Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02312601 2000-06-28
AUTOMATEDEXCHANGEO FELECTRONICINFORMA TION
FIELDOFTHEINVENTION
The present invention relates to a system, apparatus and method ofproviding
enhanced
featuresinatelecommunicationssystem.
Morespecifically,thepresentinventionrelatestothe
automatedexchangeofelectronicinformationbetweensubscribersduringavoicetelephone
call.
BACKGROUNDOFTHEINVENTIO N
Theconvergenceoftheold~rivateswitchedtelephonenetwork("PSTN"~on;arryingvoice
withmoremodernpacketnetworksfo~arryingdataisradicallychangingthestructureofnetw
orks
andtheservicesthatrelyonthesenetworks.Thus,itisnow
possibleforindividualsubscribersto
communicateusingavarietyofservices,suchasvoice,web -browsers,faxoremail.
In fact, subscribers typically communicate over networks using more than one
service.
When meeting face -to-face, it is common for subscribers to exchange business
cards that bear
personalinformationabouteachother,includingtelephonenumbers,web-
sites,faxnumbersand
emailaddressesSubscribersmaychoosetoconvertthiswritteninformationintoelectronic
formby
enteringthis
informationintotheircomputersorpersonaldigitalassistantsforlateruse. Sucha
processcanbetedious,andhasleadtotheuseofbusinesscardscannerswhichattempttoperfo
rm
opticalcharacterrecognition(OCR)onthecard.
Wheresubscriber'se xchangeanemail,orvisiteachother'sweb-site,thentheprocessof
locallycreatingandstoringelectronicinformationabouteachotherislesstediousEmaila
ndweb-
baseddataservices,inparticular,allowsubscriberstoreadilycut- and-
pasteavarietyofpersonal
information from one application to another, and to retain local copies of
that information in
electronicform.
However, itis currentlyverytediousto exchangepersonal informationwhen
subscribers
initiatecontactwitheachotherviaav
oicetelephonecall.Currenttechnologyrequiresthateach
subscribermanuallytranscribe,eitherinwritingorbytypingonakeyboard,th~najorityof
personal
informationabouttheothersubscriber.Caller-
idservices,whencoupledwithapersonalcom puter,
CA 02312601 2000-06-28
canassistintheelectronictranscriptionofacaller'snameandphonenumber,butareotherw
ise
limited in utility. The transcription of email addresses, website addresses
and other personal
informationarestilldonemanuallyFurthermore,the
exchangeofinoredetailedinformation,such
asmaps,catalogues,orotherdocuments,betweensubscribersishampereduntilwebsiteaddr
esses,
emailaddressesorfacsimilenumbershavebeenexchanged.
SUMMARYOFTHEINVENTION
Itisanobjectofthepresen tinventiontoprovideanovelsystem,apparatusandmethodof
exchangingelectronicinformationviaacommunicationlinidhatobviatesormitigatesatle
astoneof
theabove -identifieddisadvantagesofthepriorart.
Inanembodimentoftheinvention,thereisprovidedasystemforexchangingelectronic
informationthatcomprisesafirstvoiceterminalforconductingvoicetelephonecallsandr
eceiving
subscriber-
inputandadataterminalassociatedwithasubscriberofthefirstvoicetelephoneandfor
receivingandpresentingdatatothesubscriber.Thesystemalsocomprisesasecondvoiceter
minal
foiconductingvoicetelephonecallsandreceivingsubscriber-
inputandanetworkthatinterconnects
alloftheterminals.Thenetworkincludespersistentstorageforstoringanelectronicaddr
essofthe
dataterminalandelectronicinformationrespectivetoasubscriberofthesecondvoiceterm
inal.The
networkalsoincludesaprocessingunitthatisoperabletotransmittheelectronicinformat
iontothe
dataterminalduringatelephonecall.
Thedataterminalcanbeapersonalcomputerexecutinganemailclientprogram,whichis
connected to the network via an email server. Each voice terminal can be POTS
(plain old
telephonesystem)telephone,oritcanbe
awirelessphonesuchasamobilephoneAsusedherein,
thetermsvoiceterminaland/ordataterminalarealsoreferredtoassubscriberstations.
