 35, notifies the subscriber
31 by way of visual and or audio notification. The audio notification could include a
10 tone signal while the visual notification will include presentation of the ANI information
as captured and delivered by the IVRS 14.
(23) Upon presentation of the caller information, the subscriber 31 can utilize a
computer input device to select or input a response to be delivered to the caller's
telephone 44A. The input device used by the subscriber 31, in conjunction with the
15 subscriber software, can select a number of predefined options. Each option directly
correlates to a specific identifier which is delivered to the DH 16.
(24) Upon successful receipt of the identifier by the DH 16, the DH 16 delivers the
identifierto the MTP 12. The MTP 12 validates the identifier and determines whether
the identifier correlates to an audio message or to a call handling instruction.
20 (25) In the event the identifier correlates to an audio message, a signal is transmitted
to the IVRS 14 from the MTP 12, which executes the delivery of a specific audio file
over the voice path to the caller which is a bridging of telephone link 10 and telephone
link 41 through CO 42 and 30 connected by trunk 20.
WO 97126749 PCTICA97/00013
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(26) If the identifier correlates to a call handling instruction a signal is transmitted to
the IVRS 14 which redirects the voice path to a voice mail system at the IVRS 14 or to
another destination number on the PSTN.
(27) In the event the call handling instruction requires the voice path be redirected to
5 the same directory number DN of the subscriber link 36 currently being utilized by the
subscriber computer 35 and modem 33 the voice path between the caller's telephone
44A and the IVRS 14 is delayed from being redirected until the DCS 50 transmits a
message to the DH 16 indicating that modem 33 has disconnected from the DCS 50.
Reference is now made to Figure 2 which shows a functional block diagram of the
10 logical network elements interconnected with a called party proxy 38 which isadvantageously employed to provide an audio interactive voice response to a calling
party that alL~r,,,uls to call a subscriber whose telephone link is busy. The elements of
which that are the same as those in Figure 1 are identified by the same reference
numbers.
15 In the operation of a telephone system a first caller to a subscriber's dial number is
signaled to the subscriber by a ringing of the handset 34A located at the subscriber
premises 28. A ring tone is provided to the calling party to indicate ringing of the called
party's handset. Where the subscriber is already using the telephone link 36 thesecond caller's telepl1ol le 44a is said to be blocked and a blocking tone is provided to
20 the second caller. This blocking tone is commonly referred to as a "busy signal" and
advises the calling party that the called subscriber is using their telephone link 36 for
another communication. The calling party can wait and try to call at a later time in the
hope that the subscriber will have made the telephone link available to receive other
incoming calls.
25 Telephone service providers have enhanced the useability of the telephone system t
provide a "call forward busy/no answer" feature to call placement within the telephone
W0 97126749 ~ PCT/CA97/00013
-15-
system providing an alternative to blocked calls as just described. Subscribers are
provided the capability of directing callers to another telephone number in the event
that their number is busy or was not answered after a pre-selected number of rings.
When a caller using telephone 44a attempts to call a subscriber whose telephone link
5 36 is busy, as indicated by dashed line 40, the caller is automatically redirected to a
second subscriber provided telephone number served by telephone link 10. To employ
the present invention, the subscriber can provide a call forward busy/no answer number
which directs blocked calls or unanswered calls to their called party proxy connected
to the PSTN by telephone link 10. As can be appreciated, the invention may be
10 advantageously employed without any direct programing or installation by the
telephone service provider other than to have the telephone service provider provide
the capability of the "call forward busy/no answer" feature for the subscriber'stelephone link. When the call forward busy/no answer feature is enabled by a
subsc;, iber, any calls directed to that subscriber's telephone number are automatically
15 routed to the alle, r ,ale dial number selected by the subscriber when activating the call
forward/busylno answer feature. Thus, a subscriber can provide the dial number
corresponding to their proxy when activating the call forward busy/no answer feature
whereupon subsequent callers to their dial number will be automatically routed to the
proxy without any further intervention from the subscriber and without any extra steps
20 or intervention by the calling party.
In the circumstances where a subscriber has activated the call forward busy/no answer
feature and the subscriber is using their telephone link 36 and a second call is placed
to the subscriber's dial number, the call is automatically routed to the proxy telephone
link 10. Connected to proxy telephone link 10 is an interactive voice response system
25 (IVRS) 14 which receives the incoming call. The proxy has many ways of dealing with
such incoming calls, as exemplified here for further clarity.
