Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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METHOD, SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING ESTABLISHMENT
OF A COMMUNICATION SESSION
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the field of telecommunications in general and, more
specifically, to a method, system and apparatus for handling establishment of
a
communication session.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Communication devices, such as landline telephones, wireless communication
devices
and voice-over-IP telephones, offer a user an ever-increasing opportunity to
stay
connected no matter where the user is. Generally speaking, in order to
establish a
communication session (for example, to place an outgoing call) the user needs
to know a
telephone number (or another termination identifier) associated with the
destination party
to initiate the outgoing call. Several communication devices are equipped with
an
"address book" and speed dial functionality to enable the user to record
termination
identifiers (such as a telephone number, for example) associated with a number
of
potential destination parties and to initiate the outgoing call by pressing a
speed dial
button or otherwise selecting a name from the address book.
With the increasing travel costs and overall pressures on businesses to
control costs, more
and more enterprises encourage their employees to conduct so called "virtual
meetings"
or, in other words, rely on telecommunication devices to conduct meetings. A
"conference call" is a feature provided by telecommunication service providers
or by
dedicated multi-party call solutions providers that enables multiple parties
to join a so-
called "conference bridge" to conduct a multi-party call. A multi-party call
dial-in
number (usually a local access and/or a toll free number) and a multi-party
call identifier
are assigned to a conference bridge. A multi-party call organizer provides the
multi-party
call dial-in number and the multi-party call identifier to potential multi-
party call
participants who are to join the multi-party call. A potential multi-party
call participant
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initiates a call using the multi-party call dial-in number and, once connected
to the multi-
party call provider, provides the multi-party call identifier, which allows
the potential
multi-party call participant to be connected to the conference bridge.
Accordingly, in order to join the multi-party call, the potential multi-party
call
participants need to know the multi-party call dial-in number and the multi-
party call
identifier. With advent of scheduling applications, such as Microsoft Outlook
and the
like, it has become customary to record the multi-party call dial-in number
and the multi-
party call identifier in a record maintained by the scheduling application.
Even though
this provides an effective means to record the information, some potential
multi-party call
participants may still experience an inconvenience when attempting to join the
multi-
party call.
Consider a scenario where a potential multi-party call participant makes use
of a
communication device which provides both access to a scheduling application
and
telephony functionality, such as a case with B1ackBerry devices provided by
Research
In Motion of 295 Phillip Street, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. This type of
device generally
enables the user to perform a single function: either check the scheduling
application or
use the telephony function. Even through the potential multi-party call
participant can
access the scheduling application and even use built-in functionality that
enables the
BlackBerry device to recognize the multi-party call dial-in number contained
in the
record in the scheduling application and initiate an outgoing call to the
multi-party call
dial-in number, the potential multi-party call participant still needs to find
a way to
remember the multi-party call identifier. The potential multi-party call
participant has to
either jot down the multi-party call identifier on a piece of paper or find
another
communication device to originate the outgoing call to the multi-party call
dial-in
number, while using the BlackBerry device as means to retrieve the multi-party
call
identifier maintained in the scheduling application.
The problem is further exacerbated when a potential multi-party call
participant attempts
to join a multi-party call without having access to a scheduling application.
Examples of
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such a situation are countless, but to name a few, the potential multi-party
call participant
may be using a cell phone that does not provide access to a scheduling
application, the
potential multi-party call participant may be driving, at home and the like.
This can clearly be considered a nuisance by some users and there is clearly a
need in the
art for an improved manner in which a user can initiate a communication
session.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to a first broad aspect of the present invention, there is provided
a method of
handling establishment of a communication session. The method comprises
receiving an
indication of user's desire to establish the communication session. The method
further
comprises accessing a memory for maintaining scheduling data in an attempt to
retrieve
at least one call parameter associated with the communication session. The
method
further comprises causing the communication session to be established with a
communication device associated with the user via a communication network
using the at
least one call parameter.
According to a second broad aspect of the present invention there is provided
a system
for handling establishment of a communication session. The system comprises a
communication session handling entity, which is operable to receive from a
user an
indication of user's desire to establish the communication session. The
communication
session handling entity is further operable to access a memory for maintaining
scheduling
data in an attempt to retrieve at least one call parameter associated with the
communication session. The communication session handling entity is further
operable to
cause the communication session to be established from a communication device
associated with the user via a communication network using the at least one
call
parameter.
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According to a third broad aspect of the present invention, there is provided
an apparatus
for handling establishment of a communication session. The apparatus
comprises: means
for receiving from a user an indication of user's desire to establish the
communication
session; means for accessing a memory for maintaining scheduling data in an
attempt to
retrieve at least one call parameter associated with the communication
session; and means
for causing the communication session to be established from a communication
device
associated with the user via a communication network using the at least one
call
parameter.
According to a fourth broad aspect of the present invention, there is provided
a method of
handling establishment of one or more communication sessions. The method
comprises
receiving from a user an indication of user's desire to cause establishment of
the one or
more communication sessions. The method further comprises accessing scheduling
data
associated with the user, the scheduling data comprising one or more
scheduling events,
each of the one or more scheduling events associated with a corresponding one
of the one
or more communication sessions. The method further comprises, in response to
at least
one of the one or more scheduling events, causing the corresponding one of the
one or
more communication sessions to be established with the communication device
associated with the user.
According to another broad aspect of the present invention, there is provided
system for
handling establishment of one or more communication sessions. The system
comprises a
communication session handling entity, which is operable to receive from a
user an
indication of user's desire to cause establishment of the one or more
communication
sessions; access scheduling data associated with the user, the scheduling data
comprising
one or more scheduling events, each of the one or more scheduling events
associated with
a corresponding one of the one or more communication sessions; in response to
at least
one of the one or more scheduling events, cause the corresponding one of the
one or more
communication sessions to be established with a communication device
associated with
the user.
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According to yet another broad aspect of the present invention, there is
provided an
apparatus for handling establishment of one or more communication sessions.
The
apparatus comprises means for receiving from a user an indication of user's
desire to
cause establishment of the one or more communication sessions. The apparatus
further
comprises means for accessing scheduling data associated with the user, the
scheduling
data comprising one or more scheduling events, each of the one or more
scheduling
events associated with a corresponding one of the one or more communication
sessions.
The apparatus further comprises means for, in response to at least one of the
one or more
scheduling events, causing the corresponding one of the one or more
communication
sessions to be established with a communication device associated with the
user.
These and other aspects and features of the present invention will now become
apparent
to those skilled in the art upon review of the following description of
specific
embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the
following
figures, in which:
Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram representing various components of a non-
limiting example
of an infrastructure for generating and maintaining scheduling data;
Fig. 2 depicts a system for handling establishment of a communication session
according
to a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram representing a non-limiting embodiment of a
service
mapping maintained by a network element of Fig. 2;
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Fig. 4 depicts a flow chart of a method for handling establishment of a
communication
session according to one non-limiting embodiment of the present invention;
Figs. 5A - 5B depict signal flows according to various non-limiting
embodiments of the
present invention during a stage where an indication of user's desire to
establish a
communication session is received;
Figs. 6A - 6C depict signal flows according to various non-limiting
embodiments of the
present invention during a stage where a memory for maintaining scheduling
data is
accessed in an attempt to retrieve at least one call parameter;
Figs. 7A - 7C depict signal flows according to various non-limiting
embodiments of the
present invention during a stage where a communication session is caused to be
established.
It is to be expressly understood that the description and drawings are only
for the purpose
of illustration of certain embodiments of the invention and are an aid for
understanding.
They are not intended to be a definition of the limits of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
According to various non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, there
is
provided a method, system and apparatus for handling establishment of a
communication
session on the basis of at least one call parameter maintained within
scheduling data.
How such scheduling data is generated and maintained should not be used to
limit the
scope of the present invention. However, for illustration purposes only,
several non-
limiting examples of how such scheduling data can be generated will now be
described
with reference to Fig. 1.
Fig.1 depicts a user 102a that can employ a computing device 104a to establish
a
communication session via a data network 106. The data network 106 can
comprise a
WAN, a LAN, a wireless data network, a combination thereof or any other
suitable type
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of a data network. The computing device 104a can comprise a desktop computer,
a
laptop, a PDA, a wireless communication device and the like. Connected to the
data
network 106 can be a computing device 104b, which can be, for example,
associated with
a user 102b. The computing device 104b can be substantially similar to the
computing
device 104a.
Using the computing device 104a (or another computing apparatus), the user
102a may
access a scheduling application. Examples of scheduling applications include,
but are not
limited to, Microsoft0 Outlook0, Lotus NotesO, 30BoxesO, Google0 Calendar,
AppleO
iCal, Schedule WorldO, K-Organizer0, Lovento0, Mozilla Calendar0, Mulberry0,
Novell Evolution0, Kronolith0, Simple Groupware0, Web Calendar0, Windows0
Calendar, NuvvoO, Upcoming.org, AiAiO and the like. It should be noted that
the type
of the scheduling application should not be used to limit the invention.
In the non-limiting embodiment depicted in Fig. 1, the scheduling application
can access
a scheduling server 108, which is coupled to the data network 106 and is
accessible by
the computing device 104a via the data network 106. In these non-limiting
embodiments,
once the user 102a executes the scheduling application using the communication
device
104a, the communicating device 104a accesses the scheduling server 108 via the
data
network 106 and retrieves scheduling data to present via the scheduling
application to the
user 102a. This arrangement can be particularly useful in enterprise-based
scheduling
systems and web-based scheduling systems.
In another non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the scheduling
data can be
maintained locally on the computing device 104a. In yet another alternative
non-limiting
embodiment, the scheduling data can be maintained locally on the computing
device 104a
with a copy of the scheduling data being maintained at the scheduling server
or vice versa
108. In these non-limiting embodiments, the scheduling data maintained locally
and the
scheduling data maintained at the scheduling server 108 can be synchronized
from time
to time, as is known to those of skill in the art.