In another embodiment of the invention, there is provided a method for
exchanging
electronicinformationi nanetworkcomprisingthestepsof:
initiatingavoicetelephoneconnectionbetweenafirstvoiceterminalandasecondvoice
terminal;and
transferringelectronicinformationassociatedwiththesecondvoiceterminaltoa
dataterminalassociatedwitht hefirstvoiceterminal.
CA 02312601 2000-06-28
Themethodcanfurthercomprisethestep,aftertheinitiatingstep,ofcompletingthevoice
telephoneconnection.
Themethodcanfurthercomprisethestep,aftertheinitiatingstep,ofreceivingarequestto
transferelectronic
informationassociatedwiththesecondvoiceterminaltoafirstdataterminal
associatedwiththefirstvoiceterminal.
The method can further comprise the step, after the transferring step, of
receiving the
electronicinformationatthedataterminalandprocessingtheelectronicinformationacco
rdingto
userpreferences.
Theelectronicinformationcan,forexample,beembeddedinthebodyofanemailaddressor
encodedasseriesofDTMFtonesthatcanbedecodedbythedataterminal,suchaswheretheda
to
terminalisacomputerhavingamodemoperabletodecodeDTMFtones.
Thedataterminalandthevoiceterminalcanbeintegrallyformedintoasingledevice,such
asaweb-enabledmobilephone,orarich -featuredtelephonehavingamulti -linedisplay.
Theelectronicinformationcanincludeanyinformationthatisdesiredtosendtoanother
subscriber.
Forexample,electronicinformationcanincludeemailaddresses,postaladdresses,
websiteaddresses,facsimilenumbers,ortelephonenumbers.Havinge
xchangedbasiclevelsof
electronicinformation,suchasanemailaddress,itiscontemplatedthatavarietyofapplic
ationscan
beusedtoallowsubscriberstosimultaneouslyconducttheirvoicetelephonecallandexchan
ge
and/orviewelectronicinformati
onForexample,itisexpectedthatthepresentinventionwouldbe
particularly useful for customers conducting transactions with business via a
telephone, as a
confirmationofthetransactionscouldautomaticallybesenttothecustomer'sdatatermina
l.For
example,wherethecustomerisatraveler,andthebusinessisatravelagency,thenthetravel
er's
itinerarycouldbeautomaticallysenttothetraveler,orreviewedsimultaneouslybythetra
veler
during the selection of the traveler's various bookings. Alternatively, where
the customer is
conductingbusinesswithafinancialinstitutionbytelephone,thenconfirmationsofthecu
stomer's
financialtransactioncouldautomaticallybeelectronicallydeliveredtothecustomer.
The present invention provides a novel system, method and apparatus for
exchanging
electronicinformationduringavoicetelephonecall.Asubscriben-
iuringavoicetelephonecallcan
providesubscriber-
inputtotheirtelephoneottorequestatransferofelectronicinformation tooneor
CA 02312601 2000-06-28
moreothersubscribersduringavoicetelephonecall.Thepresentinventionthusobviatesth
eneed
formanuallytranscribingelectronicinformationsuchasemailaddresses,facsimilenumbe
rorweb-
pageaddressesduringavoicetelephonecall.
BRIEFDESCRIPTIONOFTHEDRAWINGS
Preferredembodimentsofthepresentinventionwillnowbedescribed,bywayofexample
only,withreferencetotheattachedFigures,wherein:
Figure 1 isaschematicrepre
sentationofasystemforexchangingelectronicinformationin
accordancewithanembodimentoftheinvention;
Figure 2 is a flowchart showing a method for exchanging electronic information
in
accordancewithanotherembodimentoftheinvention;
Figure3isaschematicrepresentationofasystemforexchangi
ngelectronicinformationin
accordancewithanotherembodimentoftheinvention;and
Figure4isaschematicrepresentationofasystemforexchangingelectronicinformationin
accordancewithanotherembodimentoftheinvention.
DETAILEDDESCRIPTIONOF THEINVENTION
ReferringnowtoFigure l,asystemforexchangingelectronicinformationinaccordance
withanembodimentoftheinventionisindicatedgenerallyat20.
System20includesapublic
communicationnetwork24,suchasthePSTN,whichinterconnectsserviceprovidemodes28aan
d
28b, suchastelephonecompanyswitches, centralofficesand/orwirelessbasestations.
