Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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ENHANCED CALL WAITING
Technical Field
This invention relates to the field of telecommunications and more
particularly to an
enhanced call waiting service which telecommunication providers can provide to
their
customers.
Background of the Invention
Telephone companies have provided, for a number of years, a call waiting
service to
which their customers may subscribe. If a customer subscribes to the call
waiting service, then
when the customer is on the telephone talking with a first party and a second
party telephones
them during the course of the conversation with the first party, then the
customer will hear a
beep in the earpiece of the telephone to alert them to the fact that another
call is waiting. The
customer can then transmit a flash hook to the telephone company's central
office, placing the
conversation with the first party on hold and connecting the customer with the
second party,
allowing the customer to then enter into a conversation with the second party.
However, the
customer has no way of knowing who the second party is when they hear the beep
in the
earpiece and they have no idea whether or not the call from the second party
is sufficiently
urgent to warrant interrupting the conversation with the first party.
Newer methods for call delivery to a customer are or will soon be implemented.
For
example, the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) will have digital
signaling channels
for notification of an attempt, on the part of the network, to deliver a call
to a customer. With
ISDN, a customer can be notified of the attempt to deliver the call even
though the customer
may be engaged in a telephone call or connection with another party. Such
notification can be
made at the customer's telephone station or at a separate terminal.
Additionally, the customer
can also receive information related to the second call, such as Calling Line
mentification
(CLID). This information may be displayed on the customer's station. Given
this information,
i.e., the telephone number of the calling party, the customer may elect to put
the call in progress
on hold and to connect with the new call. Other options are also available, as
is described, e.g.,
in the AT&T document SESS ISDN Basic Rate Interface Spec. 5E6 Software
Release, the
Bellcore "National ISDN-1" Document No. SR-NWT-001937, February 1991, the
Bellcore
"National ISDN-2" Document No. SR-NWT-002120, May 1992, and the AT&T document
"SESS Switch - The Premier Solution Feature Handbook" Document No. 235-390-
500, dated
September 1987, all of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
However, ISDN
does not allow the calling party to identify the urgency of their call or to
provide the user with a
notification initiated by and defined by the calling party.
The instant invention addresses the problems noted above by providing an
Enhanced
Call Waiting System which pre-screens the call from the second caller to
determine a level of
CA 02347034 2001-04-17
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urgency before interrupting the customer advising that a call is waiting. The
invention also
includes means by which information regarding the new call can be communicated
to the
customer so that they can decide what action should be taken, if any.
Brief Description of the Invention
In general terms, the invention provides a method and apparatus for providing
an _
enhanced call waiting telecommunication service to a user when the user is
engaged in a
telephone conversation via a telephone switch with a first party at the same
time a second party
attempts to place a telephone call to the user. In accordance with the
invention, telephonic
instructions are received from the second caller to initiate a telephone call
between the second
party and the user. Generally speaking, the telephonic instructions take the
form of the user's
telephone number which is inputted by the second party at their telephone
instrument. The fact
that the user's telephone is busy is detected and, in response thereto, a
courtesy message is
transmitted to the second party, for example, inviting the second party to
input a command
corresponding to available options. The courtesy message may include the
command to be
inputted or the command may not be explicitly given during the courtesy
message. In any
event, the method and apparatus allow the second party to input a command, if
they know it.
Otherwise the call is handled in a predetemuned fashion when no command is
entered. The
command may comprise, for example, a number or other code to be entered at the
keypad of
the second party's telephone. The command can include other commands,
including spoken
commands which would then be detected and interpreted by a computer system.
Voice
detection apparatuses are currently available and indeed are already embodied
in some computer
systems and therefore they are not described herein. Those skilled in the art
will appreciate that
commands which are described as being entered at a keypad herein may be
implemented by
responding instead to voice commands if appropriate voice detection subsystems
are added. If
desired, a hierarchy of commands may be available for use which correspond to
alternatives the
caller may select. Additionally, or alternatively, in some embodiments, the
method and
apparatus may issue a courtesy message asking the second party to state their
name or purpose
of the call before routing the call. Assuming that the command is inputted by
the second party
(or their name or other information is stated, in those embodiments, as their
spoken name or
other information may comprise the command), then the call from the second
caller is directed
according to the command received indicating direction to the user with a
priority forwarding
code causing a beep or other indication to be heard at the user's telephone.
Brief Description of the Drawings
Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the Enhanced Call Waiting System of the
present
invention; and
Figure 2 is a flow diagram showing the processing capabilities of the call
processing
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facility of the Enhanced Call Waiting System of Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of the Enhanced Call
Waiting
System of the present invention, this embodiment having an embedded switch;
and
Figures 4A through 4I are flow diagrams showing the processing capabilities of
the call
processing facility of the Enhanced Call Waiting System of Figure 3.
Detailed Description
Adjunct Switch Embodiment
Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of the Enhanced CaII Waiting
System 40 of the present invention. In this embodiment the apparatus and
method of the
invention control a switch which may be located, fo'r example, in the central
office of the
telephone company directly. Another embodiment is described subsequently in
detail in which a
controlled switch is embedded with the apparatus of the present invention. The
embedded
switch embodiment can provide additional features which would not be currently
available
using switches currently installed in telephone company central offices.
While a plurality of users may be connected to the Enhanced Call Waiting
System 40, a
single user having a telephone device 10 is depicted in Figure 1 for clarity's
sake. Telephone
device 10, which may be a conventional telephone, is connected to a switch at
the telephone
company's central office 20 or any other branch exchange and even to a PBX
switch. A
number of other callers having telephones 11 and 12 are also coupled to the
switch at the
telephone company's central office 20, either directly or via the public
switched telephone
network (PSTN) 30. The other callers may be users of the Enhanced Call Waiting
System 40
or not, depending on how this service is provided. Thus, the Enhanced Call
Waiting System
service may be provided to all callers connected to a switch or it may only be
provided to those
callers who elect to subscribe to this service.
The Enhanced Call Waiting System includes a programmed call processing
facility 50
which, under software control, provides the Enhanced Call Waiting System SO
which will be
described henceforth. The programmed call processing facility is coupled to
the telephone
company's central office switch 20 by means of a hunt group of telephone lines
or other
suitable communication facility 52 as well as preferably via a datalink 54.
The datalink 54
preferably provides information regarding the identification of the calling
party as well as the
reason that the call is being delivered. For example, the Simplified Message
Desk Interface
(SMDI) datalink provided by DMS 100 twitches manufactured by Northern Telecom
provide
the sort of information desired. The CMSS datalink in SESS switches provide
similar
information. The call processing facility, from a hardware aspect, may be
embodied as is
described in U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 07/480,242 filed February i5,
1990, the
disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. As described
in U.S. Patent
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Application Serial No. 07/480,242, a call processing facility includes a
computer 56 and an
interface 58 for interacting the telephone lines 52 to the computer 56. The
computer 56 may be
an industry standard device well known in the art, such as, for example, a
fault-tolerant
computer, such as a Stratus R-5, or even a personal computer of the well known
IBM PC type
and preferably using the Intel 486 chip (or better) with a disk operating
system (such as the
UNIX operating system). The telephone line interface 58 may be provided by
cards which plug
into the computer 56, such as model D4IB interface cards manufactured by
Dialogic. The
SMDI datalink 54 is connected to computer 56 via an RS232 serial port on the
computer.