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Naturally, the computing device 104b can also be connectable to the scheduling
server
108 or, alternatively, the computing device 104b can be connectable to another
scheduling server (not depicted). For that matter, the scheduling application
being
executed on the computing device 104a can be the same as the scheduling
application
executed on the computing device 104b. Alternatively, the scheduling
application being
executed on the computing device 104a can be different from the scheduling
application
executed on the computing device 104b. In another non-limiting embodiment of
the
present invention, the computing device 104b may not execute a scheduling
application
or the computing device 104b can be omitted altogether.
Using the scheduling application, the user 102a can, inter alia, schedule an
appointment,
send out a meeting invite, preview appointments and receive an appointment
reminder.
How the scheduling data is generated can be broadly categorized into four
broad non-
limiting categories:
(i) the user 102a receives and accepts a meeting invite associated with a
particular scheduling event;
(ii) the user 102a manually enters scheduling data associated with the
particular
scheduling event;
(iii) the user 102a generates a meeting invite that contains scheduling data
associated with the particular scheduling event; and
(iv)the user 102a is part of a group that has central scheduling data
associated
with the particular scheduling event.
It should be explicitly understood that these four broad categories are
presented for
illustration purposes only and should not be used to limit this invention in
any way. Other
alternatives are possible and can be used without departing from the teachings
of this
invention. These four non-limiting broad categories will now be described in
greater
detail, as an example only:
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(i) the user 102a receives a meeting invite containing scheduling data
associated
with a particular scheduling event
The user 102a may receive a meeting invite from another user (such as the user
102b), the meeting invite containing scheduling data associated with a
particular
scheduling event that the user 102b is trying to organize. Such a scheduling
event
can, for example, be associated with a call between the user 102a and the user
102b; and the user 102a is supposed to originate the call. In these non-
limiting
embodiments of the present invention, the scheduling data associated with the
scheduling event can comprise at least one call parameter which can be
manifested in a termination identifier associated with a communication device
associated with the user 102b.
In an alternative implementation, the scheduling event can be associated with
a
multi-party call that can be organized by the user 102b. In this non-limiting
embodiment of the present invention, the scheduling data associated with the
scheduling event can comprise at least one call parameter that can be
manifested
as a multi-party call dial-in number and as a multi-party call identifier.
Alternatively, if the multi-party call dial-in number uniquely identifies a
particular
multi-party call, the scheduling data associated with the scheduling event can
comprise just the multi-party call dial-in number; and the multi-party call
identifier can be omitted. In yet another alternative embodiment of the
present
invention, the scheduling data associated with the scheduling event can
comprise
a termination identifier associated with a communication device associated
with
the multi-party call organizer, the call to which can be forwarded to a multi-
party
call handling entity by a network element.
In a non-limiting example to be presented herein below, it is assumed that the
user
102b wishes to organize a multi-party call and, among other participants, the
user
102b needs to invite the user 102a to the multi-party call to be organized.
The user
102b can access his or her scheduling application and enter a scheduling event
associated with a particular time and date, the scheduling event comprising
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scheduling data that can include, but is not limited to: (a) time of the multi-
party
call; (b) duration of the multi-party call; (c) at least one multi-party call
parameter, such as, but not limited to, a multi-party call dial-in number, a
multi-
party call identifier, a combination of the two and the like.
The time of the multi-party call and the duration of the multi-party call can
be
entered in a manner well known in the art. For example, in non-limiting
embodiments where the scheduling application is embodied in Microsoft Outlook,
the time and duration of the multi-party call can be entered using "Start
Time"
and "End Time" fields of the new task entry form.
The at least one multi-party call parameter can be entered using one of
several
non-limiting approaches:
Free-form entry
In this non-limiting approach, the user 102b can enter data representative
of the multi-party call parameter in a free-entry form, such as but not
limited to:
Multi-party call dial-in number: 1-800-255-6599
Multi-party call identifier: 256889
Or, alternatively, as:
Multi-party call-in number: 1-800-255-6599 / Multi-party call
identifier: 256889
In yet another alternative, the data representative of the multi-party call
parameter can be entered as:
1-800-255-6599 / 256889
Or alternatively as:
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256889 / 1-800-255-659
In another non-limiting scenario, which is particularly true where the
multi-party call dial-in number uniquely identifies a particular multi-party
call, the data representative of the multi-party call parameter can be
entered as:
Multi-party call dial-in number: 444.888.2266
It should be noted that a number of other free-form entry formats are
possible. In a specific non-limiting example of the scheduling application
being embodied in Microsoft Outlook, the user 102b can enter the
indication of the multi-party call parameter using the free-form entry in a
body of the new task entry form.
Structured template entry
In this non-limiting approach, the aforementioned scheduling application
can present the user 102b a structured template for entering the multi-party
call parameter. For example, the scheduling application can present the
user 102b two entry fields, one labelled "Multi-party call Dial-in Number"
and the other labelled "Multi-party call Identifier". Alternatively, the entry
field can be labelled "Telephone Number". It should be noted that any
other suitable descriptive or non-descriptive field label can be equally
used. It should be further noted that the scheduling application can present
a number of other fields within the structured template to solicit various
types of inputs from the user 102b.
Semi-structured template entry
In this non-limiting approach, the aforementioned scheduling application
can present the user 102b a semi-structured template for entering the
multi-party call parameter. For example, the scheduling application can
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present the user 102b a single entry field, labelled "Location" or "Meeting
Details". The user 102b can enter the multi-party call identifier into the
single entry field in the following manner, as an example:
Call-in number: 1-800-255-6599 / Call identifier: 256889
Alternatively, any other example presented herein above can be used. In a
specific non-limiting example of the scheduling application being
embodied in Microsoft Outlook, the semi-structured template can be
embodied in a "Location" field of the new task entry form. It should be
noted that any other suitable descriptive or non-descriptive field label can
be equally used.
The user 102b can then transmit the scheduling data associated with the multi-
party call to the potential multi-party call participants, which include the
user
102a. In a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, using the
scheduling
application, the user 102b can send a so-called meeting invite to the multi-
party
call participants, which include the user 102a. How this meeting invite is
transmitted between the scheduling application executed on the computing
device
104b and the scheduling application executed on the computing device 104a is
known in the art and, as such, need not be described here at length. Suffice
it to
say that transmission of the meeting invite between the computing device 104b
and the computing device 104a causes the scheduling application executed on
the
computing device 104a to be updated with the scheduling data including, for
example: (a) time of the multi-party call; (b) duration of the multi-party
call; (c) at
least one multi-party call parameter, such as but not limited to a multi-party
call
dial-in number, a multi-party call identifier, a combination of the two and
the like.
In alternative non-limiting embodiments, the user 102b can communicate the
scheduling data to the user 102a by means other then transmitting the meeting
invite. For example, the user 102b can establish a voice call with the user
102a
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using any suitable communication device and provide the scheduling data to the
user 102a via the voice call. In an alternative non-limiting implementation,
the
user 102b can transmit the scheduling data to the user 102a (as well as other
potential multi-party call participants) by sending an e-mail containing the
meeting information, by transmitting an Instant Message, by sending an SMS
message and the like. In these non-limiting scenarios, the user 102a can input
the
scheduling data into his or her scheduling application using the computing
device
104a.
(ii) the user 102a manually enters scheduling data associated with a
particular
scheduling event
In this non-limiting scenario, the user 102a may need to schedule a call with
a
destination party, i.e. the user 102b. Using the scheduling application
executed on
the computing device 104a, the user 102a can generate a scheduling event
associated with the day and time for when the call with the destination party
is
scheduled for. As part of the scheduling event, the user 102a can enter at
least one
call parameter, which can be a termination identifier (such as a telephone
number,
an IP address, a SIP address and the like) associated with a communication
device
used by the destination party.
How the user 102a enters the at least one call parameter is not particularly
limited
and any one of the above-described free-form, semi-structured template or
structured template approaches can be used. Naturally, any other suitable
approach for entering the at least one call parameter into the scheduling
event can
be used.
Alternatively, if the user 102a needs to join a multi-party call at a
particular day
and time, the user 102a can generate a scheduling event and manually type in
the
multi-party call dial-in number and, if required, the multi-party call
identifier.
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(iii) the user 102a generates a meeting invite that contains scheduling data
associated with a scheduling event
This non-limiting scenario is a reverse to what was presented in the non-
limiting
scenario described at (i) above. In this non-limiting scenario, it is the user
102a
who generates a meeting invite associated with a scheduling event. The
scheduling event can be associated with a multi-party call. Alternatively, the
scheduling event can be associated with a call to a destination party (for
example,
the user 102b). Irrespective of the type of the scheduling event, the user
102a can
generate a meeting invite destined to other user(s) who need to be aware of
the
scheduling data associated with the scheduling event. While generating such a
meeting invite, the user 102a enters scheduling data (including at least one
call
parameter) into a scheduling application executed at the computing device
104a.
How the user 102a enters the at least one call parameter is not particularly
limited
and, as such, any one of the above-described free-form, semi-structured
template
or structured template approaches can be used. Naturally, any other suitable
approach for entering the at least one call parameter into the scheduling
event can
be used.
(iv) the user 102a is part of a group that has central scheduling data
associated
with the particular scheduling event
In this non-limiting scenario the user 102a may be part of a group, the group
being associated with scheduling data that maintains one or more scheduling
events that all members of the group need to be aware of. For example, each
(or
some) member(s) of the group (including the user 102a) may need to attend a
particular multi-party call at a particular time. In this scenario, the
scheduling data
associated with the group may be maintained at the scheduling server 108 (or
another suitable scheduling server), the scheduling data maintaining a
scheduling
event associated with the multi-party call. In some non-limiting embodiments
of
the present invention, the scheduling data associated with the group can also
maintain user identifier(s) associated with each member of the group,
including
the user identifier associated with the user 102a. This enables each member of
the
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group to access the centralized scheduling data and review scheduling events
associated with the group that they belong to. In an alternative non-limiting
embodiment of the present invention, all members of the particular group can
use
a single user identifier and/or password to access the centralized scheduling
data.