Inturn,
serviceprovidemodes28areeachconnectedtoatleastonesubscribemode32viaacommunicati
on
link36.Whereserviceprovidernode28isatelephonecompanyswitch,thencommunicationlin
k
36willtypicallybewired,however,communicationlink36canalsobewireless,asforexampl
e,
whereserviceprovidemode28isabasestationinawirelesslocallooporcellula
xtelephonesystem.
AsshowninFigure 1,inapresentembodimenttherearetwosubscribemodes32aand3 2b,
connectedtoserviceprovidernodes28aand28b,respectively.(Itiscontemplatedthatsyst
em20
willtypicallyincludeapluralityofsubscribernodesinadditiontonodes32aand32b.)Asus
ed
herein, the term "caller" or "calling" means a call initiated at one ofthe
subscriber nodes 32.
Similarly,theterm"callee"meansacallreceivedbyoneofthesubscribernodes.
Forexample,
CA 02312601 2000-06-28
wheresubscribernode32aisthe"caller",thensubscribernode32bisthe"callee".
In apresent embodiment, each subscribernode 32 includes a
microprocessor40which
interconnectsatelephonehandset44,amonitor48orothen~ser -
outputdevice,andakeyboard52 or
otheruser -
inputdevice.Itistobeunderstoodthatthevariouscomponentsinsubscribernodes32
canbesubstitutedforsubstantiallyequivalentcomponents,and/orcombinedintoasinglei
ntelligent
device,suchasapersonaldigitalassistantand/o rrich-featuredphone.
Usingtelephonehandset44,microprocessor40isoperabletoprocessvoicecallscarried
over public communication network 24. Similarly, using keyboard 52 and monitor
48,
microprocessor40isoperabletoprocessatleastonedatas ervice,suchase -
mail,forcarriageover
communicationnetwork24.
Aswillbeexplainedingreaterdetailbelow,microprocessor40is
furtheroperabletoautomaticallyobtaininformationaboutthedataserviceofothersubscr
ibemodes
32duringavoice call.
System 20 further includes an electronic information object 56 associated with
each
subscriber node 32 that is typically resident at the service provider node 28
respective to its
subscribernode32.Electronicinformationobject56istypicallyad
atafilethatincludespersonal
information about the subscriber at each subscriber node 32. In a present
embodiment, such
personal information includes, at least, the email address ofits respective
subscribernode 32.
However,dataobject56canalso
includeotherpersonalinformation,suchasthattypicallyfoundon
abusinesscard,suchasthename,postaladdress,telephonenumber,facsimilenumberandweb
site
addressofthesubscribernode32respectivetothedataobject56.
Amethodofexchanging electronicinformationinaccordancewithanotherembodimentof
theinventionwillnowbediscussedwithreferencetoFigure2.
Forpurposesofassistinginthe
explanationofthepresentembodiment,referencewilIbemadetotheforegoingdiscussionof
system
20Atstep100,avoicecallisinitiatedinanyusuahnannerForexample,thereceiverofteleph
one
set44aatsubscribernode32aisliftedoffthehookandanumberisdialed.Itwillbeassumedfo
r
purposesofexplainingthepresentembodimentthatthetelephonenumberofsubscribemode32
bis
dialed. This dialed number is processed by service provider node 28a, which
utilizes public
communicationnetwork24tocontactserviceprovidernode28b,whichinturnsendsaringing
signaltosubscribernode32bandringstelephoneset44b.
Next,atstep105,thecallinitiatedatstep100isestablished,andavoiceconnectionis
CA 02312601 2000-06-28
completed.Continuingwiththeexample,telephoneset44bisanswered,thuscompletingavoi
ce
callbetweensubscriber
node32aandsubscribernode32b.Itwillbeunderstoodthatthestepsof
initiatingandcompletingavoicecallbetweensubscribernodes32aand32bcouldoccurinoth
er
ways,forexample,thecallcouldhavebeeninitiatedatsubscribernode32b.