The hunt group 52 is associated with the datalink 54 such that when a call is
received by
the Enhanced Call Waiting System 40 over one of the lines in the hunt group
52, a data
message is also passed by the telephone company's central office switch 20
over the SMDI
datalink indicating the reason for the call, the number which was called and,
if available, the
telephone number of the telephone or party from which the call originated.
This latter feature is
known by several names, including Automatic Number Identification (ANI) and
Calling Line
IDentification (CLID), among others. Using CLID is preferred since ANI is
often used to
convey a billing number rather than the actual number associated with the
third party. For many
telephone users, the ANI and CLID are the same, but that will often not be the
case in
businesses which used Direct Inward Dial (DID) numbers. The telephone lines in
the hunt
group 52 have a feature provided by the telephone company's central office
switch 20 known
as call transfer capability.
The users of the Enhanced Call Waiting System 40 have the well-known Busy
Forwarding, and may have No Answer Forwarding, features available in switch 20
for their
telephones 10. If the user station 10 is busy with a call from one caller
(e.g., a caller at station
11) directly, then calls from a different caller (e.g., a caller at station
12) will be busy
forwarded to the Enhanced Call Waiting System 40 by switch 20, assuming that
the user's
telephone 10 has the Busy Forwarding feature of switch 20 enabled. A transfer
will also occur
when the user fails to answer telephone 10 assuming that the No Answer
Forwarding feature of
switch 20 is enabled. As will be seen, in order for the Enhanced Call Waiting
System to
function as described herein, the telephone company central office switch 20
must be permitted
to override (i.e., ignore) the Busy Forwarding feature of the user's phone by
employing a so-
called "Dial Call Waiting Feature" commonly available on telephone company
central office
switches 20 such as the SESS switch manufactured by AT&T. In this case all
users are defined
as belonging to a Terminal Group so that the Dial Call Waiting Feature is
effective for them.
Users of the Enhanced Call Waiting System 40 are identified preferably by
their
telephone numbers which are preferably stored in a database 55. In that way,
the computer,
under program control, can check the database to verify who are users and who
are not, to
retrieve recorded announcements and various operational parameters.
This Enhanced Call Waiting System 40 operates as follows. When a caller at
station 11
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or 12 attempts to reach a user 10, if the user's line is busy, then the
central office switch 20
forwards the call to a lead number in hunt group 52. Referring to the flow
chart of Figure 2, the
computer 56 in the call processing facility 50 of the Enhanced Call Waiting
System 40 waits for
a call to come in on one of the lines of the hunt group. This waiting is
handled by loop 62.
When a call comes in, the call is answered and the SMDI datalink is examined
for the data
accompanying the call at steps 64, 70, 76 and 80. A test made at step 64 is to
determine
whether or not the call coming into the hunt group is a direct or transfer
call from a user. If it is
not from the user (either directly or via a transfer), then the SMDI will
contain an AIVI or CLID
which cannot be found in database S5. If the ANI or CLID is from the' user's
telephone, as
identified in database 55, then the SMDI reason code will correspond to the
letter D (for direct
call from the user), the letter N (for a call forwarded due to a no answer at
the user's phone) or
B (for a call forwarded due to a busy user's telephone). The test at step 64
will catch those
callers who accidentally miss-dial the number of the hunt group. They are
shuttled off to step
66 where they may be advised how they may order the system and then the system
hangs up on
them and returns back to the loop at steps 60 gild 62 via step 68. The
information conveyed
regarding how the system may be ordered can be stored, for example, in
database 55.
Assuming that the incoming call on the hunt group is from the user's
telephone, i.e.,
the ANI or CL)D corresponds to a user's telephone number stored in database
55, then the
accompanying SMDI reason code will be either the letter D, the letter N or the
letter B. If it is
the letter D, as tested at step 70, that means that the call from the user's
telephone is a direct call
from the user, and not a forwarded call. In that case, the user is asked for a
Personal
Identification Number (PIN) at step 72 and, assuming the PIN is entered
correctly (i.e., it
corresponds to the user's PIN stored in database 55), the user is permitted to
listen to
previously recorded messages stored in database 55 or advised that there are
no messages
stored. Recorded messages can, of course, be deleted from database 55 in a
manner well
known in the prior art. The program again returns to loop 62 at step 74.
If the SMDI reason code is the letter N, as tested at step 76, that means that
the user did
not answer the telephone and therefore the central office switch is
transferring the call for that
reason. The Enhanced Call Waiting System 40 then plays a message (which may be
stored in
database 55} at block 78 indicating that the party is unavailable and
thereafter, at step 86, the
caller is invited to leave a message for the user they are trying to call and
the caller's message is
recorded and stored in database 55, in a manner well known in the art. If
Message Waiting
Indication (MWI) facilities are available at the user's telephone station, as
tested at step 90, then
MWI is set at the user's telephone station at step 92. This could comprise,
for example, turning
on an LED at the user's telephone indicating that the user has a message
waiting.
If the SMDI reason code is the letter B, as tested at step 80, that indicates
that the call
was forwarded to the Enhanced Call Waiting System 40 due to a user's busy
telephone. In that
case, the caller is advised at step 82 that the line is busy and is invited to
enter a command or
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code and optionally also to state their name or reason for the call at the
tone or alternatively to
hold the line and leave a message. If the command or code is not properly
received at step 84,
or if no command or code is entered, then the caller is prompted to leave a
message and the
message is recorded at step 86. If the caller enters the correct command or
code at block 84,
then the Enhanced Call Waiting System 40 responds by effectuating the
appropriate alternative
corresponding to such command including, if appropriate, sending a signal to
the telephone
company office switch 20 at block 88. For the model SESS switch manufactured
by AT&T, the
signal may comprise a special access code indicating that the Dial CaII
Waiting feature is to be
invoked followed by the user's home telephone number. This number-riiay be one
of several
numbers assigned to the user's phone line designed to produce differing
indications to the user
through the invocation of the Distinctive Alerting feature in conjunction with
the Dial Call
Waiting treatment to the line. Thereafter, this system 40 hangs up and it goes
back to the loop
comprising steps 60 and 62. The switch 20, in response to the Dial Call
Waiting feature
capability of the SESS switch, will cause a call waiting tone at the user's
busy telephone to
occur, thereby advising the user that a call is waiting. Other switches may
not have a Dial Call
Waiting feature exactly as described above. However, when such central office
switches are
used, then other techniques can be used to ensure that the call from the
system 40 gets through
to the user 10 while other calls to the user are forwarded to the Enhanced
Call Waiting System.