Effectively, the user 102a has generated a scheduling event that contains at
least
one call parameter that is maintained within scheduling data associated with
the
user 102a.
Irrespective of which non-limiting approach to generate a scheduling event is
employed,
the scheduling data maintained by the scheduling server 108 for the user 102a
is updated
with the scheduling event that contains at least one call parameter associated
with a
communication session that needs to be established in association with the
scheduling
event (such as, but not limited to, a communication session to join a multi-
party call, a
communication session to call a particular destination party, etc.).
It should be explicitly understood that the process for generating and
maintaining the
scheduling data described above is presented as an example only and should not
be used
to limit the invention in any way. Provided that scheduling data associated
with the user
102a is maintained at the scheduling server 108 or the computing device 104a,
it is
possible to perform a method for handling establishment of a communication
session
according to various embodiments of the present invention.
Reference is now made to Fig. 2 which depicts a system for handling
establishment of a
communication session according to a non-limiting embodiment of the present
invention.
In the non-limiting embodiment to be described below with reference to Fig. 2,
the user
102a employs a communication device 204a to establish a communication session
via a
communication network 206. In some embodiments of the present invention, the
communication network 206 can comprise the above-mentioned data network 106.
Alternatively, the communication network 206 can comprise the Public Switched
Telecommunications Network (PSTN), a data network adapted for handling VoIP
calls
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(such as a WAN, a LAN and the like), a wireless communication network, a
Private
Branch Exchange (PBX) system, a combination thereof and the like. The
communication
device 204a can comprise a Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) phone, a VoIP
phone, a
wireless communication device, a POTS phone equipped with an Analog Telephone
Adapter (ATA), a computing apparatus operable to execute a soft client for
originating
and maintaining a VoIP call, a PDA and the like. Naturally, the type of the
communication device 204a will depend on the type of the communication network
206.
For example, in a non-limiting scenario, where the communication network 206
is
embodied in the data network adapted for handling VoIP calls (such as, for
example, the
Internet), the communication device 204a can comprise the VoIP phone, the POTS
phone
equipped with the ATA or the computing apparatus operable to execute a soft
client for
originating and maintaining a VoIP call. Alternatively, the communication
device 204a
can comprise a POTS phone which can connect to the communication network 206
via a
gateway (not depicted). It should be noted that in some non-limiting
embodiments of the
present invention, the communication device 204a can comprise the
aforementioned
computing device 104a.
Connected to the communication network 206 can be a number of other
communication
devices, such as, for example, a communication device 204b, which may be
associated
with another user (such as the user 102b). The communication device 204b can
be similar
to the communication device 204a and, as such, can be embodied in a Plain Old
Telephone Service (POTS) phone, a VoIP phone, a wireless communication device,
a
POTS phone equipped with an Analog Telephone Adapter (ATA), a computing
apparatus
operable to execute a soft client for originating and maintaining a VoIP call,
a PDA and
the like. It should be further noted that in some non-limiting embodiments of
the present
invention, the communication device 204b can comprise the aforementioned
computing
device 104b. A number of other communication devices can be connected to the
communication network 206, which have been omitted from Fig. 2 for the sake of
simplicity.
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In some non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the communication
device
204a can be of the same type as the communication device 204b (for example,
both can
comprise a POTS phone or a VOIP phone). In alternative non-limiting
embodiments of
the present invention, the communication device 204b and the communication
device
204a can be of a different type. For example, in a non-limiting embodiment of
the present
invention, the communication network 206 can comprise a portion of the PSTN
and a
portion of the data network adapted for handling VoIP calls. In this example,
the
communication device 204b can be a POTS phone coupled to the PSTN portion of
the
communication network 206, while the communication device 204a can be a VoIP
phone
coupled to the data network portion of the communication network 206.
Naturally, in
these non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the communication
network
206 can comprise a gateway (not depicted) for facilitating communication
between the
PSTN and the data network portions, as is well known in the art.
The communication network 206 can comprise a number of network elements, such
as a
network element 106a. In the above-described non-limiting scenario, where the
communication network 206 comprises the data network adapted for handling VoIP
calls,
the network element 206a can comprise what is referred to in the industry as a
"packet
switch" or a "soft switch", which can comprise circuitry, software and/or
control logic for
providing various communication services to the communication device 204a.
Examples
of such communication services include:
(i) connecting incoming calls to the communication device 204a; and
(ii) handling outgoing calls originated from the communication device 204a.
Other examples of communication services that can be performed by the network
element
206a can include, but are not limited to, call waiting, call forwarding, and
so on.
In addition, in these non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the
network
element 206a can comprise suitable circuitry, software and/or control logic
for
exchanging calls with entities outside the communication network 206, for
example with
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entities connected to the PSTN (not depicted). A non-limiting example of the
network
element 206a can be embodied in a MCS 5200 Soft Switch manufactured by Nortel
Networks Ltd. of 8200 Dixie Road, Brampton, Ontario L6T 5P6, Canada.
In another above-described non-limiting scenario, where the communication
network 206
is embodied in the PSTN, the network element 206a can comprise a switch. An
example
network element 206a can be embodied in a DMS 100 or DMS200 switch provided by
Nortel Networks Ltd. It should be noted that any other suitable switch can be
used.
In some non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the communication
device
204b can also be served by the network element 206a. In another non-limiting
embodiment of the present invention, the communication network 206 can
comprise a
number of additional network elements (not depicted). For example, in some non-
limiting
embodiments of the present invention, the communication device 204a and the
communication device 204b can be served by a respective network element.
Irrespective of the type of the network element 206a deployed, the network
element 206a
can comprise suitable circuitry and memory to maintain a mapping associated
with
different services that can be invoked by a user (such as the user 102a
employing the
communication device 204a) by keying in a pre-determined sequence of digits.
An
example non-limiting embodiment of such a mapping will now be described with
reference to Fig. 3.
Fig. 3 denotes a specific non-limiting embodiment of a service mapping 302
that can be
maintained by the aforementioned network element 206a. The service mapping 302
can
comprise a number of records, such as records 310 and 312. Each of the
maintained
records denotes a relationship between a digit sequence 304 and a service
description
306. The purpose of the digit sequence 304 is to identify a particular
combination of
digits (sometimes referred to by those of skill in the art as a "short code")
that can be
used to trigger a particular service. Some examples of the data maintained in
the digit
sequence 304 field can include, but are not limited to, "* 11 ", "*#5699",
"#2", "7566" and
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the like. It should be noted that any suitable combination of digits and other
symbols can
be used. The service description 306 denotes what service is triggered by a
specific
sequence of digits maintained in the corresponding digit sequence 304 field.
The service
description 306 field can include a type of the service, a termination
identifier associated
with a service provider who is providing the service, billing details and the
like.
To illustrate, the record 310 can be maintained for a specific service
triggered by a
specific sequence of digits. The record 310 can maintain digit sequence 304
for the
combination of digits "*89". The corresponding service description 306 field
can contain
"122.75.67.99 (VoiceMail)" denoting that if the network element 206a receives
a short
code "*89", it is to trigger a connection to a voicemail provider at an IP
address
122.75.67.99.
Similarly, the record 312 can be maintained for another specific service
triggered by
another specific sequence of digits. The record 312 can maintain the digit
sequence 304
for the combination of digits "#76". The corresponding service description 306
field can
contain "1-800-333-5577 ("CSHF")" denoting that if the network element 206a
receives
a short code "#76", it is to trigger a connection to a server that provides a
Communication
Session Handling Feature contemplated herein, as will be described in greater
detail
herein below. In the specific non-limiting embodiment depicted in Fig. 3, the
server can
be reached at a telephone number 1-800-333-5577. It should be noted that in an
alternative non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the server can
be reached at
another suitable network address, such as, for example, an IP address, a SIP
address, a
proprietary network identifier and the like.
It should be noted that the service mapping 302 can maintain a number of other
records
associated with other short codes and other associated services, which have
been omitted
from Fig. 3 for the sake of simplicity. It should be further noted that how
data is
maintained within the digit sequence 304 and the service description 306
fields is not
particularly limiting and that the above example was provided merely as an
illustration
and, as such, should not be used to limit the scope of this invention.
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Returning to Fig. 2, in a non-limiting embodiment depicted in Fig. 2, further
connected to
the communication network 206 can be a scheduling server 108'. The scheduling
server
108' can be substantially similar to the scheduling server 108 described
above.
In some non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, there can be
provided an
auxiliary scheduling server 109. The auxiliary scheduling server 109 can be
substantially
similar to the scheduling server 108'. In some non-limiting embodiments of the
present
invention, the scheduling server 108' can comprise a scheduling server, such
as a
Microsoft Outlook server, that maintains work-related scheduling data for the
user 102a
and the auxiliary scheduling server 109 can comprise a scheduling server, such
as a
Google Calendar server, which maintains personal scheduling data for the user
102a.
Naturally, the scheduling server 108' and the auxiliary scheduling server 109
can
maintain any other type of scheduling data, as well as data other than
scheduling data.
Within Fig. 2, there is further provided a multi-party call entity 110
connected to the
communication network 206. The purpose of the multi-party call entity 110 is
to provide
multi-party call services to subscribing users, such as the user 102a and/or
the user 102b.
The multi-party call entity I10 can be managed by the same service provider
that
manages the communication network 206 or, alternatively, by a separate entity.
The
multi-party call entity 110 comprises the necessary devices, switches, memory
and
processors to create, assign and maintain multi-party calls. An example of a
multi-party
call entity 110 is provided and managed by Bell Conferencing Inc. of 10 Four
Seasons
East, 10th Floor, Etobicoke, ON, Canada. In an alternative non-limiting
embodiment of
the present solution, the functionality of the multi-party call entity 110 can
be integrated
with the network element 206a. In alternative non-limiting embodiments of the
present
invention, the functionality of the multi-party call entity 110 can be
incorporated in any
other entity coupled to the communication network 206, for example, the
communication
device 204a, the communication device 204b, the scheduling server 108' and the
like.