The method then advances to step 110, where a request for an exchange of
electronic
informationisreceivedlnapresentlypreferredembodiment,itiscontemplatedthatthereq
uestfor
theexchangeofelectronicinformationcanbeinitiatedateithersubscribe
rstation32aorsubscriber
station32b~ucharequestcanbeto:l)sendelectronicinformationobject56atosubscribers
tation
32band/or2)sendelectronicinformationobject56btosubscriberstation32a.
Continuingwiththepresentexample,there questisaccomplishedusingtheflash-keyon
telephoneset44a,whichisan"attention"signalthatissenttoserviceprovidemode28ainor
derto
signal serviceprovidernode 28athatthe subscriberat subscribernode 32awishes to
invoke a
callingfeat ureavailableatserviceprovidernode28a.Theuseoftheflash -
keyisfollowedbya
predetermineddialingsequence.(Preferablythepredeterminedsequenceisnotcurrentlyi
nusefor
theinvocationofothercallingfeatures,suchas3 -
waycalling.)Forexample,theuseoftheflash
keycanbefollowedby*222inordertorequestthatelectronicinformationobject56abesentt
o
subscriberstation32b,or*333inordertorequestthatelectronicinformationobject56bbe
sentto
subscriberstation32a,
or*444inordertorequestthatelectronicinformationobject56abesentto
subscriberstation32bandthatelectronicinformationobject56bbesenttosubscriberstat
ion32a.
Accordingly,serviceprovidernode28ahasnowreceivedtherequestforan
exchangeofelectronic
information.
Themethodthenadvancestostepl
l5,wheretheactualelectronicinformationistransferred
accordingtotherequestreceivedatstep 11
O.Thus,asappropriatethedatacontainedinelectronic
informationobject56ais
transferredtosubscriberstation32band/oithedatacontainedinelectronic
informationobject56bistransferredtosubscriberstation32a.
Thetransfercanoccurinavarietyofways. Forexample,usingasuitablevariationof
existing caller -idtechnology, electronic informationobject56acanbe
encodedinto a series of
DTMFtonesbyserviceprovidernode28a,whicharethensentoverthevoiceconnectionandthen
decodedbysoflwareexecutingonmicroprocessor40b
Usingthismethod,itcanbedesiredtomute
theearpieceatbothtelephoneset44aandtelephoneset44bduringthetransferoftheDTMFton
es.
CA 02312601 2000-06-28
However,thetransferofelectronicinformationobjects56canbeaccomplishedinavariety
ofotherwaysForexample,inordertotransfer
electronicinformationobject56atosubscribemode
32b,soflwareexecutingonserviceprovidemode28acanqueryelectronicinformationobject
56bin
ordertoaccessthee -
mailaddressofsubscribernode32b.Havingobtainedtheemailaddressof
subscribernode32b,thecompletesetofelectronicinformationstoredinelectronicinform
ation
object56acansimplybesentviaemailtosubscribernode32b.Thus,wherecommunicationlink
36bisavoicetelephonelinewithDSLinternetservice,theemailcontainingtheinformation
in
object56awi11arriveatmicroprocessor40bforuseatsubscribemode32bviatheDSLlinkonth
e
voicetelephoneline.(Itwillthusbeapparentthat,ingeneral,link3
6isoperabletocarrybothvoice
anddata,andcouldbe
implementedinavarietyofwaysForexample,thevoiceportionoffink36
maybeawiredlink,whilethedataportionoffink36maybeviaacable -
modemAlternatively,link
36canbeawirelesslinkoperabletocarrybothvoiceanddatachannels.
Otherimplementationsof
link36willoccurtothoseofskillintheart.)
Othermeansoftransfernnginformationobj ects56toothersubscribemodes32willoccurto
thoseofskillintheartandarewithinthescopeoftheinvention.
Themethodthenad vancestostep 120wheretheelectronicinformationisreceivedand
processed,thuscompletingthetransferatstepl 1
S.Forexample,microprocessor40breceivesthe
informationcontainedinelectronicinformationobject56aandstoresitinpersistentst
oragelocalto
microprocessor40b.
Thestoredinformationcanthenbeusedbythesubscriberinteractingwith
applicationsexecutingonsubscribernode32b,inordertosendemailsorfaxestosubscriber
node
32a,ortoaccesstheweb -pagesbelongingtos ubscribernode32a.