The user can be advised of the relative urgency or importance of the call as
will now be
described. If the user has the Distinctive Ringing feature of the SESS
switches enabled, then
when a call is transferred by the system using the Dial Call Waiting feature,
the call waiting
tone heard by the user is a function of which telephone number is used to
contact the user. As
is known in the art, Distinctive Ringing allows a user to have multiple
telephone numbers
associated with a given line and the telephones) connected to the line ring
distinctively
depending upon the number called. In this case the Enhanced Call Waiting
System previously
described may be modified slightly to receive urgency information from the
caller and then to
selectively dial a telephone number associated with the user's telephone line
as a function of the
indicated urgency. Alternatively, the Enhanced Call Waiting System may
selectively dial the
telephone numbers associated with the user's telephone line as a function of
the CP)D of the
caller. CP>D is Calling Party >Dentification and can be derived, in some
cases, from AIVI,
CL1D, or by information input by the caller. The Enhanced Call Waiting System
then dials out
to the user s phone using the special access code needed to invoke the Dial
Call Waiting feature
plus a telephone number associated with the indicated urgency/importance of
the call. The
number selected is one of the numbers associated with the Distinctive Ringing
feature on the
user's phone. The user, who is then engaged in a telephone call with a first
person, will hear a
distinctive call waiting tone which indicates the level of urgency or
importance identified by the
caller directly, or by the caller's CPI'D. While the flow diagram of Figures 2
does not provide
for this particular feature, those skilled in the art should be able to modify
them to include it.
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Moreover, another embodiment of the Enhanced CaII Waiting System will be
described with
respect to Figures 3 and 4A - 4I which also provide for not only this feature
but other additional
features.
The Enhanced Call Waiting System, which has been described above, works as
follows. Assume that Pat is trying to reach Bob. She calls Bob's home
telephone number and
Bob is not on the line, so the central office delivers the call to Bob's home
phone and Bob
answers the call. Bob and Pat now engage in a telephone conversation.
Now, assume that while Bob and Pat are talking, Fred tries to telephone Bob.
This
time, Bob's telephone line is busy, so the central office uses its busy
forwarding feature, which
Bob has, to forward the second cal! from Fred to the Enhanced Call Waiting
System 40. The
Enhanced Call Waiting System 40 answers the call and recognizes that since it
received the call
with a proper AIVI (due to the fact that the call was forwarded from Bob's
number and Bob's
number is stored in database 55) and with a SMDI reason code of "B", that
means that Bob's
phone is busy and the system then plays a courtesy message to the caller
saying something like
"fm sorry, Bob is on the line, but if it is urgent that you to speak with him
now, touch 1 and I
will try to connect you. Otherwise, please hold the line and leave a message".
If Fred touches
1, because he needs to get through to Bob, the Enhanced Call Waiting System 40
will send a
signal to the public switch (typically in the form of a flash hook to acquire
a second dial tone,
dial a call waiting code, and then dial Bob's home telephone number). Since
Bob is already on
the telephone, ordinarily calls to him would be busy forwarded right back to
the Enhanced Call
Waiting System 40. However, since the Enhanced Call Waiting System dialed the
Dialed Call
Waiting Code, and since the group of Iines serving the Enhanced Call Waiting
System 40 are
so equipped, they are permitted to override the busy forwarding feature on
Bob's home
telephone line, and Bob hears a prompt (usually a tone or beep) indicating
that a call is waiting.
Therefore, the call from Fred will be sent through to Bob and Bob will hear a
call waiting tone
permitting him to excuse himself temporarily from his telephone conversation
with Pat, do a
flash hook and pick up the second call. The system 40 need not wait for Bob to
act on the
transfer call from Fred, since that function is provided by the telephone
company central office
switch 20.
With this system, a large majority of the calls to Bob will flow to him
without ever
activating the Enhanced CaII Waiting System 40. Only those calls when Bob is
actually on the
line or when Bob does not answer the telephone call will go through the
Enhanced Call Waiting
System 40. Of course, this system can be modified or programmed so that it
only handles
"busy forwarded calls", and not "no answer forwarded calls", or vice versa. In
any case, the
Enhanced Call Waiting System 40 uses relatively inexpensive equipment to
provide this feature
as an adjunct to the telephone company central office switch, without having
to modify the
software in that switch, which is a time consuming and tedious process.
Moreover, the
Enhanced Call Waiting System 40 is only coupled to the caller for a relatively
short period of
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time to play the courtesy message and to receive a reply (or to timeout
waiting for a reply), and
therefore, from a resource aspect, a relatively small amount of computational
power is used by
the Enhanced Call Waiting System to provide this feature to customers. These
features are
preferably intemipt driven so that the Enhanced Call Waiting System 40 can
handle a plurality
of transferred calls at the same time for a number of different users. Thus,
the system is capable
of handling many, many users.
The flow chart of Figure 2 presents an embodiment of the invention which can
be used
with many of the central office switches in use today in the United States.
Those skilled in the
art will appreciate that the Dial Call Waiting feature is a special feature
o~the SESS switch sold
by AT&T, but that there are techniques for implementing the features described
above in other
switches.
However, there still exist switches serving customers which have very little
capability
to transferor forward calls. Such switches are often called step by step or
cross bar switches.
In order to use the present invention with such switches, another embodiment
of the present
invention will be described which has its own switch as a part of the Enhanced
Call Waiting
System. A block diagram of such an Enhanced Call Waiting System with an
Embedded Switch
is depicted in Figure 3. This embodiment functions independently of the type
of switch used in
the local office and thus provides a number of benefits over the embodiment
described above.
First, as will be seen, additional features can be provided. Second, it is
simpler to provide the
Enhanced Call Waiting System features in a sophisticated context using a
single switch as
opposed to supplying these features in the context of many different models of
switches which
already exist in telephone company local switching offices. Third, it is
desirable for these
features to move with the user as he or she changes physical location. As is
described in U.S.
Patent Application No. 07/480,242 filed February 15, 1990, it is desirable for
a user to be
assigned a single telephone number which they use irt-espective of their
physical location. Their
telephone number in effect follows them as they move from home to car to
office to elsewhere.
The resulting call waiting service provided by the method and apparatus
described herein will
be much more uniform (and easier to control and deliver) in such an
environment if the
computer 56 only has to control one type of switch, and that is possible when
an embedded
switch 20' is provided in the Enhanced Call Waiting System. While this
embodiment can be
used with unsophisticated switches, there are good reasons to use it with
highly sophisticated
switches as well, since it simplifies programming efforts and provides greater
uniformity in the
telephone environment as seen by users of the public telephone system.
Embedded Switch Embodiment
Figures 4A - 4I present flow diagrams which may be used with the embodiment of
Figure 3. The embedded switch 20' is, in this embodiment, preferably a model
LNX2000
switch built by Excel Corporation of Sagamore Beach, MA.
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Those skilled in the art will appreciate that certain of the features which
will now be
described are susceptible to being used with non-embedded switches 20,
including the SESS
manufactured by AT&T or the DMS 100 switch manufactured by Northern Telecom
and
commonly used today as central office switches by telephone companies. The
Embedded
Switch embodiment of the Enhanced Call Waiting System will now be described.