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In some non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the multi-party
call entity
110 is operable to deliver "meet me" type of multi-party calls, where
potential multi-
party call participants are issued with the multi-party call dial-in number
and optionally
the multi-party call identifier. The multi-party call entity 110 can further
be operable to
deliver so-called host originated multi-party calls, where the multi-party
call entity I 10 is
operable to establish a communication session with each of the required
participants at a
pre-determined telephone number (or another termination identifier, such as an
IP
address, a SIP address and the like). The multi-party call entity 110 can
further be
operable to deliver multi-media multi-party calls, which may include one or
more of a
voice portion, a video portion, a data portion and the like.
Also connected to the communication network 206 can be a communication session
handling entity 112. The communication session handling entity 112 can be
managed by
the same service provider that manages the multi-party call entity 110; the
same service
provider that manages the communication network 206, the same service provider
that
manages the scheduling server 108', the same service provider that manages the
auxiliary
scheduling server 109 or by another entity. The communication session handling
entity
112 can be reached via the communication network 206 at a network address. The
network address can be embodied in an IP address, a telephone number, a SIP
address, a
proprietary network identifier and the like. It will be recalled that an
indication of the
network address associated with the communication session handling entity 112
can be
maintained within the aforementioned service description 306 field of the
service
mapping 302 maintained by the network element 206a.
Among other functions, the communication session handling entity 112 can
perform one
or more of the following functions: analyze signalling information (such as
SS7
signalling information, SIP signalling information and the like), obtain
Calling Line
Identification (CLID) information, initiate outgoing calls, detect and
interpret DTMF
signals, capture speech utterances, apply speech recognition routines and the
like. In
some embodiments of the present invention, the communication session handling
entity
112 can comprise an application server. An example communication session
handling
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entity 112 can be embodied as a Ubiquity Application Server, which can be
provided by
Ubiquity of 515 Legget Drive, Suite 400, Ottawa, ON, Canada. It should be
understood
that any other suitable server comprising suitable processing logic can be
employed for
the purposes of the embodiments of the present invention, and that as one
skilled in the
art will appreciate, the processing logic may depend on the type of signalling
information
used by the communications network 106 and the type of processing required.
In another non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the multi-party
call entity
110 can be omitted. It should be recalled that in some non-limiting
embodiments of the
present invention, the communication session handling entity 112 is operable
to handle
establishment of a communication session with a particular destination party.
In these
embodiments, there may be no need for the multi-party call entity 110.
In some non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the communication
session
handling entity 112 can be operable to establish a connection with the
scheduling server
108' via the communication network 206. This connection is depicted as "A" in
Fig. 2. In
an alternative non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the
communication
session handling entity 112 can be operable to establish a connection with the
scheduling
server 108' via another communication network, another data network, a local
connection, a dedicated connection and the like. The scheduling server 108 and
the
communication session handling entity 112 may implement a communication
protocol
for exchanging data, including scheduling data. An example of such
communication
protocol is "iCalendar" protocol, sometimes referred to by those of skill in
the art as
"iCal". This protocol is promulgated by the Internet Engineering Task Force
Calendaring
and Scheduling Working Group and is available from
http://tools.ietf.org/html/2445.
Using this protocol, the communication session handling entry 112 can
interrogate the
scheduling server 108 and, responsive to such interrogation, the scheduling
server 108
can transmit to the communication session handling entity 112 scheduling data
associated
with a particular user whose details are included into the interrogation
message. Other
communication protocols, such as, but not limited to, XML, HTML, SOAP, RMI,
CORBA, MAPI, WebDAV, CDO and the like can be used.
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It should be noted that the auxiliary scheduling server 109 can be connected
to the
communication session handling entity 112 in substantially the same manner as
the
scheduling server 108' is connected to the communication session handling
entity 112. In
an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the auxiliary scheduling
server 109
can be connected to the communication session handling entity 112 via a
different
connection from the connection used for the scheduling server 108'
It must be understood that the architecture presented with reference to Fig. 2
can be
changed without departing from the teachings of the embodiments of the present
invention and, as such, several components of the architecture of Fig. 2 can
be modified,
substituted or omitted. In one alternative non-limiting embodiment of the
present
invention, the functionality of the communication session handling entity 112
and the
multi-party call entity 110 can be integrated into a single entity. In another
non-limiting
embodiment of the present invention, the functionality of the scheduling
server 108' can
be integrated with the functionality of the communication session handling
entity 112
into a single entity. In yet another non-limiting embodiment of the present
invention, the
functionality of the scheduling server 108', the functionality of the
communication
session handling entity 112 and the functionality of the multi-party call
entity 110 can be
integrated into a single entity. In some embodiments of the present invention,
the
functionality of the auxiliary scheduling server 109 can be integrated with
the
functionality of the communication session handling entity 112, the scheduling
server
108', and/or the multi-party call entity 110.
It should be also noted that the functionality of one or more of the
scheduling server 108',
the auxiliary scheduling server 109, the communication session handling entity
112 and
the multi-party call entity 110 can be integrated into the communication
devices 204a,
204b; the aforementioned computing devices 104a, 104b or any other entity
connected to
the communication network 206. Yet further non-limiting alternatives are
possible.
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Given the architecture of Fig. 2, it is possible to implement a method of
handling
establishment of a communication session according to non-limiting embodiments
of the
present invention. Reference is now made to Fig. 4, which depicts a method for
handling
establishment of a communication session according to one specific non-
limiting
embodiment of the present invention.
The method can be conveniently executed at the communication session handling
entity
112. For the purposes of the forthcoming discussion, it is useful to make
certain
assumptions that will be used for illustration purposes throughout the
description to be
presented herein below. The user 102a has scheduled a multi-party call for
2:00 pm and
has provisioned a scheduling event that is maintained within the scheduling
data
maintained at the scheduling server 108 in association with the user 102a. The
scheduling
event contains a multi-party call dial-in number and a multi-party call
identifier for
accessing the multi-party call provided by the multi-party call entity 110. It
is further
assumed that the user 102a is desirous of initiating a communication session
to join the
multi-party call using the communication device 204a. The multi-party call is
about to
begin or, in other words, the user 102a wishes to initiate the communication
session at
approximately 1:58 pm. It should be explicitly understood that these
assumptions are
made for illustration purposes only and that one-skilled in the art will be
able to adapt the
description presented herein below to other circumstances.
Step 410
The method begins at step 410, where an indication of user's desire to
establish a
communication session is received. The user 102a can provide the indication of
the user's desire to establish the communication session using the
communication
device 204a. Several alternative non-limiting embodiments are contemplated:
Establishing a call to the communication session handling entity 112:
In a first non-limiting scenario, the user 102a can provide the indication of
the
user's desire to establish the communication session using the communication
session handling feature contemplated herein by dialling a telephone number
(or
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another suitable termination identifier) associated with the communication
session
handling entity 112. The telephone number associated with the communication
session handling entity 112 can be a toll free number, a local access number
or a
premium toll number. Alternatively, any other suitable toll arrangement can be
used for allowing the user 102a to establish a communication session with the
communication session handling entity 112. In another non-limiting embodiment
of the present invention, the communication session handling entity 112 can be
reachable using another suitable termination identifier, such as an IP
address, a
SIP address and the like.
Clearly, in some non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the user
102a
may choose to pre-program and later activate a hot key or a soft key of the
communication device 204a to use speed dial functionality to establish the
call
with the communication session handling entity 112.
The user 102a may find that by executing the method described in accordance
with this non-limiting scenario, the user 102a need to remember (or pre-
program
using the speed dial functionality) one number associated with the
communication
session handling entity 112, which will then retrieve the particular number to
be
called associated with the particular communication session; rather then
having to
remember or retrieve individual numbers for individual communication sessions.
Keying in a pre-determined sequence of keys:
In a second non-limiting scenario, the user 102a can provide the indication of
the
user's desire to establish the communication session by keying in a pre-
determined sequence of keys, such as, but not limited to "#76" or any other
suitable combination of digits and/or symbols. The entry of the pre-determined
sequence of keys can cause the communication device 204a to query the network
element 206a, so that the network element 206a can determine how to handle the
request from the communication device 204a.
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The network element 206a can then access the aforementioned service mapping
302 and retrieve a record associated with the particular sequence of digits;
for
example, based on comparing the received sequence of digits with data stored
within the digit sequence 304 field of the service mapping 302. Having
determined that the digit sequence 304 field of the record 312 contains data
that
matches the received sequence of digits (i.e. "#76"), the network element 206a
examines the content of the record 312 associated with the received sequence
of
digits. Specifically, the network element 206a retrieves the content of the
service
description 306 and, based on the content of the service description 306 field
(ex.
a termination identifier associated with the communication session handling
entity
112), establishes a communication session between the communication device
204a and the communication session handling entity 112, using the telephone
number (or another type of an identifier potentially contained in the service
description 306 field) associated with the communication session handling
entity
112.
Responding to a reminder:
In this non-limiting scenario, the user 102a may be first reminded about an
upcoming multi-party call by the communication session handling entity 112.
For
example, the communication session handling entity 112 can establish a
communication session with the communication device 204a (or another device
associated with the user 102a) to provide the user 102a with a reminder of the
upcoming multi-party call. A method for providing such a reminder is disclosed
in
a PCT patent application, assigned to the Applicant and entitled "METHOD,
SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR CONVEYING AN EVENT REMINDER"
by Habib et al., which bears an application serial number PCT/CA2006/000648
and which was filed on April 24, 2006; the content of which is herein
incorporated by reference in its entirety. Alternatively, the reminder can be
conveyed as an SMS message, a text message using an instant message
application, an e-mail and the like.
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Provided that such a reminder contains a reminder of a communication session
that the user 102a has to establish (for example, to establish the
communication
session to join a multi-party call), after providing such a reminder, the
communication session handling entity 112 can solicit from the user 102a the
indication of the user's desire to establish the communication session as per
the
reminder. The user 102a can provide the indication of the user's desire to
establish the communication session by:
(i) keying in information using a keypad (such as "1" for "Yes" and
"2" for "No"); or
(ii) producing a speech utterance representative of the user's desire to
establish the communication session (such as "Yes", "No",
"Connect", "Call", "Initiate", "Establish" and the like);
(iii) replying to the SMS message, replying to the e-mail message,
replying to the text message, selecting a link in an e-mail message
or in an instant messaging application, and the like.
