Routing incoming calls made to one or more unreachable numbers into a data client

• US 10,110,748 B2
• Filed: 02/09/2017
• Issued: 10/23/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 02/11/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Aawaaz Inc.
• Original Assignee: Kirusa Inc.
• Inventors: Mumick, Inderpal Singh, Anand, Surinder Singh
• Primary Examiner(s): Gelin, Jean
• Application Number:
  US15/429,133
• Publication Number:
  US 20170237860A1
• Time in Patent Office: 621 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/65 Telephone numbers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/2514 between local and global IP addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/2575 using address mapping retrieval, e.g. simple traversal of user datagram protocol through session traversal utilities for NAT [STUN]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/2589 over a relay server, e.g. traversal using relay for network address translation [TURN]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42195 Arrangements for calling back a calling subscriber when the wanted subscriber ceases to be busy H04M3/48
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/53308 Message originator indirectly connected to the message centre, e.g. after detection of busy or absent state of a called party
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/543 Call deflection
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/025 using location based information parameters

Abstract

A method and a call routing system (CRS) are provided for routing an incoming call made to one of multiple numbers of a user to a call receiving client application (CRCA) deployed on one or more user devices when the called number is not reachable. The CRS, in communication with the CRCA deployed on one or more user devices, sets up a user account using one or more of the user'"'"'s multiple numbers. The CRS detects availability of the CRCA on one or more user devices over a data network to accept an incoming call. The CRS receives the incoming call made to one of the numbers, when the called number is not reachable. The CRS routes the incoming call to the CRCA on one or more user devices over the data network on detecting the availability of the CRCA on one or more user devices over the data network.

Claims

1. A method for routing an incoming call made to one of a plurality of numbers of a user, to a call receiving client application deployed on one or more of a plurality of user devices when said one of said numbers is not reachable, said method employing a call routing system comprising one or more processors configured to execute computer program instructions for performing said method, said method comprising:

setting up a user account for said user using one or more of said plurality of numbers of said user by said call routing system in communication with said call receiving client application deployed on said one or more of said user devices, wherein said setting up said user account comprises validating said one or more of said numbers of said user by said call routing system through one or more of a plurality of authentication mechanisms, wherein said authentication mechanisms comprise;

transmitting a validation code to each of said one or more of said numbers of said user to be validated by said call routing system via one of a message and an outbound dialing call initiated by said call routing system, receiving an input code captured by said call receiving client application from one of said user devices, and matching said received input code with said transmitted validation code;

sending a message to each of said one or more of said numbers of said user to be validated by said call routing system and receiving a confirmation from said call receiving client application that said sent message is received on one of said user devices indicating that said one of said user devices contains a subscriber identity module with one of said one or more of said numbers of said user to be validated;

receiving a message sent from said call receiving client application on one of said user devices to a predetermined number and matching a source number of said message with one of said one or more of said numbers of said user to be validated; and

receiving a missed call placed by said call receiving client application on one of said user devices to a predefined number and matching a source number of said missed call with one of said one or more of said numbers of said user to be validated;

detecting availability of said call receiving client application on said one or more of said user devices over a data network by said call routing system to accept said incoming call;

receiving said incoming call made to said one of said numbers by said call routing system, when said one of said numbers is not reachable; and

routing said received incoming call to said call receiving client application on said one or more of said user devices over said data network by said call routing system on detecting said availability of said call receiving client application on said one or more of said user devices over said data network.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said numbers of said user are associated with one of a single carrier in a single geographical location, different carriers in said single geographical location, said single carrier in a plurality of different geographical locations, and said different carriers in said different geographical locations.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said call routing system receives said incoming call made to said one of said numbers forwarded by a carrier via a routing number, and determines whether said one of said numbers is linked to said user account set up by said call routing system to route said incoming call to said call receiving client application on said one or more of said user devices over said data network.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising linking said one or more of said numbers of said user to said user account by said call routing system, and delinking said one or more of said numbers of said user from said user account by said call routing system.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said detection of said availability of said call receiving client application on said one or more of said user devices over said data network to accept said incoming call comprises one of:

detecting a connection of said call receiving client application to said data network by said call routing system;

detecting registration of said call receiving client application on said one or more of said user devices by said call routing system; and