In Figure 3, the Enhanced Call Waiting System with embedded switch 20'
includes a
programmed call processing facility 50 which, under software control, provides
the Enhanced
Call Waiting System which will be described henceforth. The programmed call
processing
facility is coupled to the embedded switch 20' by means of a group of
telephone lines 52 as
well as via a control link 53 coupled to a serial port of computer 56. The
call processing
facility, from a hardware aspect, may be embodied as is described in U.S.
Patent Application
Serial No. 07/480,242 filed February 15, 1990, the disclosure of which is
hereby incorporated
herein by reference. As described in U.S. Patent Application Serial No.
07/480,242, a call
processing facility includes a computer 56 and an interface 58 for interacting
the telephone lines
52 to the computer 56. The computer 56 may be an industry standard device well
known in the
art, such as, for example, a fault-tolerant computer such as the Stratus R-5
or even a personal
computer of the well known IBM PC type and preferably using the Intel 486 chip
with a disk
operating system (such as the UNIX operating system). The telephone line
interface 58 may be
provided by cards which plug into the computer 56, such as model D41B
interface cards
manufactured by Dialogic. The embedded switch 20' is connected with the PSTN
30 typically
via a local telephone company switch (for tariff reasons), although
conceptually, the embedded
switch could be thought of as having direct access to the PSTN 30. Interface
58 is coupled to
embedded switch 20' via a hunt group 52. Embedded switch 20' is connected with
switch 20
via Direct Inward Dial {DID) trunk 51.
Each user 10 of the system preferably has a unique personal telephone number
which is
identified with switch 20' (that is, when the unique personal number is used
on the PSTN 30,
the call is delivered via switch 20'). A user may instead have a personal
telephone number
which is identified with another telephone company switch on the PSTN. If
another (i.e.,
remote) telephone switch serves a user I0, then that switch should preferably
be located such
that calls delivered via the embedded switch do not result in additional tolls
being paid by the
user. Each user can be contacted at one or more physical locations (i.e., at
telephone stations).
The telephone numbers at the various stations at which the user may be located
are preferably
different. Thus when a caller 11 wishes to contact user 10 the caller 11 uses
the unique
personal telephone number of the user and the call is completed via switch 20'
to the user 10
who is physically located at some location. Switch 20' can transfer the
caller's call to the user
since the telephone number at the user's physical location is stored in
database 55. The
telephone number at the physical location may be thought of as an unpublished
telephone
address routable by the PSTN and the user can control the routable telephone
number which
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switch 20' will use to transfer calls to the user.
Turning now to Figures 4A - 4I, Figures 4A - 4C comprise flow diagrams which
show
the steps used to handle an incoming call and, more particularly, an incoming
call from the user
(when located at a known telephone number) which permits the user, in a
supervisory mode, to
retrieve stored messages and/or to change certain user-selectable functions.
Figures 4D - 4H comprise a flow diagram which shows how a call is handled when
it
comes in from a third party telephone. If the call is from the user, then he
or she is permitted to
enter a PIN and enter the supervisory mode described with reference to Figures
4A - 4C. The
flow diagram of Figures 4A - 4H represents a computer program, known herein as
the Host
Computer Call Control Process, which program runs on computer 56.
Figure 4I is a flow diagram of a user notification process which notifies the
user
whenever a caller has unsuccessfully attempted to reach the user. Thus this
figure represents a
computer program, known herein as the Host Computer User Notification Process,
which
program also runs on computer 56. Since computer 56 preferably supports pre-
emptive co-
processing, both the Host Computer Call Control Process and the Host Computer
User
Notification Process can run at the same time. Moreover, these processes can
be adapted by
those skilled in the art to support numerous telephone connections at the same
time with the
different connections being independently handled concurrently by different
portions of the
flow diagrams.
I. Host Computer Call Control Process
Beginning at step 100 is the flow chart for a Host Computer Call Control
Process,
which is a software control program which executes on computer 56. This
program controls
the embedded switch 20' and the telephone interface 58 to implement Enhanced
Call Waiting
functions. A separate, related software program, the Host Computer User
Notification Process,
is also shown in these flow charts, starting at step 900 and it also executes
on computer 56.
The Host Computer Call Control Process starts at step 100. At step 100 a
determination
is made as to whether an incoming call has been detected by the switch 20'.
Control remains in
a loop at step 102 until an incoming call is detected, at which point control
passes to step 104
where the computer 56 checks the ANI (Automatic Number Identification), CLID
(Calling Line
mentification), and/or CPm (Calling Party IDentification) of the incoming
call. The ANI tends
to be a billing number, so it is not a highly reliable source for identifying
a particular caller.
CL1D is better, since it identifies the particular telephone line which was
used to originate the
call. CPm is meant to identify the caller specifically. In this embodiment
that caller should
preferably make outbound calls via the embedded switch 20'. In that case the
CLID would be
associated with the particular line used by switch 20' to originate an
outbound call, while the
CPm would be identified with a particular caller and it preferably reflects
the telephone address
of the calling party irrespective of their physical location. In this entire
specification, the term
CA 02347034 2001-04-17
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CPID is used to reflect an identifier associated with the person making a
call. It is envisioned
that the system would use whatever facilities are available to identify the
calling party con:ectly
in order to handle their calls appropriately. It is also envisioned that the
user will have a feature
called Hot-Line Service by which the user, when they pick up their phone, is
automatically
connected via their local switch 20 and the embedded switch 20' to the
Enhanced Call Waiting
System 40. Thus when a user picks up their telephone their CP)D is checked at
step 104 and
the process continues on to step 108.
The CPII? may be delivered to the switch via a number of different means, all
generally
known in the art, including Feature Group D trunks, Caller ID lines, etc. and
may include a
Personal Identification Number (PIN) input by the caller. If the computer 56
determines, by
comparing the CPID of the call with the numbers stored in the database 55,
that the call is from
a phone associated with a user of the system (i.e., the user calling from home
to check
messages or program his service), then control passes to step 108. If the
system does not
recognize the CPID as belonging to a user of the system, then control passes
to a flow
connector labeled "Anyone Else" at step 400 via step 106.
At step 108, the system instructs the switch to connect the incoming call from
the user
10 to an available port on the telephone interface 58, and then passes control
to step 112, where
the user 10 is provided with a dial tone or other greeting, such as "Good
Morning". This and
other messages may be stored in database 55, together with telephone numbers
and addresses,
individualized voice greetings, PIN numbers, valid CPB~s, and various control
parameters
which will be described. A loop formed by steps 114, 118 and 134. is entered
where a
determination is made at step 114 to see if a valid PIN Code has been entered
by the user (prior
to allowing the user to access his or her messages and programming functions).
If a valid PIN
Code is detected (by a prefixed * or # key, for example) then control passes
to a connector
labeled "Main Menu" at step 200 via step 116.
If the correct PIN Code was not entered, then control passes to step 118,
where a
determination is made as to whether a maximum time Limit or a maximum number
of PIN Code
attempts has been reached. If either maximum limit is reached, then control
passes to a
connector labeled "Thank You" at step 120. If neither limit has been reached,
then control
passes to step 134 where a determination is made as to whether the user 10
input a telephone
number for an outbound call. If so, control passes to step 134. If not,
control returns (perhaps
again) to step 114.