Alternatively, the user 102a can indicate the user's desire to establish the
communication session by one of many alternative methods. Examples of such
alternative methods can include, but are not limited to:
(i) transmitting an SMS message from the communication device 204a to
the communication session handling entity 112;
(ii) transmitting an SMS message from another communication device
(not depicted) to the communication session handling entity 112;
(iii) clicking a button or selecting a link on a web page or in an e-mail
message;
(iv) providing an appropriate command in a text messaging application;
(v) etc.
Responsive to one of these actions by the user, the indication of the user's
desire
to establish a communication session is transmitted to the communication
session
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handling entity 112. How the communication session handling entity 112
receives
the indication of the user's desire to establish the communication session
will
depend on the exact method deployed. For example, in the non-limiting scenario
of the user 102a generating and transmitting an SMS message, the communication
session handling entity 112 can receive the SMS message and examine its
content,
for example, to extract an indication of the user identifier associated with
the user
102a. This indication of the user identifier, can comprise, for example, a
termination identifier of a device employed by the user 102a to transmit the
SMS
message. In the non-limiting scenario of the user 102a clicking a link to a
web
site, a web server hosting with the web site can transmit a message to the
communication session handling entity to convey the indication of the user's
desire to establish a communication session. In some embodiments of the
present
invention, the web server can further transmit an indication of the user
identifier,
which can be embodied, for example, in an IP address (or another identifier)
associated with a computing apparatus employed by the user 102a to access the
web site. In an alternative non-limiting embodiment, the web site can solicit
from
the user the indication of the user identifier and to transmit the received
indication
of the user identifier to the communication session handling entity 112.
The communication session handling entity 112 can also become aware of the
termination identifier associated with a communication device from which the
user 102a wishes to originate a communication session (for example, by
examining the received SMS message or by receiving an indication of the
termination identifier from the user 102a ).
It should be noted that other ways for the communication session handling
entity
112 to receive the indication of the user's desire to establish the
communication
session are possible.
As part of step 410, the communication session handling entity 112 can become
aware of a user identifier associated with the user 102a (i.e. the user who
had
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indicated the user's desire to establish the communication session). In some
embodiments of the present invention, the user identifier can comprise a
termination identifier associated with the communication device 204a employed
by the user 102a to indicate the user's desire to establish the communication
session.
In some embodiments of the present invention, the communication session
handling entity 112 can examine the signalling information that has been used
for
establishing the call between the communication device 204a and the
communication session handling entity 112 (such as SS7 signalling information,
SIP signalling information and the like). By examining the signalling
information,
the communication session handling entity 112 can retrieve CLID information or
another suitable indication of the termination identifier.
In the above-mentioned scenario, where the communication network 206 is
embodied in the data network adapted for handling VoIP calls, the
communication session handling entity 112 can examine the received SIP invite
message in order to retrieve the IP address associated with the communication
device 204a. In the above-mentioned scenario, where the communication network
206 is embodied in the PSTN, the communication session handling entity 112 can
examine the SS7 signalling information, the Basic Rate Interface (BRI) or the
Primary Rate Interface (PRI), in order to retrieve the telephone number
associated
with the communication device 204a.
In an alternative non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the
communication session handling entity 112 can interrogate the communication
device 204a and request the communication device 204a to provide an indication
of its termination identifier, which can comprise an IP address, a telephone
number, a SIP address or any other suitable termination identifier associated
with
the communication device 204a (such as, but not limited to, a MAC address and
the like).
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In an alternative non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, another
type
of user identifier can be used, such as, but not limited to, an account
number, a
user number, a password or a combination thereof. In this non-limiting
embodiment of the present invention, the communication session handling entity
112 can obtain the user identifier from the user 102a. In a first specific non-
limiting example, the user 102a can key in the indication of the user
identifier
using a keypad of the communication device 204a. In a second specific non-
limiting example, the user 102a can produce a speech utterance representative
of
the user identifier and the communication session handling entity 112 can
capture
the user identifier by applying speech recognition techniques known to those
of
skill in the art.
In yet alternative non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the
communication session handling entity 112 can obtain the user identifier from
another source, such as, for example retrieve the user identifier from an SMS
message, retrieve an IP address of a link clicked, retrieve an e-mail address
from
the e-mail message, retrieve a user identifier of the sender from the text
messaging application and the like. The communication session handling entity
112 can then use the retrieved user identifier or can translate the user
identifier to
a termination identifier or another suitable type of the user identifier.
Step 420
Next, at step 420, the communication session handling entity 112 accesses a
memory that maintains scheduling data in an attempt to determine at least one
call
parameter associated with the communication session that the user 102a wishes
to
establish. Specifically, the communication session handling entity 112 can
access
the scheduling server 108'. In a specific non-limiting embodiment of the
present
invention, the communication session handling entity 112 generates a request
in
accordance with a specific communication protocol shared by the scheduling
server 108' and the communication session handling entity 112. In a non-
limiting
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example, the request is generated in accordance with the "iCal" protocol. It
should
be noted that any other suitable communication protocol can be used.
The request can include the indication of the user identifier obtained at step
410 to
enable the scheduling server 108' to retrieve scheduling data associated with
the
user 102a. Responsive to the receipt of the request, the scheduling server
108'
retrieves scheduling data associated with the user 102a based on the user
identifier
received within the request from the communication session handling entity
112.
Once the scheduling server 108' retrieves scheduling data associated with the
user
102a, the scheduling server 108' examines the scheduling data in an attempt to
locate a scheduling event which is associated with the time when the
scheduling
server 108' received the request or, effectively, associated with the time
when the
user 102a indicated the desire to establish the communication session.
Alternatively, the scheduling server 108' can attempt to locate a scheduling
event
which is to commence within a pre-defined time interval from the time when the
scheduling server 108' received the request. In a specific non-limiting
example,
the scheduling server 108' attempts to locate a scheduling event which is to
commence within 15 minutes from the time when the request was received. In an
alternative non-limiting embodiment, any suitable time interval (such as 1
minute,
5 minutes, 10 minutes, 30 minutes and the like) before or after the time the
request was received can be used. In another non-limiting embodiment of the
present invention, the scheduling server 108' can attempt to locate a
scheduling
event which is "in progress" at the time when the request was received.
If the scheduling server 108' fails to locate an appropriate scheduling event
or if
the scheduling server 108' fails to locate scheduling data associated with the
user
102a, the scheduling server 108' can execute an exception handling routine,
such
as, but not limited to, releasing an error message to the communication
session
handling entity 112.
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If, on the other hand, the scheduling server 108' locates the appropriate
scheduling
event, in some embodiments of the present invention, the scheduling server
108'
can retrieve the at least one call parameter from the scheduling data
associated
with the scheduling event. How the scheduling server 108' retrieves the at
least
one call parameter depends on how such call parameter has been provisioned:
Free-form entry
In this non-limiting scenario, the scheduling server 108' can apply content
recognition logic to the content of the scheduling event in an attempt to
retrieve the at least one call parameter. The content recognition logic is
known to those of skill in the art and need not be described here in detail.
Suffice it to say that using the content recognition logic, the scheduling
server 108' looks for key words (such as "Multi-party call dial-in number",
"Multi-party call Identifier", "Multi-party call ID", "Call-In Number" and
the like), as well as applying pattern recognition (such as a set of digits in
a specific pattern, ex. XXX-XXX-XXXX, X-XXX-XXX-XXXX or XXX-
XXXX for the multi-party call dial-in number and XXXX or XXXXXX
for the multi-party call identifier) to retrieve the multi-party call dial-in
number and the multi-party call identifier. In an alternative non-limiting
embodiment of the present invention, the content recognition logic can
search for patterns indicative of an IP address, a SIP address and the like.
In an alternative non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the
scheduling server 108' can apply the content recognition logic to
determine a termination identifier associated with a destination party,
rather then looking for multi-party call details. In these embodiments of
the present invention, the content recognition logic may be looking for
patterns representative of a telephone number, an IP address, a SIP address
or any other identifier that can be used as a termination identifier for
reaching a potential destination party.
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Structured template entry
In this non-limiting scenario, the scheduling server 108' can retrieve the at
least one call parameter from the dedicated fields of the scheduling event
(such as "Multi-party call Dial-in Number", "Multi-party call Identifier"
or "Destination Number" fields).
Semi-structured template entry
In this non-limiting scenario, the scheduling server 108' can apply the
content recognition logic to a specific field of the scheduling event in
substantially the same manner as was described above in respect to the
free-form scenario.
The scheduling server 108' can then release the at least one call parameter to
the
communication session handling entity 112, in this specific non-limiting
example
using the iCal protocol.
In an alternative non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the
scheduling
server 108' can send the scheduling data (or a subset thereof, such as, for
example,
a subset associated with the current day) associated with the user 102a to the
communication session handling entity 112 and the communication session
handling entity 112 can perform the look up for the specific scheduling event
and/or extract the at least one call parameter from the scheduling data, as
was
described above.
In some embodiments of the present invention, the communication session
handling entity 112 can be operable to announce to the user 102a the content
of
the retrieved scheduling event to verify with the user 102a whether the user
102a
wishes to establish the communication session associated with the retrieved
scheduling event. For example, the communication session handling entity 112
can synthesize a speech utterance representative of the scheduling data
maintained
within the retrieved scheduling event. Alternatively, the communication
session
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handling entity 112 can transmit a text based confirmation message, such as,
for
example, an SMS message, an e-mail or a text message using an instant
messaging application. In case that the user 102a provides a negative
indication
(for example, by keying a specific key on the communication device 204a, by
producing an appropriate speech utterance, by responding to the SMS message,
the e-mail or the text message) representative of the fact that the user 102a
indeed
desires to establish a communication session associated with a different
scheduling event, the communication session handling entity 112 can present to
the user 102a information about another scheduling event, which occurs before,
after or concurrently with the retrieved scheduling event. Accordingly, the
user
102a can select a particular scheduling event that corresponds to the
communication session that the user 102a wishes to establish.
