DIALABLE SCREENING PROFILE

CONFIGURATION DE TRIAGE A ACCES DIRECT

English Abstract

Dialable user profiles are established via a software user agent in a telecommunications system for filtering mixed-media messages, including electronic mail and voice mail. According to the software agent of the present invention, the user creates, stores and retrieves a plurality of user profiles which indicate how inbound messages are to be sorted and prioritized. The user selects and invokes a particular profile which is appropriate to a given situation, such as remote computer dial up, pay phone dial up, cellular dial up, etc. The user agent resides in a message server of the data communication network and interprets commands from the user via remote terminal or touch-tone pad to retrieve and apply the requested profile.

French Abstract

Des configurations utilisateurs à accès direct sont établies par un agent d'utilisateur logiciel dans un système de télécommunications pour le filtrage de messages multisupports, y compris le courrier électronique et la messagerie vocale. Selon l'agent logiciel de la présente invention, l'utilisateur crée, stocke et récupère une pluralité de configurations utilisateurs qui indiquent de quelle manière les messages entrants doivent être triés et priorisés. L'utilisateur sélectionne et appelle une configuration particulière qui convient à une situation donnée, telle qu'un accès à distance à un ordinateur, à un téléphone public, à un téléphone cellulaire, etc. L'agent de l'utilisateur réside dans un serveur de messages du réseau de communication de données et interprète les commandes de l'utilisateur par l'intermédiaire d'un terminal à distance ou d'un clavier à distance pour récupérer et appliquer la configuration requise.

Claims

6
I CLAIM:
1. Apparatus for establishing and invoking screening profiles in a messaging
system, comprising;
at least one message database for storing messages addressed to a
predetermined user;
a profile database for storing a plurality of user profiles for screening said
messages addressed to said predetermined user based on predetermined criteria;
a trunk agent for providing said user access to said messaging system from a
remote location; and
a user agent for selecting a predetermined one of said user profiles under
control of said user having access to said messaging system via said trunk
agent,
whereby said predetermined one of said user profiles may be selected based on
the
user's preferences expressed as said predetermined criteria when accessing the
messaging system.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said message database is an electronic
mail
messaging database.
3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said message database is a voice mail
messaging database.
4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said predetermined criteria includes
screening of junk mail and broadcast messages.
5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein said predetermined criteria includes
screening all messages except messages from selected individuals.
6. The apparatus of claim 1, further including means for storing and playing
back
custom messages to callers whose messages are screened.

7
7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein said custom messages include an
indication
of the user's status.
8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said message database is a video call
message database.
9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said message database is a facsimile
message database.
10. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a local user computer
communicating with said user agent for locally involving said predetermined
one of
said profiles.
11. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a local user phone having a
soft
key which, when depressed, causes said phone to communicate with said user
agent
for locally involving said predetermined one of said profiles.
12. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a doorswitch on a local
office
door of said user which, when closed, communicates with said user agent for
locally
involving said predetermined one of said profiles.
13. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a camera in a local office of
said
user which detects the absence of persons from said office and in response
communicates with said user agent for locally involving said predetermined one
of
said profiles.
14. A method of establishing and invoking screening profiles in a messaging
system, comprising the steps of:
storing messages addressed to a predetermined user;
storing a plurality of user profiles for screening said messages addressed to
said predetermined user based on predetermined criteria;

8
providing said user access to said messaging system from a remote location;
and
selecting a predetermined one of said user profiles under control of said user
having access to said messaging system, whereby said predetermined on of said
user
profiles may be selected based on the user's preferences expressed as said
predetermined criteria when accessing the messaging system.