At connector step 120, labeled "Thank You," control immediately passes to step
122
where the user or caller is advised: "Thank you for calling...Good-bye."
Control then passes to
a connector labeled "Port Disconnect" at step 124, and then on to step 126
where computer 56
instructs the telephone interface 58 to release its port on this call. Control
then passes to a
connector labeled "Switch Disconnect" at step 128, and then on to step 130,
where computer
56 instructs switch 20' to disconnect any remaining switch resources allocated
to this call,
11
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thereby disconnecting the call. Control then passes to step 132, where control
returns to the
start of the Host Computer Call Control Process.
At step 136 the embedded switch 20' is instructed to seize an available
outbound
channel or port and to dial out to the phone number picked up at step 134. The
inbound call
from the user 10 is connected to the outbound channel. At step 138 the switch
20' is instructed
to leave this outbound call connected (unless otherwise instructed) and to
automatically
disconnect this call and tear down the associated switch connections if
disconnect supervision
is detected on the channel.
At connector step 200, labeled "Main Menu," control immediately passes to step
202
where the user is prompted: "Hello. You have (number) messages. Touch 1 to
listen to
messages, 2 to change screening modes, or 3 to edit screening lists." Control
then passes to a
connector labeled "Main Menu Loop" at step 204, and then control immediately
passes on to
step 206 where a determination is made as to whether the user has touched the
digit "1 ". If not,
control passes to step 216. If "1" was entered, then control passes to step
208, where the user
is provided the opportunity to listen to any of his or her voice mail
messages, and save or delete
them as desired. Control then passes to step 210 where a check is made to
determine if the user
has elected to return to the main menu. If so, then control returns to step
200. If not, then
control passes to step 212, where a check is made as to whether the user is
still on the line, by
determining if no further commands have been entered by the user, or if
disconnect supervision
has been detected. If it is determined that the user is still on the line,
then control returns to step
208. If the user has disconnected, or has not made any command entries within
a preset
interval, then control passes from step 212 to a connector labeled "Port
Disconnect" at step 124
via step 214.
If, as described above, the user 10 did not touch the digit "1" at step 206,
then control
passes to step 216, where a determination is made as to whether the user has
touched the digit
"2." If not, then control passes to a connector labeled "Touch 3" at step 218.
If the user did
touch the digit "2," then control passes to step 220, where the user is
prompted: "Touch 1 for
standard screening, 2 for VIP code screening, 3 for voice screening, or 4 for
caller number
screening." Control then passes to step 222 where the user is provided with
the opportunity to
select a screening mode and store this selection as the current mode by which
the Enhanced Call
Waiting System will handle his or her calls. Control then passes to step 224
where a
determination is made as to whether the user 10 elects to return to the main
menu, and if so,
control passes to a connector labeled "Main Menu" at step 200 via step 226. If
the user does not
elect to return to the main menu at step 224, then control passes to step 228,
where a check is
made as to whether the user 10 is still on the line, by deternvning if no
further commands have
been entered by the user, or if disconnect supervision has been detected. If
it is determined that
the user is still on the line, then control returns to step 222. If the user
has disconnected, or has
not made any command entries within a preset interval, then control passes
from step 228 to a
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connector labeled "Port Disconnect" at step 124 via step 230.
At step 300, a connector labeled "Touch 3," control passes to step 302 where a
determination is made as to whether the user has touched the digit "3," and if
not, control
passes to step 318. If the user has touched the digit "3" at step 302, then
control passes to step
304 where the user is prompted: "Touch 1 to edit the VIP code screening list,
or 2 to edit the
caller number screening list." Control then passes to step 306, where a
determination is made
as to whether the user has entered the digit "1," and if not control passes to
step 324. If so,
then control passes to step 308 where the user is provided with the
opportunity to add or delete
VIP codes to his or her personal VIP code list stored in the computer 56. A
plurality of VIP
codes can be stored in database 55 and a different potential caller may be
identified with each
VIP code. As such, a different name may be stored and associated with each
code, so that
when a caller enters a VIP code in the processing of an incoming call, the
user can be advised
of the name of the person whose call is waiting to be picked up by the user.
Thus, at step 308,
the user is also provided with the opportunity to record a name to be
associated with each VIP
code in the list.
Control then passes to step 310 where a determination is made as to whether
the user
elects to return to the main menu, and if so, control passes to a connector
labeled "Main Menu"
at step 200 via step 312. If the user does not elect to return to the main
menu at step 312, then
control passes to step 314, where a check is made as to whether the user is
still on the line, by
determining if no further commands have been entered by the user, or if
disconnect supervision
has been detected. If it is determined that the user is still on the line,
then control returns to step
308. If the user has disconnected, or has not made any command entries within
a preset
interval, then control passes from step 314 to a connector labeled "Port
Disconnect" at step 124
via step 316.
If, as described above, the user had not touched the digit "3" at step 302,
then control
passes to step 318, where a check is made as to whether the user is still on
the line, by
determining if no further commands have been entered by the user, or if
disconnect supervision
has been detected. If it is determined that the user is still on the line,
then control passes to a
connector labeled "Main Menu Loop" at step 320. If the user has disconnected,
or has not made
any command entries within a preset interval, then control passes from step
318 to a connector
labeled "Port Disconnect" at step 124 via step 322.
If, as described above, the user had not touched the digit "1" at step 306,
then control
had passed to step 324 where a determination is made as to whether the user
has touched the
digit "2", and if not control then passes to step 336. If so, then control
passes to step 326
where the user is provided with the opportunity to add or delete entries from
his or her personal
list of caller phone numbers as stored by the computer 56. At step 326, the
user is also
provided with an opportunity to record the name of the person associated with
each phone
number in the list. Control then passes to step 328 where a determination is
made as to whether
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the user elects to return to the main menu, and if so, control passes to a
connector labeled
"Main Menu" at step 200 via step 320. If the user does not elect to return to
the main menu at
step 328, then control passes to step 332, where a check is made as to whether
the user is still
on the line, by determining if no further commands have been entered by the
user, or if
disconnect supervision has been detected. If it is determined that the user is
still on the line,
then control returns to step 326. If the user has disconnected, or has not
made any command
entries within a preset interval, then control passes from step 332 to a
connector labeled "Port
Disconnect" at step 124 via step 334.
If, as described above, the user had not touched the digit "2" at seep 324,
then control
had passed to step 336 where a determination is made as to whether the user
elects to return to
the main menu, and if so, control passes to a connector labeled "Main Menu" at
step 200 via
step 342. If the user does not elect to return to the main menu at step 336,
then control passes
to step 338, where a check is made as to whether the user is still on the
line, by determining if
no further commands have been entered by the user, or if disconnect
supervision has been
detected. If it is determined that the user is still on the line, then control
returns to step 304. If
the user has disconnected, or has not made any command entries within a preset
interval, then
control passes from step 338 to a connector labeled "Port Disconnect" at step
124 via step 340.