Itwillbeunderstoodthat,oncesubscribernode32bhastheemailaddressofthesubscriber
node 32a (or vice -versa), virtually any type of electronic information can be
sent, (either
automaticallyorattherequestofeachsubscriber),betweenthestations32a,32b,dependin
gonthe
application(s~xecutingoneachsubscriber'tation32a,32bForexample,wheresubscribers
tation
32a is an individual consumer, and subscriber station 32b is a travel agent,
then a software
application
executingonsubscribe~tation32bcanprovidetheconsumerwithanemailincludingan
completetravelitinerary,confirmationbookings,electronicairline -
tickets,andthelike.
WhileintheembodimentshowninFigurel(andmarkedassystem20)showsa telephone
handset441oca1toanemailclientexecutingonmicroprocessor40,itwillbeunderstoodthat
in
CA 02312601 2000-06-28
otherembodimentsoftheinventionhandset44neednotbelocaltotheemailclient.Forexampl
e,
analternativeembodimentisshowninFigure3an
dmarkedassystem220.Componentsinsystem
220thataresubstantiallythesameascomponentsinsystem20haveareferencenumber200grea
ter
thanthereferencenumberofthecomponentinsystem20. AsshowninFigure3,system220
includesamobileh
andset244cthatisconnectedtonetworknode228cviaawirelesslink236c.
Thus,inapresentembodiment,networknode228cisawirelessbasestationMobilehandset244
c
is associatedwith electronic information object256aand subscribernode 232a.
Inthepresent
embodiment,subscribemode232aisessentiallyadataterminalexecutinganemailclientpro
gram.
(Suchanemailclientistypicallyconnectedtoanemailserverviaconnectedtonetwork224,a
sis
knowntothoseofskillintheart.)
Electronicinformationaboutmobilehandset244candnode232a
(suchastheemailaddressofsubscribernode232aandthetelephonenumberofhandset244c)ar
e
storedinelectronicinformationobject256a.Duringavoicetelephonacallbetweenmobileh
ands et
244candhandset244b,thedataoninformationobjects256aand256bcanbeexchangedbetween
nodes232aand232binsubstantiallythesamemannerasdiscussedinthemethodofFigure2,wit
h
appropriatemodifications.Forexample,usingapredefinedse riesoflcey -
strokesonhandset244c,
instructionscanbesenttonetworknode228c,thatcausesoftwareexecutingonnetworknode2
28c
toqueryinformationobject256bandobtaintheemailaddressofsubscribernode232b.
Next,
networknode228ccanuset
hisemailaddresstoemailinformationobject256atosubscribemode
232bNext,asdesired,asubscriberatsubscribemode232bcanusethecontentsinformationob
ject
256atoarrangeforelectronicinteractionsdirectlywithsubscribernode232a,suchassend
ing
information subscribernode 232aviaemail. Itwillnowbe
apparentthatotherconfigurations,
combinationsand/orarrangementsofvoicehandsetsandemailclientsassociatedwithapart
icular
subscribercanbeimplemented,asdesired.
Yetanotherembodimentoftheinventionisshownassystem320inFigure4.Components
insystem320thataresubstantiallythesameascomponentsinsystem20haveareferencenumbe
r
300greaterthanthereferencenumberofthecomponentinsystem20.System3
20includesafirst
networknode,whichinapresentembodimentisanEmailserver328aInturn,Emailserver328ai
s
connectedtoasubscriberstation,whichinthepresentembodimentisadatatermina1332aexe
cuting
anemailclientprogram.
System320alsoincludestwoadditionalnetworknodes,whichinapresentembodimentare
CA 02312601 2000-06-28
PSTNswitches328band328c. Emailserver328aandPSTNswitches328band328careall
interconnectedbyanetwork324,whichinapresentembodimentcombinesthefunctionality
ofthe
PSTNforcarryingvoicetrafficandtheInternetforcarryingdatatraffic.
PSTNswitch328cstoresaCallerIDobject390awhichcontainstheemailaddressofdata
termina1332a.
PSTNswitches328band328careeachconnectedvialinks336c,336b(respectively)to
voiceterminals,whichinapresentembodimentarePOTStelephones344cand344b(respective
ly).