The IVRS 14 requires i~ullllalion about the original destination of the call to handle the
incoming call properly. The original dial number destination is provided to the IVRS
under a standard telephone company service offering known as the "Dialed number
WO 97126749 PCT/CA97/00013
~~ 16-
ldentification Service" (DNIS). The original destination of the call is that of the
subscriber that the caller intended to call but was unable to do so as the subscriber was
using their telephone link 36 resulting in the caller's call being forwarded to the IVRS.
The IVRS, serving as a proxy for the subscriber, processes the incoming call in the
5 manner generally set out in the flowchart of Figure 3. The subscriber's dial number is
received as at 310 in accordarlce with the process for the Dialed Number Identification
Service (DNIS). A lookup 312 of the dial number so obtained is made in the store of
registered dial numbers contained within the customer record file 26 to determine if this
subscriber is served by a proxy. If there is no match, the call can be ignored, that is to
10 say the link can be left to ring and ring without answer and the IVRS will simply wait for
the next incoming DNIS, as shown by the upward extending dashed line 314.
Alternately, a no match cail could be answered (that is, go off hook and establish a
communications path with the caller) using a standard audio greeting to the effect that
"the called number is busy or was not answered, please try again later'l as shown in box
316. The IVRS would then hang up the link to disconnect the caller as shown at 318.
If the DNIS lookup was successful, then the IVRS next looks at the particulars of the
information for the subscriber as at 320. In particular, it examines the BUSY DATA
status field or register 322 which is a field set to YES when the subscriber that was
called is engaged in a data dialogue. The BUSY DATA field is set to NO at all other
20 times. If the BUSY DATA status field is set YES, this brings into play the additional call
handling features to process the caller's call. It will be u"der~Loo~ that the BUSY DATA
status YES/NO can be represented in any suitable manner such as 1/0, Y/N or someother such equivalence.
Where the BUSY DATA status is NO, the subscriber is either talking on the telephone
25 or wasn't there to answer the caller's incoming telephone call resulting in the call. In
this case, indicated at 324, the proxy can process the call in the exemplary manner
shown in Figure 4. This call processing may be similar to an answering machine
function and may simply provide a greeting as at 410 ("Hi, I'm on the phone or unable
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to take your call right now, please leave a massage. . .") and take a message 412 from
the caller. The exemplary call processing flowchart of Figure 4 has the additional
optional step of interrogating the caller at the conclusion of the message to obtain
confirmation that the caller is satisfied with the message and give the caller the
5 opportunity to record a replacement message if the first was not satisfactory. This is
shown at 414. Once the message has been taken, the telephone call is terminated by
the proxy simply hanging up the link (ie go on hook) 416.
Optionally and by way of further example, the subscriber may have a pager service that
could be accessible to callers. Where the subscriber has such a service, the caller
10 may be greeted as at 410 and provided with the option to contact the subscriber via a
pager ("Hi, I'm on the phone or unable to take your call right now, please leave a
mess~ge to have me paged"). A pager contact process 416 for the caller is then
initiated.
Referring again to Figure 3, where the BUSY DATA status is YES, a status
15 confirmation process 326 is preferably initiated to cor,ri"n that the subscriber is still
engaged in the data dialogue. The proxy message transfer point initiates the
co~lri"nalion process by having the proxy data handler send an enquiry message over
the data network, such as the Internet, to the subscriber's computer. The subscriber's
computer would automatically without user intervention ,crepare a response
20 conril",~tion mess~ge for routing back to the proxy data handler. When the proxy data
handler sends an enquiry data message, the response confirmation message must bereceived within a preselected time iimit 328. This co"ril",alory process 326 and 328
is intended to ensure that the YES status wasn't simply left over from a previous
computer dialogue session or otherwise in error. Confirmation of the BUSY DATA
25 status results in a busy data handler process 330 which is described with refe~nce to
Figure 5. In the event that the confirmatory process message exchanges did not
successfully complete, the caller is routed to the Busy/No Answer process 324
previously described with reference to Figure 4.
WO 97126749 PCT/CA97/00013
3 ~ ~ -18-
Figure 5 provides a flowchart for the BUSY DATA process to which the caller is routed
to when the called subscriber is active in a data use of the subscriber's telephone link.