When control reaches the connector labeled "Anyone Else" at step 400, it has
already
been determined that a caller other than the user is attempting to reach the
user or that the user is
calling the system from a telephone which is not recognized as belonging to
the user according
to the data stored in database 55. Control passes from step 400 to step 402
where a
determination is made as to whether anyone else is currently connected to the
user via the
switch. In other words, the computer 56 determines whether a caller and the
user are already
connected, and if that call connection is still active in switch 20'. If this
is the case, then control
passes to step 424 where a determination is made as to whether the user is
free to accept
another call. If the user already is engaged with a caller and already has a
another caller on
hold, then the user is not free to accept another call since this embodiment
is limited to allowing
the user to have only one party on hold at a given time. Also, some practicing
the present
invention may wish to provide a "Do Not Interrupt" function, in which case a
user controlled
bit would be set and tested at step 426 and the "No" branch would then be
taken if either the
user already had a caller on hold or if the "Do Not Interrupt" bit had been
set. If the user is free
to accept another caller, then control passes to a connector labeled "New
Caller" at step 404. If
the user is not free to accept another caller, then control passes to step 426
which advises the
caller that "I'm sorry, the line is busy. Please hold the line and leave a
message." and control
passes via label 428 to the connector labeled "Take Message" at step 800.
If no other callers are connected to the user via the switch as tested at step
402, then
control passes to step 406 where computer 56 instructs the switch to seize an
available
outbound channel and to dial out to the user's phone, and then connect the new
caller to the
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CA 02347034 2001-04-17
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user. Control then passes to step 410, where a determination is made as to
whether busy or no
answer is detected on the user's line, and if so control passes to a connector
labeled "Take
Message" at step 412. Ordinarily, you would not expect a busy response, since
switch 20'
should be able to report to computer 56 whether or not it has an active call
with user 10.
However, since the user 10 has an unpublished telephone address associated
with his or her
present location, it is possible, with today's technology, that a telephone
call may have been
made directly to the unpublished telephone address via the PSTN 30 bypassing
the Enhanced
Call Waiting System. In some end office switches such as the DMS-100,
relationships between
the lines serving the Enhanced Call Waiting System and the user's telephone
such as secretarial
forwarding can be enabled so that calls dialed to the unpublished number are
not connected.
Therefore, in the future, the telephone address will likely be a telephone
number which is not
directly accessible by a caller 11, but only directly accessible via switch
20', thereby avoiding
that possibility.
If busy or no answer is not detected at step 410, then control passes to step
414, where
a determination is made as to whether a PIN code has been entered, signifying
that this is the
user 10 who has called in to access his or her messages and/or to program the
system from a
phone which does not have CP)ID service or which is not recognized in database
S5. For
example, the user 10 may be accessing the system from a pay phone and the CPID
of the pay
phone would not be recognized in database 55. If a valid PIN code is detected,
then control
passes to a connector labeled "Main Menu" at step 416. If a valid PIN code is
not detected, at
step 414, then control passes to step 418 where a determination is made as to
whether the call
has been answered, and if not control returns to step 410. If the call has
been answered, then
control passes to step 420, where the computer 56 instructs switch 20' to
leave this call
connected unless otherwise instructed, and to disconnect this call
automatically if disconnect
supervision is detected on the call. Control then returns to the start of the
Host Computer Call
Control Process at step 100 via step 422.
When control reaches the connector labeled "New Caller" at step 500, it has
already
been determined that the switch has a new incoming call for a user, and that
the user is already
connected on an existing call to another party via embedded switch 20'. From
step 500, control
passes to step 502 where computer 56 instructs switch 20' to connect the new
caller to an
available port on the telephone interface 58. Control then passes to step 504
where a
determination is made as to whether the user 10 selected caller number
screening as the mode of
operation, and if not control passes to step 512. If the user did select
caller number screening,
then control passes from step 504 to step' 506 where a determination is made
as to whether the
CP)D of the caller matches a valid caller number previously stored in the
user's caller number
list in database S5, and if no match is found control passes to a connector
labeled "Take
Message" at step 508. If a match is found, then control passes to a connector
labeled "Attempt
Connect" at step 510.
CA 02347034 2001-04-17
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At step 512, database 55 is checked to determine whether the user selected VIP
code
screening as the mode of operation, and, if not, control passes to step 522.
If the user did select
VIP code screening, a parameter which is stored in database 55, then control
passes from step
512 to step 514 where the caller is prompted: "I'm song, the line is busy. If
you know your
party's private code, touch it in now. Otherwise, hold the line and leave a
message." Control
then passes to step 516 where a determination is made as to whether the caller
has entered a
valid VIP code which matches a code previously stored in the user's VIP code
list in database
55, and if no match is found, then control passes to a connector labeled "Take
Message" at step
518. If a match is found, then control passes to a connector labeled "Attempt
Connect" at step
520.
At step 522, a determination is made as to whether the user selected voice
screening as
the mode of operation, and if not control passes to step 530. If the user did
select voice
screening, then control passes from step 522 to step 524 where the caller is
prompted: "I'm
sorry, the line is busy. Please state your name and business at the tone, and
we will attempt to
connect your call." Control then passes to step 526 where the caller is given
the opportunity to
record his or her name and the reason for the call. Control then passes to a
connector labeled
"Attempt Connect" at step 528.
At step 530, it is assumed that the user must have selected standard screening
mode,
and therefore the user is prompted: "I'm song, the line is busy. Touch 0 if
this call is urgent
and we will interrupt your party and attempt to put your call through. Touch 1
if you would like
to hold until your party is free, at which time we will connect you to your
party. Or hold the
line and leave a message which we will promptly attempt to deliver to your
party." Control then
passes to step 532, where a determination is made as to whether the caller has
entered the digit
"0," and if not control passes to step 538 where a determination is made as to
whether the caller
has entered the digit "1". If neither a digit "0" nor a digit "1" is entered
within a reasonable
period of time then control passes to a connector labeled "Take Message" at
step 534. If the
caller did touch "0" then control passes to a connector labeled "Attempt
Connect" at step 536. If
the caller did touch "1" then control passes to step 540 where the caller is
placed on hold and
music is played for them. Control passes to step 542 where a determination is
made as to
whether the caller is still connected on another call. Since all calls, both
outgoing by the user
and incoming to the user, are preferably conveyed via embedded switch 20',
this information is
readily available to the Enhanced Call Waiting System 40. When the user hangs
up, then
control passes to the connector labeled "Outbound" at 424 via step 548,
provided that the new
caller is still waiting, as that is detected~at step 544. If they are still
waiting, the process loops at
step 542 and 544, waiting for the user to hang up. If the new caller hangs up,
then the
associated port disconnects at steps 124 and 126 via step 546.