detecting deregistration of said call receiving client application on said one or more of said user devices by said call routing system.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising routing said received incoming call to an alerting server of said call routing system on detecting an unavailability of said call receiving client application on each of said one or more of said user devices, wherein said alerting server is one of a voicemail server and a missed call alert server.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising routing said received incoming call to an alerting server of said call routing system if said incoming call is not accepted for a preconfigured period of time from any of said one or more of said user devices, wherein said alerting server is one of a voicemail server and a missed call alert server.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said call routing system routes said received incoming call to said call receiving client application on said one or more of said user devices over said data network via a media platform deployed in a distributed cloud computing environment, when said incoming call is made to said one of said numbers associated with a carrier that does not permit direct data communication between servers in a secure data network of said carrier and said user devices.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising selecting an optimum codec for communicating with said call receiving client application on said one or more of said user devices by said call routing system based on available bandwidth between said call routing system and said call receiving client application, and implementing transcoding for converting a codec used for communication between a network component and said call routing system to said optimum codec used for communication between said call routing system and said call receiving client application.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein said one of said numbers is deemed not reachable when one of:

said one or more of said user devices associated with said one of said numbers do not have access to a telecommunications network, said one or more of said user devices associated with said one of said numbers are out of network coverage, said one or more of said user devices associated with said one of said numbers are switched off, said one of said numbers is busy, and said incoming call to said one of said numbers is unanswered.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising setting a password for logging into said call receiving client application deployed on said one or more of said user devices with said one or more of said numbers of said user by said call routing system.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein said numbers of said user comprise a primary number and a plurality of secondary numbers.

13. A system for routing an incoming call made to one of a plurality of numbers of a user, to a call receiving client application deployed on one or more of a plurality of user devices when said one of said numbers is not reachable, said system comprising:

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium for storing computer program instructions defined by modules of a call routing system; and

one or more processors communicatively coupled to said non-transitory computer readable storage medium for executing said computer program instructions defined by said modules of said call routing system, said modules of said call routing system comprising;

a user sign up processing module for setting up a user account for said user using one or more of said plurality of numbers of said user in communication with said call receiving client application deployed on said one or more of said user devices, wherein said setting up said user account comprises a validation module of said call routing system validating said one or more of said numbers of said user through one or more of a plurality of authentication mechanisms, wherein said authentication mechanisms implemented by said validation module comprise;

transmitting a validation code to each of said one or more of said numbers of said user to be validated by said validation module via one of a message and an outbound dialing call initiated by said validation module, receiving an input code captured by said call receiving client application from one of said user devices, and matching said received input code with said transmitted validation code;

sending a message to each of said one or more of said numbers of said user to be validated and receiving a confirmation from said call receiving client application that said sent message is received on one of said user devices indicating that said one of said user devices contains a subscriber identity module with one of said one or more of said numbers of said user to be validated;

receiving a message sent from said call receiving client application on one of said user devices to a predetermined number and matching a source number of said message with one of said one or more of said numbers of said user to be validated; and

receiving a missed call placed by said call receiving client application on one of said user devices to a predefined number and matching a source number of said missed call with one of said one or more of said numbers of said user to be validated;

a client application availability detection module for detecting availability of said call receiving client application on said user devices, over a data network, to accept said incoming call, wherein said user devices are associated with said multiple telephone numbers of said user;

an incoming call registration module for receiving said incoming call made to said any of said multiple telephone numbers of said user, when said called telephone number is not reachable; and

a call routing module for routing said received incoming call to said call receiving client application on said one or more of said user devices over said data network on detecting said availability of said call receiving client application on said user devices to accept said incoming call, wherein said user devices are associated with said multiple telephone numbers of said user.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein said incoming call registration module receives said incoming call made to said one of said numbers forwarded by a carrier via a routing number, and determines whether said one of said numbers is linked to said user account set up by said user sign up processing module to route said incoming call to said call receiving client application on said one or more of said user devices over said data network.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein said numbers of said user are associated with one of a single carrier in a single geographical location, different carriers in said single geographical location, said single carrier in a plurality of different geographical locations, and said different carriers in said different geographical locations.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein said modules of said call routing system further comprise:

an additional number linking module for linking said one or more of said numbers of said user to said user account; and

a number delinking module for delinking said one or more of said numbers of said user from said user account.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein said client application availability detection module comprises:

a data network connection detection module for detecting a connection of said call receiving client application to said data network; and

a client registration detection module for detecting registration and deregistration of said call receiving client application on said one or more of said user devices.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein said call routing module routes said received incoming call to an alerting server of said call routing system on detecting an unavailability of said call receiving client application on each of said one or more of said user devices, wherein said alerting server is one of a voicemail server and a missed call alert server.

19. The system of claim 13, wherein said call routing module routes said received incoming call to an alerting server of said call routing system if said incoming call is not accepted for a preconfigured period of time from any of said one or more of said user devices, wherein said alerting server is one of a voicemail server and a missed call alert server.

20. The system of claim 13, wherein said call routing module routes said received incoming call to said call receiving client application on said one or more of said user devices over said data network via a media platform deployed in a distributed cloud computing environment, when said incoming call is made to said one of said numbers associated with a carrier that does not permit direct data communication between servers in a secure data network of said carrier and said user devices.