In such a communications state, the blocked caller routed to the subscriber's proxy is
now provided with many more options for contacting the subscriber. The proxy call
5 handling process could now include not only the message and pager options for the
caller described with reference to Figure 4, but also delivery of notification messages
to the subscriber to obtain interaction from the subscriber as shown at 512. Thenotification messages are delivered over the data network, such as the Internet, on a
real time basis to the subscriber's computer.
10 The notification mess~ges received at the subscriber's computer can be acted upon by
the subscriber's computer in several different ways. The subscriber's computer can
process the ,wliricalion mess~ge into a visually perceptible message for display on the
subscriber's computer screen. The visually perceptible message indicates that a
telephone caller has been routed to the proxy. The subscriber's computer can
15 additionally process the notification message by initiating an audio notification aurally
p~eplible by the subscriber. The audio nulificalion could be a simple ringing, chiming
or tone signal and can be combined with the visually perceptible message.
Upon perception of the presence of a caller interacting with the subscriber's proxy, the
subscriber can take one of several steps. The subscriber can take no action and the
20 proxy data handler is not then able to provide the message transfer point with a
subscriber response message as indicated at 514. The mess~ge transfer point willprocess the lack of notification of subscriber instructions from the subscriber's computer
as an ind;c~Lion that the subscriber is not at that time interacting with the computer and
is Lhererur unable to provide instructions or messages to the proxy for dealing with the
25 caller. The proxy mess~ge transfer point will then default to the no answer handler as
shown at 516 to take a mess~ge from the caller in the same fashion as described
previously with re~er~nce to Figure 4.
WO 97/26749 ~ PCT/CA97/00013
_19_
If the subscriber does interact with his or her computer to direct mess~ges over the
data network, such as the Internet, to the proxy data host, these will be acted upon by
the proxy to provide audio mess~ges instructing the caller. For example, the subscriber
could decide to disconnect the computer from the telephone link to free up the
5 telephone link to receive incoming calls. The subscriber would interact with his or her
computer to input this inlel llio, l to the computer which would forward a message to that
effect over the data network or Internet to the proxy as at 516.
Upon receipt of such a message, the proxy IVRS would provide an audio mess~e to
the caller, to the effect "I am going to free up my telephone line in just a few moments,
10 please hang up this call and call again to speak to me directly". Thus the caller would
be able to initiate another call to the subscriber. Another more convenient and
p~ere"ed "letl,od of handling the call would be to have the IVRS transfer the call from
the caller to the subscriber when the subscriber's line is free. This step can be done
by having the IVRS wait a pre-determined time, such as 15 seconds, to allow the
15 subscriber time to disconnect and free up the line to receive the l,ansrer,ed called.
Alle"~alely, instead of the proxy waiting a predetermined time such as 15 seconds, the
subscriber's PC could be configured to repeatedly send notification messages to the
proxy at short pre-determined time intervals, such as every 2 seconds. When the
notification messages stop arriving at the proxy, that condition would indicate that the
20 subscriber has disconnected and is ready to accept transfer of the call.
In another option, the subscriber's computer can be configured to include an voice
audio input path such as a microphone 22 and voice audio output path such as
headphones 24 or speakers connected to suitable equipment within the computer such
as a sound card. To process voice signaling, the subscriber's computer 35 would also
25 require an Internet telephone system program capable of delivering messages carrying
digital message representations of a voice conversation over the Internet. Such
software programs are available and include Webphone (trademark) by way of
example. The proxy IVRS would be similarly equipped with the necessary software and
hardware to interconnect the caller with the sound equipment of the proxy. The
WO 97126749 PCT/CA97100013
~ ~ ~ 8 ~ 20-
subscriber could input commands into his or her computer indicating an intention to
carry out a telephone conversation over the Internet using the Webphone (trademark)
software and messages to that effect would be transmitted to the proxy to establish the
necessary data path and interconnections as at 518 to have the caller bridged to the
5 subscriber over a message path capable of carrying a voice conversation between the
caller and the subscriber all without disconnecting the subscriber from the data services
he or she was using. To inform the caller of the subscriber's intention to set up an
audio bridge over the Ir ,len ,et, the proxy might provide an informational audio message
to the caller to keep the caller on the telephone long enough for the necessary setups
10 to occur. An example audio message produced by the proxy while the setup is
occurring might be "Just a moment, while I set up my telephone to speak with youplease".
While the invention has been desuibed with reference to a preferred embodiment, the
invention Is not limited thereto but all manner of equivalent constructions and
15 substitutions that may be made that are within the spirit of the invention as defined in
the claims appended hereto.