Alternative enhancements
In some non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, an optional
procedure
for retrieving scheduling data from an alternative data source can be
implemented.
More specifically, the optional procedure for retrieving scheduling data from
an
alternative source can be implemented if the communication session handling
entity 112 receives the error message from the scheduling server 109, the
error
message being indicative of either (a) there being no scheduling data
available for
the user 102a; or (b) that the scheduling data associated with the user 102a
does
not contain a scheduling event that is to commence at the time the request was
received, within a specific time interval from the time that the request was
received, or is in progress. In an alternative non-limiting embodiment of the
present invention, the optional procedure for retrieving data from an
alternative
source can be implemented at the same time, before or after accessing the
scheduling server 108', irrespective of the outcome of accessing the
scheduling
server 108'.
The communication session handling entity 112 can access the auxiliary
scheduling server 109 in an attempt to retrieve at least one call parameter
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associated with the communication session that the user 102a wishes to
establish.
The interaction between the communication session handling entity 112 and the
auxiliary scheduling server 109 can be implemented in substantially the same
manner as the interaction between the communication session handling entity
112
and the scheduling server 108' or, alternatively, it can implement a different
protocol, use a different communication network and the like.
This optional alternative enhancement is depicted in Fig. 4 in a broken line
as step
420a. It should now be apparent that the communication session handling entity
112 can consult one or more data sources (such as, but not limited to, the
scheduling server 108' and the auxiliary scheduling server 109) in an attempt
to
retrieve the at least one call parameter associated with the communication
session
the user 102a wishes to establish.
In a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, where the scheduling
server 108' and the auxiliary scheduling server 109 are contacted at the same
time
and in case that they both return respective data each containing at least one
call
parameter, an optional conflict resolution procedure can be implemented. For
example, a scheduling event retrieved from a scheduling server that maintains
business-related scheduling data can be given priority over a scheduling event
retrieved from a scheduling server maintaining personal scheduling data (or
vice
versa). Alternatively, the user 102a can indicate his or her preference by
pressing
specific key, by producing an appropriate speech utterance, by replying to an
SMS message, an e-mail message, a text message and the like.
Step 430
At this step, the communication session handling entity 112 causes the
communication session to be established with the communication device 204a via
the communication network 206 using the at least one call parameter obtained
at
step 420 or optional step 420a. More specifically, equipped with the at least
one
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call parameter, the communication session handling entity 112 causes the
communication session to be initiated from the communication device 204a:
A call connection has been established between the communication session
handling entity 112 and the communication device 204a
In some non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, a call connection
has
already been established between the communication device 204a and the
communication session handling entity 112. This is particularly true in
embodiments, where the indication of the user's desire to establish the
communication session was provided by means of establishing a call between the
communication device 204a and the communication session handling entity 112.
The connection between the communication device 204a and the communication
session handling entity 112 is to be referred to herein below as a "client
leg" of
the communication session.
In these embodiments, the communication session handling entity 112
establishes
a connection to a destination party based on the at least one call parameter.
In
some embodiments of the present invention, the destination party can comprise
the multi-party call entity 110. As such, the communication session handling
entity 112 can establish a connection to the multi-party call entity 110 via
the
communication network 206 using the multi-party call dial-in number retrieved
from the scheduling data. Once the connection between the communication
session handling entity 112 and the multi-party call entity 112 is
established, the
communication session handling entity 112 provides the multi-party call
identifier
to the multi-party call entity 110, for example by generating DTMF tones
representative of the multi-party call identifier. In a non-limiting
alternative
implementation, the communication session handling entity 112 can synthesize a
speech utterance representative of the multi-party call identifier. The multi-
party
call identifier enables the multi-party call entity 110 to switch the call to
the
particular multi-party call associated with the multi-party call identifier.
In an
alternative non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the multi-party
call
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dial-in number can uniquely identify a particular multi-party call and, as
such,
there may be no need for the multi-party call identifier in these embodiments.
In an alternative non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the
destination party can comprise, for example, the communication device 204b
associated with the user 102b. As such, the communication session handling
entity 112 can establish a connection to communication device 204b via the
communication network 206 using the at least one call parameter (ex. the
termination identifier) retrieved from the scheduling data.
The connection between the communication session handling entity 112 and the
destination party (ex. the multi-party call handling entity 110, the
communication
device 204b or any other destination party) is referred to herein below as the
"connection leg" of the communication session. The communication session
handling entity 112 then bridges the client leg and the connection leg of the
call,
effectively connecting the user 102a to the destination party (ex. the multi-
party
call handling entity 110, the communication device 204b or any other
destination
party).
No call connection has been established between the communication session
handling entity 112 and the communication device 204a
In alternative non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, no call has
yet
been established between the communication device 204a and the multi-party
call
entity 110. This is particularly true for embodiments where the user 102a has
provided the indication of the user's desire to establish a communication
session
by using one of the above-described "out-of band" methods (ex. replied to a
reminder, replied to an SMS message, sent an SMS message, sent an e-mail
address, sent a text message and the like). It will be recalled that as part
of the out-
of-band method, the communication session handling entity can 112 become
aware of the termination identifier associated with a communication device
that
the user 102a would like to establish a communication session from.
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In these embodiments, the communication session handling entity 112 first
establishes a client leg of the communication session by initiating a call to
the
communication device 204a using the termination identifier. The communication
session handling entity 112 then establishes a connection leg of the
communication session with the destination party (ex. the multi-party call
handling entity 110, the communication device 204b or any other destination
party) in substantially the same manner as was described immediately above.
The
communication session handling entity 112 then bridges the client leg and the
connection leg of the communication session, effectively connecting the user
102a
to the destination party (ex. the multi-party call handling entity 110, the
communication device 204b or any other destination party)..
Naturally, the communication session handling entity 112 can first establish
the
communication session with the destination party, then establish the
communication session with the communication device 204a and then bridge the
two legs of the communication session.
It should be noted that the method described above can be adapted and changed
to suit
alternative implementations without departing from the teachings of
embodiments of the
present invention.
Host originated multi-party calls
In a first alternative non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the
method for handling establishment of a communication session can be
implemented in conjunction with the multi-party call entity 110, which in
these
embodiments is operable to deliver host originated multi-party calls. As
described
above, in such non-limiting embodiments, the multi-party call entity 110 is
operable to establish a multi-party call by proactively initiating a call to
the
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potential multi-party call participants rather then awaiting for the potential
multi-
party call participants to dial in.
In such a scenario, the method described above can be modified to improve
flexibility as to how the host originated multi-party calls are handled. The
user
102a, who is desirous of joining the host originated multi-party call
indicates the
user's desire to establish a communication session in substantially the same
manner as was described above.
The communication session handling entity 112 receives the indication of the
user's desire to establish the communication session and accesses the
scheduling
server 108'. The scheduling server attempts to locate scheduling data
associated
with the user 102a and the specific scheduling event, as was described in
detail
herein above.
The communication session handling entity 112 receives the at least one call
parameter containing the identifier of the multi-party call entity 110 and the
multi-
party call identifier (if required); and transmits to the multi-party call
entity 110 a
trigger containing the user identifier associated with the user 102a (which
can
comprise, for example, a termination identifier associated with the
communication
device 204a) and the multi-party call identifier. The multi-party call entity
110 is
then operable to cause the user 102a to join the multi-party call by
establishing a
call to the communication device 204a using the termination identifier
received
from the communication session handling entity 112.
Effectively, not only the user 102a has provided an indication of the user's
desire
to join the host-originated multi-party call, but also provided a termination
identifier associated with the communication device which the multi-party call
entity 110 should use to establish the host originated multi-party call with
the user
102a.
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Multi-media multi-party calls
In a second alternative non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the
method for handling establishment of a communication session can be
implemented for handling establishment of a communication session to join a
multi-media multi-party call, which can be provided by the multi-party call
entity
110.
When the communication session handling entity 112 causes the communication
session to be established from the communication device 204a to the multi-
party
call entity 110, the communication session handling entity 112 also
interrogates
the multi-party call entity 110 for the type of the multimedia components
required
for the multi-media multi-party call and transmits a trigger to the
communication
device 204a to invoke the necessary multimedia components, such as start
executing a video conference application, a whiteboard sharing application and
the like.
In an alternative non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the at
least one call
parameter maintained within the scheduling data may require translation. As a
non-
limiting example, consider the following scenario. The at least one call
parameter
maintained within scheduling data may comprise a name associated with a
destination
party or another user identifier associated with the destination party (such
as, for
example, an e-mail address, an employee number and the like). In these non-
limiting
embodiments, a translation may be performed to translate the at least one call
parameter
into a different format. For example, a corporate directory may be accessed to
translate
the name associated with the destination party into a termination identifier
associated
with a communication device associated with the destination party. Other
alternatives for
the translation are also possible. This translation can be performed by the
communication
session handling entity 112, by the scheduling server 108', by the auxiliary
scheduling
server 109 or by another entity.
Optional participant verification function:
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In some non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, an optional
participant
verification function can be executed as part of the above-described step 430.
This
optional participant verification function can be useful, for example, for
verifying
participants before connecting them to a multi-party call. In these non-
limiting
embodiments, before causing the communication session to be established from
the
communication device 204a at step 430, the communication session handling
entity 112
can first verify whether the user 102a is an allowed participant in the multi-
party call by
accessing scheduling data associated with the multi-party call organizer (for
example,
user 102b) in an attempt to determine at least one user identifier associated
with at least
one allowed multi-party call participant. Details of such a system for
automatic
participant verification using scheduling data are described in a patent
application
assigned to the Applicant, entitled "METHOD, SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR
PARTICIPANT VERIFICATION IN A MULTI-PARTY CALL ENVIRONMENT" by
Horvath et al. and having an attorney docket 2006-60336-PCT, for which the
filing date
and the filing serial number are not yet available; the content of which is
incorporated
herein by reference in its entirety.