Description

CA 02243331 1998-07-14
DIALABLE SCREENING PROFILE
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to messaging systems, and more
particularly to a method and apparatus for creating custom user profiles for
filtering
and prioritizing messages to be retrieved from a message server.
Background of the Invention
io
It is recognized that users who dial up a data communication network for
retrieving mixed-media messages, including electronic mail and voice mail, are
not
always able or willing to receive all of their messages. For example, if a
recipient has
only a telephone, and therefore can only receive voice mail, if time is
limited he or she
~ 5 may only wish to receive high priority messages or short messages, etc.
According to
most present day voice mail messaging systems, the user is required to listen
to each
message, and decide whether to save or discard the message before listening to
the
next message. Some systems offer a "skip" feature or fast forward. For e-mail
messaging systems, all messages are down loaded, which consumes time and
results
2o in additional on-line charges. For e-mail messaging systems having text-to-
speech
converters, time and costs are incurred in listening through all of the
message subjects
as they are read back to the user.
It is known in the prior art to utilize a software agent to apply selection
criteria
to the attributes of a message. In some cases, the attributes are added by the
sender
25 and in others they are derived from the received information by the agent.
In the most
sophisticated prior art systems, rules are applied to the content of the
message.
Attributes of a message can include information about the sender, about the
recipient,
about its content or about its delivery.
U.S. Patent 5,243,643 (Sattare et al) teaches a stored user profile that
allows
3o the user interface to voice messaging to be reconfigured according to the
user's
preferences. The user profile can be retrieved, used and edited using a DTMF
pad.

CA 02243331 1998-07-14
U.S. Patent 5,377,354 (Scannell et al) teaches sorting and prioritizing of
electronic mail by applying rules to the content of a message. The user
created rules
are modified using a computer keyboard.
In the context of a wide area network, PCT/LTS96/06568 (Finney et al)
describes a method of delivering electronic messages according to the
recipient's
preferences. In this prior art system, it is assumed that recipient's
preferences will
include forwarding instructions and that it is therefore desirable for the
profile to be
applied at the distribution point. Thus, this reference is relevant for
teaching storage
of recipient preferences to modify delivery.
Io In PCTILJS95/05070 (Rose et al) a "profile of interests" is stored for each
user
having access to an information system. In this patent, the criterion of
"relevance" of
the information is taught. It is suggested that the technique could be used to
filter e-
mail. The system of Rose et al uses sorting based on inspection of content.
Thus,
upon accessing the system from a remote location, a message server retrieves
the
user's profile from a user database. This prafile is used to rank the messages
stored
within the system such that all of the messages addressed to that user are
ranked and
only those messages that are particularly pertinent to the user's interest are
highly
ranked, whereas junk mail messages are given a low ranking.
U.S. Patent 5,568,540 (Greco et al) teaches integrated voice mail and e-mail
2o systems, such as are generally known in the art.
Summary of the Invention
According to the present invention, a software agent is provided for allowing
a
user to set up different "profiles" which are applicable to particular
situations. Thus,
when a user is at a remote location, a "profile" can be selected for pre-
screening
messages and phone calls so that only messages which comply with the criteria
of the
selected "profile" are passed on to the user. The criteria is completely
selectable by
the user, and may include priority, length of message, sender, etc.
3o Thus, whereas dialable user profiles are known in the art, as discussed
above,
as are interfaces from mixed media massaging and schemes for sorting documents
based on parameters such as content, author, priority, etc., there is no
discussion in the

CA 02243331 1998-07-14
prior art of permitting a different user profile for selecting and sorting
messages each
time the messaging system is accessed, so that the profile can be changed by
the user
to suit the user's particular situation.
Brief Description of the Drawings
A detailed description of the invention is provided herein below with
reference
to the following drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a block diagram of a messaging system for implementing the
1o screening profiles according to the present invention;
Figure 2 shows general message flow between software agents in the
messaging system of the present invention;
Figure 3 is a flow chart of the messaging sequence illustrated in Figure 2;
Figure 4 is a pseudo code listing for implementation by a user agent for
setting
15 up user profiles and invoking them, according to the preferred embodiment;
and
Figure 5 shows a screen format for setting up of a profile according to the
present invention.
Detailed Description of t~,e Preferred Embodiment
A communication system is shown in Figure 1 for implementing the message
screening profile system according to the present invention. A local area
network 1
(e.g. ATM, Ethernet, etc.) provides user access to a standard e-mail database
3 and
voice mail database 5 such as are commonly available in the prior art. A
communication server 7 such as sold by Mitel Corporation under the trademark
MediaPath~ provides communication between the LAN 1 and a plurality of
communication lines, such as trunk 11 connected to the public switched
telephone
network (PSTN) 13. A local user can access the server 7 from his or her office
2 via
desktop computer 4 and/or phone 6, which may be a USB phone connected to the
3o computer 4 or a digital phone connected to the LAN 1 via a phone hub (not
shown).
Interface to the trunk lines may be effected utilizing MVIP cards 9 under
control of

