Call management via television

• US 20030086432A1
• Filed: 07/02/2002
• Published: 05/08/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 11/05/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tamiras Per Pte Ltd LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Integra5 Communications Inc. (Salesforce.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Bartfeld, Eyal, Keinan, Giora
• Granted Patent: US 7,277,445 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/401
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/575 Means for retrieving and displaying personal data about calling party
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/4563 Voicemail monitoring during recording
• 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 3/53358 Message preview
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/54 Arrangements for diverting calls for one subscriber to another predetermined subscriber based on the calling party profile H04M3/42059; based on location H04M3/42348; based on presence H04M3/42365; to voice mail H04M3/53308
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0069 comprising a residential gateway, e.g. those which provide an adapter for POTS or ISDN terminals

Abstract

A telephone call management system and method are disclosed, allowing for call review where a voice mail message being recorded for a specific telephone may be played on a television associated therewith during the time it is being recorded. Optionally, the call may further be retrieved and rerouted to the user telephone responsive to a command entered via the television distribution gateway, and any call may be recorded responsive to commands entered via the gateway.

Claims

1. A telephony television gateway apparatus adapted to operate in conjunction with a television distribution system, a telephony switch, and a messaging server adapted to record messages from a telephony network, the apparatus comprising:

a call information receiver adapted to receive session information from said telephony switch or messaging server;

a correlator adapted to associate the session information with an associated set-top boxes coupled to said distribution network; and

transmission equipment adapted to couple a message from said messaging server to the associated set top box, wherein said coupling occurs during the time said message is being recorded.

2. A telephony television gateway apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a user command receiver, adapted to control the coupling of said message based on user commands.

3. A telephony television gateway apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a parser to parse said user commands and constructed to communicate instruction to said telephony switch, in accordance with said user commands.

4. A telephony television gateway apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a parser to parse said user commands and constructed to communicate instruction to said messaging server, in accordance with said user commands.

5. A telephony television gateway apparatus according to claim 1, further adapted to, responsive to user commands, instruct said telephony switch to attempt re connecting a messaged telephony session to the user associated therewith.

6. A telephony television gateway apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said call information receiver is further adapted to receive information about the origin of an incoming call, and transmit said information to said associated set top box.

7. A telephony television gateway apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said call information receiver is adapted to receive a signal indicating a message is being recorded, and wherein the apparatus is adapted to transmit a notification thereof to said associated set top box.

8. A method for call management using a television, the method comprising the steps of:

Responsive to user commands, coupling a voice mail message to a television set associated with a user to which the message is directed, while said message is being recorded.

9. A method for call management using a television according to claim 8, further comprising the steps of:

directing an incoming telephone call from an originating telephone caller to a telephone associated with said user;

routing said incoming call to a messaging server if said incoming call was unanswered during a predetermined period, thereby forming a messaged call; and

,

recording said message by said messaging server.

10. A method for call management using a television according to claim 9, further comprising the step of displaying information related to said incoming call, on said television set.

11. A method for call management using a television according to claim 10, wherein said information comprises call connect time information.

12. A method for call management using a television according to claim 10, wherein said information comprises identification of the caller number, the caller name, or a combination thereof.

13. A method for call management using a television according to claim 10, wherein said information comprises notification that a message is being recorded in said messaging server.

14. A method for call management using a television according to claim 9, further comprising the step of rerouting said messaged call to said telephone, responsive to user command.

15. A method for call management using a television according to claim 9, further comprising the step of rerouting said messaged call to telephone specified by a user command.

16. A method for call management using a television according to claim 15 further comprising the step of muting sound played by said television as long as said rerouted call is active.

17. A method for call management using a television according to claim 9, further comprising the step of alerting the user that a message is being recorded.

18. A method for call management using a television according to claim 14, wherein said messaged call is terminated responsive to a user disconnect command.

19. A method for call management using a television, comprising the steps of:

directing an incoming telephone call to a telephone associated with a user;

displaying on a television set associated with said user, information related to said incoming call;

routing said incoming call to a messaging server if said incoming call was unanswered during a predetermined period, thereby forming a messaged call;

recording a message by said messaging server; and

,

coupling said message to said television set, while said message is being recorded.

20. A method for call management using a television according to claim 19, further comprising the step of alerting the user when a message is being recorded.

21. A method for call management using a television according to claim 19, further comprising the step of rerouting said messaged call to said telephone, responsive to user command

22. A method for call management using a television according to claim 19, further comprising the step of rerouting said messaged call to a telephone specified by a user command.

23. A method for call management using a television according to claim 19, further comprising the step of selecting a prompt the messaging server is to play to prompt the user of the messaged call.

24. A method for call management using a television, the method comprising the steps of:

during a telephone session, commanding a Telephony-Television Gateway to record the conversation;

transferring a copy of the audio data comprising said session to a recording device, responsive to instructions received from said Telephony-Television Gateway.

25. A method for call management using a television according to claim 24, wherein said recording device is a voice mail server.

26. A method for call management using a television according to claim 24, wherein said step of transferring occurs in a telephony switch.

27. A method for call management using a television according to claim 24, wherein said telephone session is transferred at least in part via a broadband network, and wherein said step of transferring occurs at a node point of said broadband network.