A nice modification of the foregoing would be to provide a test at step S 10
(instead of
transferring directly to "Attempt Connect") to determine which of several
categories that the
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CA 02347034 2001-04-17
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new caller's CLID or CPID falls into. For example, the user may have set up
several categories
of callers and the manner in which the Enhanced Call Waiting System will
handle the callers'
calls will depend on the category in which they fall (as defined by their
CLB~s or CPIDs). After
the test is made, then the new call could be transferred to steps 514, 524,
530 or directly to
"Attempt Connect" at step 600 as a function of the category into which the new
caller falls. Of
course, some callers are directly transferred to '"Take Message" via step 508
as a function of
their CL)D as initially tested at step 506.
When control reaches the connector labeled "Attempt Connect" at step-600, it
has been
determined that switch 20' has a new incoming call for the user, and that the
user is already
connected on an existing call to another caller via the switch. It has also
already been
determined that the new caller has passed a screening criteria as established
by the particular
mode of operation pre-selected by the user. Control then passes from step 600
to step 602,
where telephone interface 58 is instructed to play hold music to the new
caller. Control then
passes to step 603 where a test is made to determine whether the user is still
engaged in a
telephone connection with the existing caller. In the event the user
terminated the original call
by the time step 603 is reached, then the processing branches to connect the
new caller directly
to the user via the connector labeled "Outbound" to step 406 (Figure 4D) via
step 424. If the
user is still engaged, the processing proceeds to step 604 where the computer
56 instructs
switch 20' to disconnect the original caller to user connection in the switch.
Control then passes
to step 606 where computer 56 instructs the switch to park the original caller
and then control
passes to step 608 where computer 56 instructs the switch to connect the user
to an available
port on the telephone interface 58. Control then passes to step 610 where a
determination is
made as to whether the mode of operation is caller number screening or VIP
code screening,
and if not, then control passes to step 618. If the mode was caller number or
VIP code
screening, then control passes to step 612 where the computer 56 retrieves the
recorded name
associated with this number of code. Control then passes to step 614 where the
user is
prompted: "BEEP...We have a call holding for you from (name)." Control then
passes to a
connector labeled "Reconnect" at step 616.
At step 618 a determination is made as to whether voice screening is the
selected mode,
and if not control passes to step 626. If voice screening is the selected
mode, then control
passes from step 618 to step 620 where the computer 56 retrieves the recorded
name and
business as just recorded by the caller. Control then passes to step 622 where
the user is
prompted: "BEEP...We have a call holding for you from (name and business)."
Control then
passes to a connector labeled "Reconnect" at step 624.
At step 626, since the mode has been determined not to be voice screen, VIP
code
screening, or caller number screening, it is assumed that the mode is standard
screening, and
the user is simply prompted: "BEEP...we have a call holding for you." Control
then passes to a
connector labeled "Reconnect" at step 628, and then to step 630 where the
computer 56
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CA 02347034 2001-04-17
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instructs the switch to reconnect the original caller to user connection.
Control then passes to a
connector labeled "Wait for User" at step 632.
In steps 604 - 630 above, the another-party-to-user connection was interrupted
temporarily in order to allow the user to be informed that a new caller was
holding. Note that,
using the embedded switch, this can be accomplished either by completely
interrupting the
existing call by parking the existing caller (the 'another party') as
described above, or
alternatively by only partially interrupting the call by creating a conference
connection so that
the user hears both the prompt regarding the new caller, and the continuing
conversation from
the existing caller. In this option, the conference would be constructed so as
to allow the
existing caller to continue to hear audio from the user, but not to hear the
prompt concerning the
new caller. In this description, the original connection is made between the
user and another
party. Sometimes the 'another party' is referred to as the 'existing caller,'
depending on the
context. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present system
handles the new caller's
call independently of how the original another-party-to-user connection was
formed (i.e., either
the user or the another party could have initiated the another-party-to-user
connection).
When control reaches the connector labeled "Wait for User" at step 700, it has
already
been determined that the switch has a new incoming call for a user, and that
the user is already
connected on an existing call to another caller via the switch. It has also
already been
determined that the new caller has passed a screening criteria as established
by the mode of
operation pre-selected by the user. Further the system has notified the user
that the new caller is
holding. From step 700, control passes to step 702 where a loop is entered
consisting of steps
702, 706, and 710. If it is determined at step 702 that the new caller has
elected not to wait, and
instead chooses simply to leave a message, then control passes to a connector
labeled "Take
Message" at step 704. This can be done, for example, by having the caller
enter a digit if they
wish to leave a message instead of waiting for the user. Recall that, as
provided at step 602,
music is being played to the incoming caller. This music can be interrupted
with a message
such as "Touch X to leave a message." Thus step 702 may detect the presence of
a DTMF
sound corresponding to the depression of the particular key (X) mentioned in
the message.
If it is determined at step 706 that the new caller has hung up instead of
waiting to be
connected or leaving a message, then control passes to a connector labeled
"Port Disconnect" at
step 124 via step 708. If it is determined at step 710 that the user has
touched the digits "##" to
connect to the waiting party, control passes on to step 714. Note that switch
20' preferably has
the ability to detect DT'MF tones on these lines and that the preferred switch
has such
capabilities. Otherwise some other signal method must be selected, such as a
flash hook. The
loop of steps 702, 706, and 710 persists until one of these conditions is met.
The loop
preferably includes a test, which is made at step 711, to determine whether
the user has
terminated the other party with the original caller. If so, the processing
immediately branches
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CA 02347034 2001-04-17
WO 00/24183 . PCT/US98/22051
via the connector labeled "Outbound" to step 406.
A connector labeled "Park" is encountered at step 712, and control passes to
step 714
where computer 56 instructs switch 20' to disconnect the then existing caller
and user
connection, place information regarding the existing caller in a Held Caller
Data Stack and place
the existing caller on hold. Control then passes to step 716 where the
telephone interface is
instructed to play hold music for the caller who was just placed on hold.
Control passes via
connector 718 labeled "Connect Caller" to step 720 where a determination is
made as to
whether the user touched "##" to be connected to a new caller or to be
connected to the oldest
caller in the Held Caller Data Stack. The first time through this loop the
user is trying to connect
to a new caller and therefore the "yes" branch is taken to step 722 where
switch 20' is
instructed to connect the user to the new caller. As will be seen, the program
loops, allowing
the user to alternate between at least two callers, i.e., the present caller
with whom the user is
speaking and the held caller, who is hearing music. Moreover, more than one
caller can be
placed on hold, allowing the user to rotate through a plurality of callers.
The information
regarding the held callers is placed in the Held Caller Data Stack and, as
will be seen, when a
caller is retrieved from the stack, it is preferably the oldest caller first.