CA 02243331 1998-07-14
4
various software agents 15 (e.g. call control agent, trunk agent, etc.), such
as set forth
in commonly assigned U.S. patents numbered 5,631,954 and 5,638,494.
Trunk line 11 provides both voice and data access from LAN 1 to the PSTN
13, and vice versa. Thus, the user of a laptop 17 can access LAN 1 via
internal
modem dial up through PSTN 13 and MVIP cards 9, in the manner set forth in
applicant's prior mentioned U.S. Patents. Similarly, the user may access LAN 1
or
server 7 via a remote pay phone 19 or a cellular telephone 21 via base station
23
connected to PSTN 13.
According to the present invention, a user agent 25 is provided on server 7 to
to represent the user in the communication system, and is responsible for
managing
communications that the user has within the system, as set forth in commonly
assigned U.S. patent number 5,638,494. This includes the setting up, storing
and
activation of user profiles 27 in a database, according to the principles of
the present
invention.
Figures 2 and 3, together, show message flow between elements of the system
according to the present invention and the message sequence, when a user calls
into
the system from a remote location and sets up a profile.
At step 31, a voice call to the system is established from PSTN 13 via a MVIP
cards 9 under control of trunk agent 29. At step 32, trunk agent 29 informs
the user
2o agent 25 corresponding to the incoming caller, that the user is accessing
the system.
Trunk agent 29 implements digit translation or button identification which can
be
implemented via MVIP cards 9, or other digital signal processing hardware
within the
server 7, to notify the system that the user wishes to retrieve messages.
According to
this process, the system ascertains whether a user profile has been selected,
and if so,
which profile (step 33). A profile request is passed from trunk agent 29 to
the user
agent 25 (step 34), which then obtains the relevant profile from profile
database 27
(step 35). The user agent 25 then retrieves the appropriate messages from e-
mail
database 3 and/or voice mail database 5, according to the criteria set forth
in the
selected user profile.
3o Optionally, user agent 25 can inform the user via a message notification of
which messages were filtered out by the selected profile (step 37).

CA 02243331 1998-07-14
Also, optionally, the user can invoke appropriate call screening via user
agent
25 (step 38).
The user agent 25 of the present invention can be implemented using standard
software programming techniques. Figure 4 shows possible pseudo code within
the
user agent 25 for setting up user profiles and invoking the profiles, as set
forth in
Figures 2 and 3. Alternatively, setting up and invoking user profiles can be
effected
using the techniques set forth in commonly assigned U.S. patent number
5,638,494.
Figure 5 shows a user set up screen available to the user at lap top 17 or a
personal computer (PC) connected directly to LAN 1. The screening profile code
1o implemented within user agent 25 can be a standard Windows~ application
which
communicates with the user agent 25 to supply and store the data. Names, such
as
"Boss" and "Wife" in Figure 5, can be set up initially as aliases or actual e-
mail
addresses or phone numbers, as required.
A person understanding the principles of the present invention may conceive
of other modifications and variations. For example, the system according to
the
present invention can be used to set up an "instant profile" for occasions
when the user
is at work, leaves the office, or goes on vacation. By setting up such
profiles, and
adding more profiles to the database 27, such as pre-recorded messages for all
screened calls or mail messages to let callers know the user's status, then a
plurality of
2o selectable profiles, such as "on vacation" or "at a meeting" can be set up
via a single
keystroke on the user's computer 4, to cover all possible scenarios.
Alternatively, a
plurality of soft keys or icon keys 40 may be provided on the USB phone 6 to
invoke
selected profiles. Also, it is possible to automatically invoke profiles via
other means
such as an electric switch 42 installed in the doorway to the user's office 2
which,
when closed, automatically invokes the "in a meeting" profile. Or, a camera 44
(or IR
sensor, etc.) may be installed in the user's office to monitor the absence or
presence of
the user in the room and automatically invoke an "out of the office" profile
when the
room is empty. It is also contemplated that the principles of the present
invention may
be applied to other forms of communication such as video calls, facsimile
messages,
3o etc. All such modifications and variations are believed to be within the
sphere and
scope of the invention as set forth in the claims appended hereto.

Representative Drawing