An optional enhancement:
In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the indication of the
user's desire
to establish the communication session (or a plurality of communication
sessions) can be
received in the following manner. The user 102a establishes a connection with
the
communication session handling entity 112 using one of the above-described
methods,
for example, by establishing a call to the communication session handling
entity 112, by
dialling a short code, by transmitting an SMS message, an e-mail, an instant
text message
or the like. In the process of interacting with the communication session
handling entity
112, the user 102a indicates that she is desirous of being contacted at a
communication
device used for conveying the indication of the user's desire to establish a
communication
session or at a different communication device having a termination
identifier, an
indication of which can also be provided to the communication session handling
entity
112. The user 102a can do this by interacting with a voice response system
associated
with the communication session handling entity 112 (ex. by providing one or
more
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speech utterances or by generating DTMF tones), by responding to an SMS
message, e-
mail, instant text message and the like.
Upon receiving the indication of the user's desire, the communication session
handling
entity 112 can determine a user identifier associated with the user who has
indicated the
user's desire to establish the communication session and a termination
identifier
associated with the communication device used by the user 102a to convey the
indication
of the user's desire to establish the communication session (or a termination
identifier
associated with another communication device where the user 102a wishes to be
contacted). It should be noted that in some non-limiting embodiments of the
present
invention, the user identifier can comprise the termination identifier. The
communication
session handling entity 112 can store this information in a database (not
depicted).
Effectively, the communication session handling entity 112 has received an
indication of
user's desire to establish one or more communication session or, put another
way, the
communication session handling entity 112 has received an activation signal at
an
activation time, the activation signal for triggering establishment of the one
or more
communication sessions.
In some embodiments of the present invention, the communication session
handling
entity 112 can store a flag based on the received indication of the user's
desire to
establish one or more communication sessions in association with a user
identifier
associated with the user 102a. Once the flag has been stored in association
with the user
identifier associated with the user 102a, the communication session handling
entity 112,
can from time to time (such as, for example, but not limited to, every 30
seconds, every
minute, every 5 minutes, every 15 minutes, every 30 minutes, every hour and
the like)
access scheduling data associated with the user 102a using the user identifier
to determine
if it contains a scheduling event associated with a communication session
which is to
commence within a set period of time (such as for example, next minute, next
15
minutes, next 30 minutes, next hour and the like). If it determines that the
scheduling data
with the user contains a scheduling event that is to commence within the set
period of
time, the communication session handling entity 112 can establish the
communication
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session using the termination identifier stored in the database and the at
least one call
parameter retrieved from the scheduling data (or at least one call parameter
that is
determined on the basis of another identifier stored in the scheduling data,
such as, but
not limited to, a name, an employee number, an e-mail address, an alias and
the like).
In these non-limiting embodiments, the communication session handling entity
112 can
then continue to monitor the scheduling data associated with the user 102a to
determine if
it contains another scheduling event associated with another communication
session.
Effectively, in some embodiments of the present invention, by providing the
indication of
the user's desire to establish the communication session in a form of the
activation signal,
the user 102a can trigger the communication session handling entity 112 to
proactively
check the scheduling data associated with the user 102a and, once a scheduling
event
associated with a communication session is located, to trigger establishment
of the
communication session using at least one call parameter contained in the
scheduling data
(or to provide an event reminder associated with the communication session to
the user
102a). This can be repeated until the user 102a provides an indication of the
user's desire
to stop the proactive process performed by the communication session handling
entity
112 or, in other words, until the communication session handling entity 112
receives a
de-activation signal at a de-activation time and responsive to the receipt of
the de-
activation signal, the communication session handling entity 112 deletes the
aforementioned flag. In another non-limiting embodiment of the present
invention, the
flag associated with the activation signal can expire upon meeting a pre-
determined
criterion, such as, for example, occurrence of a pre-determined event or upon
expiration
of a pre-determined time interval. For example, the flag can expire upon a pre-
determined
number of communication sessions associated with a pre-determined number of
scheduling events have been established. In an alternative non-limiting
embodiment of
the present invention, the flag can expire upon the user 102a rejecting one or
more
reminders.
In alternative embodiments of the present invention, the received indication
of the user's
desire to establish one or more communication sessions can be indicative of
how many
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communication sessions the user 102a wishes to establish or, in other words,
how many
scheduling events within the scheduling data associated with the user 102a
should be
used for establishing the respective number of communication sessions. For
example, the
user 102a may be desirous to trigger establishment of the next 5, 10, 15 or
any other
number of scheduled communication sessions from the time when the user 102a
has
indicated the user's desire to establish one or more communication sessions.
In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the received indication
of the
user's desire to establish one or more communication sessions can be
indicative of a time
interval within which the user 102a is desirous to have the one or more
communication
sessions established. For example, the user 102a may be desirous to have one
or more
communication sessions that are scheduled to commence in the next 30 minutes,
in the
next hour, in the next 7 hours, before the end of the business day and the
like to be
established. Effectively, the user 102a can indicate a time interval to cause
the one or
more scheduling events commencing within this time interval to be used to
trigger
establishment of a respective communication session.
In an alternative non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, upon
receiving the
indication of the user's desire to establish one or more communication
sessions, the
communication session handling entity 112 can access the scheduling server
108' in an
attempt to locate one or more scheduling events associated with one or more
communication sessions that the user 102a wishes to establish. The
communication
session handling entity 112 can retrieve scheduling data associated with one
or more
scheduling events, including, but not limited to, data representative of a
timing of the one
or more communication sessions, data representative of a destination party for
each one
of the one or more communication sessions and the like. How the communication
session
handling entity 112 retrieves the scheduling data will depend on the type of
the user's
desire to establish one or more communication session. As was mentioned
before, the
indication of the user's desire to establish one or more communication
sessions can
comprise an indication of the number of communication sessions to be
established or, in
other words, a set of one or more communication sessions; a time interval and
the like.
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In some embodiments of the present invention, the communication session
handling
entity 112 can store the retrieved scheduling data in a database (not
depicted) and trigger
establishment of the one or more communication sessions when a start time
associated
with each of the one or more communication sessions occurs. In an alternative
non-
limiting embodiment of the present invention, the communication session
handling entity
112 can transmit a trigger to one of the communication device 104a, the
communication
device 104b and the multi-party call entity I 10; the trigger comprising the
at least one
call parameter for each of the one or more communication sessions and the
start time
associated with each of the one or more communication sessions to enable the
communication device 104a, the communication device 104b, or the multiparty
call entity
110 to act upon the trigger when the appropriate time occurs.
In an alternative non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the flag
indicative of
the user's desire to establish one or more communication sessions can be
generated and
stored by the scheduling server 108'. In these embodiments of the present
invention, the
scheduling server 108' can generate the flag based on the user identifier
associated with
the user 102a who has indicated the user's desire to establish one or more
communication
sessions. In an alternative non-limiting embodiment of the present invention,
the flags
can be attached to respective scheduling event(s) associated with the user
102a. In these
non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the flags can be generated
by the
communication session handling entity 112 or by the scheduling server 108'.
In yet another alternative embodiment of the present invention, the
communication
session handling entity 112 can first establish a communication session with
the user
102a using the termination identifier stored in the database to convey an
event reminder.
The communication session handling entity 112 can then query the user 102a to
determine whether the user is desirous of establishing a communication session
associated with the scheduling event in substantially the same manner as has
been
described above. It should be explicitly noted that the communication session
to convey
the reminder and the actual communication session associated with the
scheduling event
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can be established with the same communication device or with different
communication
devices.
In these non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the communication
session
handling entity 112 can cause establishment of the one or more communication
sessions
that start within a pre-determined time interval from the time when the user
102a has
indicated the user's desire, or cause establishment of a certain number of
communication
sessions, or continue triggering establishment of the one or more
communication sessions
until a de-activation signal is received from the user 102a.
To illustrate the description presented herein above, several non-limiting
examples of
signal flows during various stages of a process for handling establishment of
a
communication session will now be described with reference to Figs. 5A - 513,
6A - 6C
and 7A - 7C. With reference to Figs. 5A - 513, logical diagrams representing
signal flows
between components of the system of Fig. 2 during a stage where an indication
of user's
desire to establish a communication session is received are described.
Fig. 5A depicts a first non-limiting embodiment, where a signal 500A can be
transmitted
between the communication device 204a and the communication session handling
entity
112 via the communication network 206 to convey the indication of the user's
desire to
establish the communication session. The signal 500A can be representative of
a call
established between the communication device 204A and the communication
session
handling entity 112. Alternatively, the signal 500A can be generated in
response to the
user 102a dialling a short code and a network element performing a look-up and
call
connection. In yet another alternative, the signal 500A can be an SMS message
transmitted between the communication device 204A and the communication
session
handling entity 112. Yet in another alternative non-limiting embodiment, the
signal 500A
can be generated by the communication device 204A in response to the user 102a
typing
in an instant message in an instant message application, selecting a link,
clicking a button
using an appropriate user-input interface of the communication device 204A and
the like.
Yet further alternatives how the signa1500A is generated are possible.
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Fig. 5B depicts another non-limiting embodiment of the signal flow during the
stage
where an indication of user's desire to establish a communication session is
received. The
architecture depicted in Fig. 5B is substantially similar to the architecture
depicted in Fig.
5A, but it further comprises a triggering source 510B and a data network 512B.
The
triggering source can be a web site accessed by the user 102A, another
communication
device associated with the user 102A and the like. The data network 512B can
comprise
any suitable type of data network, such as a WAN, a LAN and the like. It
should be noted
that in some non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the data
network 512B
can comprise a portion of the communication network 206 and vice versa. The
triggering
source 510B can generate a signal 500B and transmit the signal 500B to the
communication session handling entity 112 via the data network 512B to convey
the
indication of the user's desire to establish the communication session. In a
scenario where
the triggering source 510B comprises a web site, the triggering source 510B
can generate
the signal 500B, for example, in response to the user 102A clicking a link or
pressing a
button on the web site. In an alternative non-limiting embodiment of the
present
invention, where the triggering source 510B is embodied in another
communication
device associated with the user, the triggering source 510B can generate the
signal 500B
in response to the user 102a typing in a message in an instant message
application, the
user 102a generating an SMS message, an e-mail message and the like. Yet other
alternatives described above are possible.