PSTNswitch328bstoresapluralityofelectronicinformationobjects356a,356b,and356cwh
ich
areassociatedwithPOTStelephone344b. Eachinformationobject356a,356band356ccan
containanytypeofinformation,asdesired,andcanbeconfiguredand/ordefinedbythesubsc
riber
atPOTStelephone334b.Forinstance,informationobject356acancontainamapofdirections
to
theresid
enceofthesubscriberofPOTStelephone334b;informationobject356bcancontaina
complete business card, includingphone numbers, email addresses andpostal
addresses ofthe
subscriberatPOTStelephone334b;andinformationobject356ccancontainaf
amilyphotograph.
Itistobeemphasized,however,thattherecanbeanynumberinformationobj ects3 S
6andthateach
informationobject356cancontainanydesiredinformation.
Inoperation,acalleratPOTStelephone344cdialsthephonenumberofPOTS telephone
334bPSTNswitch328cco11ectsthedialeddigitsfromPOTStelephone344cand,vianetwork324
,
connectstoPSTNswitch328binordertocausePOTStelephone344btobeginringingDuringthe
connectiontoPSTNswitch328b,Ca1lerIDobject 390aisdeliveredtoPSTNSwitch328band
storedthereat forlateruse. Next, POTS telephone 344bis
answeredandavoicetelephone call
between POTS telephones 344c and 344b is established. During the voice
telephone call, the
subscriberatPOTStelephone344bdecidestosendelectronicinformationtothesubscribera
tPOTS
telephone344cTnapresentembodiment,thisisaccomplishedbypressingthe'flash'keyonPO
TS
telephone344b,whichgetstheattentionofPSTNswitch328b.Atthispoint,PSTNsw
itch328b
willtypicallymutetheearpieceofPOTStelephone344c,andsendadialtonetotheearpieceof
POTStelephone344btoobtaininstructionstherefrom.
ThesubscriberatPOTStelephone344b
thenprovidesuserinputthata)instructsPSTNswitch3
28btosendaninformationobject356to
datatermina1332aandb) selects which ofinformationobject 356a, 356b or356cto
send. For
exampleahekeysequence*331cou1dbeusedtosendinformationobject356a;thekeysequence
CA 02312601 2000-06-28
*332cou1dbeusedtosendinformationobject356b;andthekeysequence*333couldbeusedto
sendinformationobject356c.However,anykeysequencecanbeused.
ItwilIbeunderstoodthat,dependingonthefunctionalityoIfOTStelephone344bandPSTN
switch328b,thenanyty
peofuserinputthatinstructthedeliveryofaninformationobject356to
datatermina1332acanbeused.Forexample,wherePSTNswitch328bisoperabletoreceivevoic
e
instructions,thenthesubscriberatPOTStelephone344bcanissuevoiceinstructio
nstoinstructthe
deliveryofaninformationobject356.
Forpurposesofexplainingthepresentembodiment,itwillbeassumedthatthesubscriberat
POTStelephone344bentersthekeysequence*332,andthusinstructsthatinformationobject
356b
besenttodatatermina1332a.Next,PSTNswitch328busesthisinstructiontoprepareanemail
message,usingtheemailaddressofdatatermina1332apreviouslyextractedfromtheCallerI
D
streamfromPOTStelephone344c.Thepreparedemailmessagehasinformationobject356beith
er
embeddedthereinorattachedthereto.
Havingpreparedtheemailmessage,itissentvianetwork324toemailserver328a,whereit
thenbecomesavailableforretrievalbytheemailclientexecutingondataterminal332a.
At this point, PSTN switch 328b can automatically reactivate the earpiece of
POTS
telephone344candreestablishthecompletevoiceconnectionbetweenPOTStelephones344ca
nd
344bA1ternatively,PSTNswitch328bcanwaitformoreuser -
input(e.g.furtherdepressionofthe
'flash'key)fromthesubscriberatPOTStelephone344bpriortoreestablishingthecomplete
voice
connection.
Itwillbeunderstoodthatthevariouscomponentsinsystem320canbevaried,modified,or
substitutedasdesiredandstillachie vethesamefunction.
Furthermore,whilesystem320on1y
showsonedatatermina1332aassociatedwithPOTStelephone344c,itwillbeunderstoodthata
seconddatatermina1332canbeaddedtosystem320andassociatedwithPOTStelephone344b.