21. The system of claim 13, wherein said modules of said call routing system further comprise a codec module for selecting an optimum codec for communicating with said call receiving client application on said one or more of said user devices based on available bandwidth between said call routing system and said call receiving client application, and implementing transcoding for converting a codec used for communication between a network component and said call routing system to said optimum codec used for communication between said call routing system and said call receiving client application.

22. The system of claim 13, wherein said user sign up processing module sets a password for logging into said call receiving client application deployed on said one or more of said user devices with said one or more of said numbers of said user.

23. The system of claim 13, wherein said one or more of said user devices deploying said call receiving client application run one of a single operating system and different operating systems, and wherein said one or more of said user devices are manufactured by one of a single vendor and different vendors.

24. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having embodied thereon, computer program codes comprising instructions executable by one or more processors for routing an incoming call made to one of a plurality of numbers of a user, to a call receiving client application deployed on one or more of a plurality of user devices when said one of said numbers is not reachable, said computer program codes comprising:

a first computer program code for setting up a user account for said user using one or more of said plurality of numbers of said user in communication with said call receiving client application deployed on said one or more of said user devices, wherein said setting up said user account comprises validating said one or more of said numbers of said user through one or more of a plurality of authentication mechanisms, wherein said authentication mechanisms comprise;

transmitting a validation code to each of said one or more of said numbers of said user to be validated by said call routing system via one of a message and an outbound dialing call initiated by said call routing system, receiving an input code captured by said call receiving client application from one of said user devices, and matching said received input code with said transmitted validation code;

sending a message to each of said one or more of said numbers of said user to be validated by said call routing system and receiving a confirmation from said call receiving client application that said sent message is received on one of said user devices indicating that said one of said user devices contains a subscriber identity module with one of said one or more of said numbers of said user to be validated;

receiving a message sent from said call receiving client application on one of said user devices to a predetermined number and matching a source number of said message with one of said one or more of said numbers of said user to be validated; and

receiving a missed call placed by said call receiving client application on one of said user devices to a predefined number and matching a source number of said missed call with one of said one or more of said numbers of said user to be validated;

a second computer program code for detecting availability of said call receiving client application on said one or more of said user devices over a data network to accept said incoming call;

a third computer program code for receiving said incoming call made to said one of said numbers, when said one of said numbers is not reachable; and

a fourth computer program code for routing said received incoming call to said call receiving client application on said one or more of said user devices over said data network on detecting said availability of said call receiving client application on said one or more of said user devices over said data network.

25. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 24, wherein said third computer program code comprises:

a fifth computer program code for receiving said incoming call made to said one of said numbers forwarded by a carrier via a routing number; and

a sixth computer program code for determining whether said one of said numbers is linked to said user account to route said incoming call to said call receiving client application on said one or more of said user devices over said data network.

26. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 24, wherein said computer program codes further comprise:

a seventh computer program code for linking said one or more of said numbers of said user to said user account; and

an eighth computer program code for delinking said one or more of said numbers of said user from said user account.

27. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 24, wherein said second computer program code comprises:

a ninth computer program code for detecting a connection of said call receiving client application to said data network;

a tenth computer program code for detecting registration of said call receiving client application on said one or more of said user devices; and

a eleventh computer program code for detecting deregistration of said call receiving client application on said one or more of said user devices.

28. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 24, wherein said computer program codes further comprise a twelfth computer program code for routing said received incoming call to an alerting server on detecting an unavailability of said call receiving client application on each of said one or more of said user devices, wherein said alerting server is one of a voicemail server and a missed call alert server.

29. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 24, wherein said computer program codes further comprise a thirteenth computer program code for routing said received incoming call to an alerting server if said incoming call is not accepted for a preconfigured period of time from any of said one or more of said user devices, wherein said alerting server is one of a voicemail server and a missed call alert server.

30. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 24, wherein said fourth computer program code comprises a fourteenth computer program code for routing said received incoming call to said call receiving client application on said one or more of said user devices over said data network via a media platform deployed in a distributed cloud computing environment, when said incoming call is made to said one of said numbers associated with a carrier that does not permit direct data communication between servers in a secure data network of said carrier and said user devices.

31. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 24, wherein said computer program codes further comprise:

a fifteenth computer program code for selecting an optimum codec for communicating with said call receiving client application on said one or more of said user devices based on available bandwidth between a call routing system and said call receiving client application; and

a sixteenth computer program code for implementing transcoding for converting a codec used for communication between a network component and said call routing system to said optimum codec used for communication between said call routing system and said call receiving client application.

32. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 24, wherein said computer program codes further comprise an seventeenth computer program code for setting a password for logging into said call receiving client application deployed on said one or more of said user devices with said one or more of said numbers of said user.