With reference to Figs. 6A - 6C, logical diagrams representing signal flows
between
components of the system of Fig. 2 during a stage where at least one call
parameter
associated with the communication session is retrieved from a memory for
maintaining
scheduling data are described.
Fig. 6A depicts a first non-limiting embodiment, where the communication
session
handling entity 112 can generate a signal 600A and transmit the signal 600A to
the
scheduling server 108' via the communication network 206 in an attempt to
retrieve the at
least one call parameter. In response to receipt of the signal 600A, the
scheduling server
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108' generates a signal 610A which it can transmit to the communication
session
handling entity 112 via the communication network 206. Signals 600A and 610A
can be
representative of the request transmitted from the communication session
handling entity
112 to the scheduling server 108' in an attempt to retrieve the at least one
call parameter
and a response thereto respectively. How the signals 600A and 610A are
generated, as
well as various protocols for transmission thereof, have been described in
detail herein
above.
Fig. 6B depicts another non-limiting embodiment, in which the communication
session
handling entity 112 and the scheduling server 108' are coupled via a local
connection.
The local connection can be embodied in an Ethernet connection, a local area
network, a
wireless connection or any other suitable data connection. In this non-
limiting scenario,
the communication session handling entity 112 can generate the signal 600B and
transmit
the signal 600B via the local connection. Similarly, the scheduling server
108' can, in
response to receipt of the signal 600B, generate a signal 610B and transmit
the signal
610B to the communication session handling entity 112 via the local
connection. Signals
600B and 610B can be representative of the request transmitted from the
communication
session handling entity 112 to the scheduling server 108' in an attempt to
retrieve the at
least one call parameter and a response thereto respectively. How the signals
600B and
610B are generated, as well as various protocols for transmission thereof,
have been
described in detail herein above.
Fig. 6C depicts another non-limiting embodiment, in which the communication
session
handling entity 112 is coupled to a data network 612B. The data network 612B
can
comprise any suitable type of data network, such as a WAN, a LAN and the like.
It
should be noted that in some non-limiting embodiments of the present
invention, the data
network 612B can comprise a portion of the communication network 206 and vice
versa.
Further coupled to the data network 612B can be the scheduling server 108'. In
this non-
limiting scenario, the communication session handling entity 112 can generate
the signal
600C and transmit the signal 600C via the data network 612B to the scheduling
server
108'. Similarly, the scheduling server 108' can, in response to receipt of the
signal 600C,
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generate a signal 610C and transmit the signal 610C to the communication
session
handling entity 112 via the data network 612B. Signals 600C and 610C can be
representative of the request transmitted from the communication session
handling entity
112 to the scheduling server 108' in an attempt to retrieve the at least one
call parameter
and a response thereto respectively. How the signals 600C and 610C are
generated, as
well as various protocols for transmission thereof, have been described in
detail herein
above.
The communication between the auxiliary scheduling server 109 and the
communication
session handling entity 112 can be performed in substantially the same manner
as
described above with reference to communication between the scheduling server
108' and
the communication session handling entity 112. It should be noted that the
example
arrangements presented with reference to Figs. 6A - 6C can be used
interchangeably. For
example, the communication between the communication session handling entity
112 and
the scheduling server 108' can be implemented as described with reference to
Fig. 6A,
while the communication between the communication session handling entity 112
and the
auxiliary scheduling server 109 can be implemented as described with reference
to Fig.
6B. Naturally, other combinations are also possible.
With reference to Figs. 7A - 7C, logical diagrams representing signal flows
between
components of the system of Fig. 2 during a stage where the communication
session is
established with a communication device associated with the user 102A are
described.
Fig. 7A depicts a first non-limiting embodiment, where the communication
session
handling entity 112 can generate a signal 700A and issue the signal 700A
towards the
network element 206a serving the communication device 204a, the signal 700A
containing a termination identifier associated with a destination party
associated with the
communication session. The network element 206a can trigger establishment of
the
communication session between the communication device 204a and the
communication
device 204b, the communication device 204b being associated with the
termination
identifier transmitted within signal 700A. This communication session is
depicted as
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"CS" in Fig. 7A. It should be noted, that in an alternative embodiment of the
present
invention, the signal 700A can be sent to a network element servicing a
communication
device associated with the destination party. Alternatively, the signal 700A
can be sent to
the communication device 204a (or the destination communication device) and
the
communication device 204a (or the destination communication device) can
trigger
establishment of the communication session in accordance with the signal 700A.
Fig. 7B depicts another non-limiting embodiment, where the communication
session
handling entity 112 can generate a signal 700B and to transmit the signal 700B
towards
the multi-party call entity 110 via the communication network 206, the multi-
party call
entity 110 being the destination party associated with the communication
session. The
signal 700B can be, for example, representative of a call originated from the
communication device 204a being forwarded to the multi-party call entity 110.
In an
alternative non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the signal 700B
can be
representative of the communication session handling entity 112 establishing
the
aforementioned connection leg of the communication session. In yet another
embodiment
of the present invention, the signal 700B can be representative of a command
transmitted
between the communication session handling entity 112 and the multi-party call
entity
110, the command being indicative of the multi-party call identifier. In yet
another
embodiment of the present invention, the signal 700B can be representative of
a
termination identifier associated with the communication device 204a, the
signal 700B
for enabling the multi-party call entity 110 to establish a call with the
communication
device 204a. Other alternatives that have been presented herein above are also
possible.
Fig. 7C depicts another non-limiting embodiment, which can be substantially
similar to
the embodiment depicted with reference to Fig. 7B, but in the embodiment
depicted in
Fig. 7C, the communication session handling entity 112 can be coupled to the
multi-party
call entity 110 via a connection. The connection can be embodied in an
Ethernet
connection, a local area network, a wireless connection, a separate data
network, a WAN
or any other suitable data connection. The communication session handling
entity 112
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can generate a signal 700C and to transmit the signal 700C to the multi-party
call entity
110 via the connection.
It should be noted that various alternatives of how the stage where the
indication of the
user's desire to establish the communication session can be implemented (ex.
Figs. 5A -
5B), various alternatives of how the stage where at least one call parameter
is retrieved
from the memory for maintaining scheduling data can be implemented (ex. Figs.
6A -
6C), and various alternatives of how the stage where the communication session
is caused
to be established can be implemented (ex. Figs. 7A - 7C) can be combined in
various
arrangements and all the different combinations are within the scope of the
embodiments
of the present invention. Just as an example and not as a limitation, the
stage where the
indication of the user's desire is received can be implemented as described
with reference
to Fig. 5B, the stage where the at least one call parameter is retrieved can
be implemented
as described with reference to Fig. 6B and the stage where the communication
session is
caused to be established can be implemented as described with reference to
Fig. 7C. In
this specific non-limiting example, the communication session handling entity
112 may
not need to be coupled to the communication network 206. It should be
explicitly
understood that other combinations are possible and are within the scope of
embodiments
of the present invention.
It should be further noted that various steps need not be implemented in a
single
apparatus and can be distributed among various entities. For example, a first
entity can
perform the stage where the indication of the user's desire to establish the
communication
session is received and a first portion of the stage where at least one call
parameter is
retrieved from the memory for maintaining scheduling data (i.e. to transmit a
request for
the scheduling data). A second entity can perform a second portion of the
stage where at
least one call parameter is retrieved from the memory for maintaining
scheduling data
(i.e. to receive the at least one call parameter) and the stage where the
communication
session is caused to be established.
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Even though the foregoing description has been presented with reference to the
user 102a
using a computing apparatus to generate a scheduling event that includes at
least one call
parameter, it should be understood that when and how the user 102a generates
the
scheduling event and/or the at least one call parameter is not particularly
limiting. For
example, in some non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, the user
102a can
use a voice interface to populate the scheduling events. In an alternative
embodiment of
the present invention, the time when the user provides at least one call
parameter can be
different from the time when the user generates the scheduling event. For
example, the
user 102a may provide an indication of at least one call parameter at a time
of providing
the aforementioned activation signal for one or more scheduling events that
have been
provisioned at an earlier time. Once again, it should be explicitly noted that
how or when
the scheduling event and/or the at least one call parameter is generated is
immaterial, as
long as the at least one call parameter (or another identifier that can be
used for obtaining
the at least one call parameter) is available at the time when the respective
communication session is to be established.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that certain functionality of the
communication
session handling entity 112, the scheduling server 108', the auxiliary
scheduling server
109 and/or other elements of the infrastructure described herein may be
implemented as
pre-programmed hardware or firmware elements (e.g., application specific
integrated
circuits (ASICs), electrically erasable programmable read-only memories
(EEPROMs),
etc.), or other related components. In other embodiments, certain portions of
the
communication session handling entity 112, the scheduling server 108', the
auxiliary
scheduling server 109 and/or other elements may be implemented as an
arithmetic and
logic unit (ALU) having access to a code memory (not shown) which stores
program
instructions for the operation of the ALU. The program instructions could be
stored on a
medium which is fixed, tangible and readable directly by the communication
session
handling entity 112, the scheduling server 108', the auxiliary scheduling
server 109
and/or other elements, (e.g., removable diskette, CD-ROM, ROM, fixed disk, USB
drive), or the program instructions could be stored remotely but transmittable
to the
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communication session handling entity 112, the scheduling server 108', the
auxiliary
scheduling server 109 and/or other elements via a modem or other interface
device.
Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that there are yet more alternative
implementations and modifications possible for implementing the present
invention, and
that the above implementations and examples are only illustrations of one or
more
embodiments of the present invention. The scope of the invention, therefore,
is only to be
limited by the claims appended hereto.
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