The first time through the loop the original caller is put on hold at step 716
and the new
caller becomes the present caller. Control passes from step 722 to step 740
where a
determination is made as to whether the user touched the digits "##" again,
and, if so, control
passes back to the connector labeled "Park" at step 712 via step 762, assuming
that a held caller
is still available (i.e., they have not hung up their phone(s)) as tested at
step 742. Step 742
would typically poll the various held connections to determine whether the
parties are still
holding and, if not, update the Held Caller Data Stack to reflect any
disconnections and tear
down any switch connections which might be needed. If the user fails to touch
"##" again or if
they do and a held caller is no longer available, then control passes to step
744 where a
determination is made as to whether a disconnect caused by the present caller
hanging up is
detected in the user-to-present-caller connection. If the present caller has
not disconnected, then
control passes to step 746 where a determination is made as to whether the
user disconnected
and, if so, then all held callers are advised of this fact by a prompt at step
748 advising them
"(Name - from database 55) has disconnected. Thank you for calling" and then
the held callers
are disconnected at step 750. Step 750 also tears down the associated switch
connections and
empties the Held Caller Data Stack for the user. Control passes to a connector
labeled "Switch
Disconnect" at step 124 via step 760. If a disconnect is not detected at step
746, then control
returns to step 720 so the system loops at steps 740, 744 and 746 looking for
either a command
(the ## keys) from the user or for the present caller to hang up while the
user has an open voice
channel with the present caller or for the user to hang up.
If the present caller disconnects (i.e., hangs up), that is detected at step
744 and then the
user is reconnected via step 752 with the longest held caller (assuming that
more than one caller
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has been placed on hold -- if only one caller has been placed on hold then the
user is connected
to that held caller as that caller is the longest held caller by definition).
A test is made at step 752
to determine whether there are any remaining held callers in the Held Caller
Data Stack . If the
stack is empty, the user is disconnected via step 760. Assuming that one or
more held callers
are still available, the user is advised by a courtesy message at step 754
"You have N remaining
parties on hold. Touch ## to connect to them". "N" in the prompt indicates the
number of
parties still on hold. If the user touches "##", that is detected at step 756,
and control passes to
step 718 via step 764. If the user hangs up, that is detected at step 758, and
control passes back
to step 748. The program loops at steps 756 and 758 looking for either' a "##"
or a disconnect
from the user. If the user touches "##", then control passes to step 718 and
then on to step 720
where the aforedescribed test is encountered. This time the "No" branch is
taken since the user
is being re-connected with a held caller. If a new caller calls while the user
has a party on hold,
for example, then after the user touches "##" the "Yes" branch is taken at
step 720. If no new
caller has called when the user touches "##" then the "No" branch is taken
instead. When the
"No" branch at step 720 is taken, first the oldest caller is retrieved from
the Held Caller Data
Stack at step 724 and control passes to step 726 where a determination is made
as to whether
the system has stored information regarding the identity of the retrieved
party. For example, if
caller number screening, VIP screening or voice screening were used in
screening the caller,
then the system has at least that information available. If the system can
collect the party's ANI
or CLID or preferably the party's CPID, then that information is available. In
any event, if
information regarding the identity of the retrieved caller is available, then
control passes to step
728 where that information is retrieved and then on to step 730 where the user
is prompted
"You are being connected to (name)." This prompt would preferably be changed
to suit the type
of identification information available. Control then passes to step 734 where
switch 20' is
instructed to connect the user to the retrieved caller. If no identification
information is available,
then the user may be simply prompted "Connecting" at step 732 before control
passes to step
734. After step 734 control passes to step 740, which has already been
described.
When control reaches the connector labeled "Take Message" at step 800, control
immediately passes to step 802 where the caller is prompted: "Please leave
your message at the
tone." Control then passes to step 804 where the caller is provided with an
opportunity to
record and store a message to the user. Control then returns to the start of
the Host Computer
Call Control Process at step 100 via step 806.
II. Host Computer User Notification Process
Step 900 represents the start of the Host Computer User Notification Process,
which is
a software program which also executes on computer 56. This process is
intended to notify the
user whenever a caller has unsuccessfully attempted to reach the user, whether
or not a voice
mail message was left.
CA 02347034 2001-04-17
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Control passes from step 900 to step 902, where a determination is made as to
whether
the user 10 has indicated that he or she desires to be notified of
unsuccessful call attempt, and if
not control returns to step 902. If the user does desire to be notified, then
control passes to step
904 where a determination is made as to whether any calls are currently
connected via the
S switch to the user, and if so, the notification is held off, by returning
control to step 902. If no
callers are currently connected to the user, then control passes to step 906
where computer 56
instructs the switch to seize an outbound trunk and dial out to the user's
phone. Control then
passes to step 908 where a determination is made as to whether busy or no
answer has been
detected, and if so control passes to a connector labeled "Disconnect" at step
910, then to step
912 where computer S6 instructs the switch to disconnect this call, and then
back to the loop at
step 902. If at step 908, busy or no answer was not detected, then control
passes to step 914,
where a determination is made if the call has been answered, and if not
control returns to step
914. If the call is answered, then control passes to step 916 where the
computer 56 instructs the
switch to connect an available port on the phone interface to this call.
Control then passes to
step 918 where a determination is made if the user is required to enter a PIN
code, and if not
control passes to step 920. If a PIN code is required, then control passes to
step 932 where the
user is prompted: "Please enter your code." Control then passes to step 934
where a
determination is made if a valid PIN code is entered, and if so control passes
to step 920. If
not, control passes to step 936 where a determination is made if a maximum
time limit or
maximum number of PIN code attempts has been made, and if so control passes to
a connector
labeled "Disconnect" at step 910 via step 938. If the maximum conditions have
not been met at
step 936, then control returns to step 934.
At step 920 a determination is made if any messages are available for the
user, and if so
control passes to the connector labeled "Main Menu" at step 200 via step 922.
If not, control
passes to step 924 where a determination is made as to whether a caller has
recently
unsuccessfully attempted to reach the user, and did not leave a message. If
not, control passes
to a connector labeled "Disconnect" at step 926. If so, the user is prompted:
"You had a call
('from NAME' if available) while you were on the line, however they did not
leave a
message." Control then passes to a connector labeled "Main Menu" at step 200
via step 930.
Other Embodiments
With the implementation of many new intelligent network capabilities such as
Signaling
System 7 (SS7), Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), and Advanced
Intelligent
Network (AIN) there may emerge a multiplicity of ways in which to implement
the Enhanced
Call Waiting System with particular network switching, database, routing, and
signaling
capabilities. The previous system descriptions of implementations are only
intended to show
two possible embodiments of the invention. The invention is not restricted to
these
embodiments or implementations but may end up being realized in a variety of
forms especially
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as these new capabilities become available in the telecommunications network.
In fact, there
may be new network capabilities that have not yet been disclosed which would
facilitate the
implementation of the Enhanced Call Waiting System disclosed herein.
Having described the invention in connection with certain embodiments thereof,
modification will now suggest itself to those skilled in the art. For example,
the voice prompts
set forth in the specification are only exemplary. They will very likely be
changed by those
desiring to practice the instant invention. In the above description of the
invention, the
connection of callers to the user was accomplished with a "switch".
The'connection of callers
and the user by means of a "switch" was described for illustrative purposes
only and does not
imply that it is the exclusive method of connection. The switch is not limited
to a network
switch, but also includes other equivalent mechanisms to connect parties
together. Such
mechanisms include, but are not limited to, time slot interchanges, conference
bridges, circuit
selectors, digital cross connect systems, bridges, and routes. For this and
other reasons, the
invention is not to be limited to the embodiments described herein, except as
required in the
appended claims.
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