Similarly,apluralityofinformationobjectscanbeassociatedwithPOTStelephone344c,an
dan
emailaddresscanbeembeddedintotheoutgoingCallerIDstreamassociatedwithPOTStelepho
ne
344b.
Whiletheembodimentsdiscussedhereinaredirectedtospecific implementationsofthe
invention,itwillbeunderstoodthatcombinations,sub-
setsandvariationsoftheembodimentsare
withinthescopeoftheinvention.Forexample,itmaybedesiredtoaddvarioussecurityfeatu
resto
CA 02312601 2000-06-28
system20toensurethattheinformationobject56ofonesubscribemode32isnotinadvertentl
yor
unintentionallytransferredtoothersubscribernodes32.
Itmaydesiredtosimplyembedtheentirecaller'sinformationobject56intothecaller -id
streamsenttothecalleesubscribern
ode32duringtheinitiationofthevoicetelephonecall,thus
eliminating the need for the explicit request for electronic information
exchange at step 110.
However,itisexpectedthatprivacyfeatures,suchastheabilitytoblockthetransmissiono
ft he
information object 56 duringthe initiation ofthe call, may also be
incorporated into such as a
system.
Itmaybedesiredtoaddcertainotherprivacy/securityfeaturestothetransmissionofthe
electronicinformation.Forexample,theelectronici
nformationobjectmaybeencryptedduring
transmission,usinganyknownencryptiontechniqueslnaddition,theelectronicinformati
onmay
betransmittedalongwithadigitalsignature,whichcanb~sedtoverifythesourceoftheelec
tronic
information bytherecipient.
The present invention maybe usedto allow subscribers to create andupdate
theirown
personalphonedirectory.Suchaphonebookmaybestoredonadataterminallocatedateithert
he
network node or on a data terminal local to the subs criber's voice terminal.
An application
associated with the phone book could be used to allow the subscriber to
automatically place
telephonecalls,withouthavingtorememberanyphonenumbers Usinganyknowntext- to-
speech
converter, the phone bookcanbe "read" tothe subscriberusing avoice terminal,
allowingthe
subscribertoselectanumbertobedialedusinganinteractivevoiceresponse(IVR)menusyst
em.
Using such a text -to-speech converter system, it will be apparent that the
foregoing varia lion
envisionsanimplementationofthepresentinventionthatobviatestheneedforadatatermin
allocal
tothesubscriber'svoiceterminal.Alternatively,adataterminalassociatedwiththesubs
criber's
voiceterminalcouldpresentagraphicaluserinterfacethatallowedthesubscribertoselec
ranumber
tobedialed.
It may be desired to modify the present invention by allowing a caller to
leave his
informationobject56aspartoforinadditionto,avoicemailinessageleftforthecallee.So
ftware
executingonthedataterminalofthecalleesubscriberstationcanbeusedtorecordallincom
ing
calls,andtheassociatedincomingelectronicinformationassociatedtherewith.
ThepresentinventioncanbemodifiedforuseonTDDorTDYdevicesusedby hearing
11
CA 02312601 2000-06-28
impairedsubscribers.
It is contemplated that the present invention can be modified for use during a
n-way
conferencecalls,toallowmultiplesubscriberstoexchangeelectronicinformation.
Inotherembodimentsoftheinvention,thevariouscomponentsinsystem20canbemodified
orvariedtoaccomplishthesamefunctionalityForinstance,theelectronicinformationobj
ectneed
notresideattheserviceprovidernode28,butcanreside,forexample,atthesubscribernode
32.
The present inventio n provides a novel, system, method and apparatus for
exchanging
electronicinformation
Thepresentinventionsimplifiestheprocessofexchanginginformationsuch
asemailaddress,facsimilenumbersandweb-pageaddressesduringavoicetelephonecall,t
hus
allowingsubscriberstoaccuratelyandreadilyexchangesuchinformationwithouttheneedf
or
transcribing,inwritingorotherwise,eachother'selectronicinformation.
The above -described embodiments ofthe invention are intended to be examples
ofth
presentinventionandalterationsandmodificationsmaybeeffectedthereto,bythoseofski
llinthe
art, without departing from the scope of the invention which is defined solely
by the claims
appendedhereto.
12